Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Going Bananas!

I'm still a little sick so I haven't been baking or cooking much this past week. I am doing and feeling better but I'm not running on all fours yet. I have a nagging cough that won't quit and I'm still pretty congested. I've been self medicating myself with little pills in all shades of the rainbow and drinking a few elixirs including but not limited to the all wonderful Alka-Seltzer Cough & Cold! And that is my excuse for the lackluster photos of this cake. blah.

The good thing is that I've regained my sense of smell, which means I've also regained my sense of taste! We've eaten nothing but sandwiches, soup and breakfast type foods for the last week. Luckily we went to my mom's last night where Mr. H and I had a real meal with the family. Thank you Mom! And I baked dessert--no surprise there :-)

I baked this supremely moist banana cake with a chocolate glaze from Southern Cakes. It was this month's choice for The Cake Slice Bakers and it was delicious! I'm not really into baked desserts with bananas so I wasn't that excited about this one but it proved to be a favorite by my family. It was supposed to be a layer cake but I wanted to bake it into my new silicone pan. I found it this weekend at a discount store and couldn't pass up the great price. It's made by KitchenAid and is called the Fancy Flute. I've never baked a cake in silicone but it turned out great.

The cake was really good and very moist and tender despite me being short on the amount of bananas called for in the recipe. In place of the missing bananas I added a little apple sauce. The batter was simple to mix up and it was in the oven in no time. Since I chose to bake it in my new Bundt type pan, I didn't want to frost it and cover up all the pretty detail. So I quartered the recipe and thinned it out enough to pour it onto the cake, like a glaze. Unfortunately it didn't set up like a glaze and stayed wet like a frosting should. It was super tasty though- like thick and creamy chocolate milk. So good! I would like to make this again though as the recipe was suggested with the full amount of bananas and frosting. mmm!

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

from Southern Cakes

Printable Version

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, softened
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ½ cup buttermilk
  • 1½ cups mashed ripe banana

Chocolate Frosting

  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup evaporated milk or half-an-half
  • 4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the vanilla. Beat well for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally until you have a smooth batter.

Using a large spoon, stir in half the flour just until it disappears into the batter. Stir in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour the same way. Quickly and gently fold in the mashed banana and then divide the batter between the 2 cake pans.

Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the centre, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks. Then turn out onto the racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the butter, cocoa and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes, until the cocoa dissolves into a dark shiny essence. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioners sugar and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at low speed until you have a thick smooth frosting.

To complete the cake, place one layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly over the top. Cover with the second layer placed top side up. Spread the rest of the frosting evenly first over the sides and then covering the top of the cake.

NOTE: For a bundt/tube cake bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes.

In other banana related news (ha ha!) I made a banana pudding pie for my grandpa's belated birthday. They were in town this week to visit my cousin and I knew he would love this. And he did! Isn't he the cutest? Love you Grandpa!

35 comments:

Julie @ Willow Bird Baking said...

I feel like we are always on the same wavelength, Monica! I made a banana dessert this past weekend, too! A little different, but still banana focused :) This looks delicious!

Hope you feel better soon!

Katie said...

Your cake looks delicious! Love the shape of the silicone mould and looks so pretty with the chocolate glaze.

Your family must love you for always abking them yummy desserts. Hope you feel better soon!

Parita said...

Cake looks so moist and yumm! Love the icing on top!

Tia said...

looks yummy! i've not had good luck with silicone bakeware, but your cake makes me wanna give it anorher shot.

♥peachkins♥ said...

Extra special banana bread!

blowing peachkisses
The Peach Kitchen
peach and things

oneordinaryday said...

Happy belated birthday to your cute grandpa!

Your cake sure is pretty. I love your pan and I can see why you did a glaze instead of frosting. I wouldn't have wanted to cover it up either.

Are you drinking green tea w/ honey?? Lots of antioxidants and goodness in there, ya know.

From the Kitchen said...

I'm glad you're feeling better!

I've somehow lacked the nerve to try baking in silicone. Somehow I see it melting down onto the rack and oven floor in a sort of Dali-like artwork. But, your cake is gorgeous and looks delicious. Next time I'm kitchen shopping, I'm going to pick up some silicone and give it a try.

Thanks for sharing today!

Best,
Bonnie

steph- whisk/spoon said...

oh, what a good looking cake! love the shape of your new pan. hope you are feeling better!

Janet said...

The cake is beautiful! I kept thinking to myself... I need to find that bundt pan! Silicone, who knew!? I am glad to hear you're on the mend. I've missed chatting with you!

Take care and when you're up to it, give me a ring!

Thinking of you until then... Janet

Jo said...

Oooh .. I really like your bundt pan and the cake looks so pretty. Great job! I too thought this month's recipe is a winner.

Peggy Clyde said...

Thanks for another great dessert recipe. Hope you get feeling better soon..

Julie Harward said...

Cute grandpa...the cake looks wonderful to me...Come say hi :D

symphonious sweets said...

Banana Cake bundt- I LOVE it!

Foodiewife said...

Poor girl! I hope your immune system bounces back quickly. Lackluster photos? Not! I'm not a huge fan of banana cake, but the chocolate glaze... yes! LOVE the silicone bundt form and I've always wondered how they work. I totally trust you, so I'll be mimicking this one very soon-- cuz we always have overripe bananas in the house.
Be well, Sweetie!

Brandy L said...

I am glad you are starting to feel better. :D It seems like every blog i am reading this morning has Bananas in their posts, now i want bananas. :D

Eileen said...

Mmmm! Your banana cake looks so delicious and moist and I bet that chocolate frosting is to die for!I love the combination of bananas and chocolate together! I will definitely be making this when I have ripe bananas! Thanks for all of your great recipes!

Lyndas recipe box said...

Mmmm, I love banana desserts in any form! Your cake looks so moist and the chocolate frosting is perfect.
Glad you are beginning to feel a bit better.

cookies and cups said...

your photos are gorgeous!
Hope you feel better soon and thanks for sharing even when you're down and out...what a trooper!

Maria said...

Love banana and chocolate together!

Alessandra said...

The cake and frosting look good to me! ANd i love that silicone mould!!!

Debbie said...

I would love to try this cake as a layer cake. I think it looks great and what a cute grandpa!!!

Lulu the Baker said...

I don't loved baked banana sweets either, but we polished of this cake--the entire thing!--in two days! It was so good. I'm too lazy to type out the recipe, so I'm linking to your post!

PS--It's been too long since I've visited your blog. I've already bookmarked 3 recipes!

Lorraine said...

Oh my gosh! Banana cake with chocolate frosting! That sounds so good..never seen this before..yum!

Future Grown-Up said...

This looks wonderful...great job, amazing considering you're not feeling well. Hope you're doing better soon.

Unknown said...

Happy birthday Monica's grandpa!!

This cake looks super yummy and I love your new cake...pan?? Silicone mold?? Either way, it's super cute and the cake came out beautifully!

So sorry you are sick. I hope you start feeling 100% soon!

Memória said...

I'm such a bad friend!!! I should have called you to see how you're doing!! I hope you're feeling better. I guess you are since you went out to buy new kitchen stuff LOL!!! Did you try to get a discount for having a food blog? hehehe

I love the new bundt pan! The cake is lovely!

Allison said...

Great cake pan! I only have one silicon mold (and have used it only once) but I recall it producing a great cake. I think a nice dusting of powdered sugar on top would have been just as delicious as the chocolate glaze, imho.

natalia said...

Ciao Monica ! How wondeful your cake is !!! Hope you are better now !!

Lucie said...

this is a wonderful cake! So impressive! Your Grandoa is indeed so cute, so glad he loved his pudding. Glad you are feeling better. I love your posts! Lucie x

Keeley said...

Glad to hear you're feeling better.

Bananas and chocolate sound great to me. I know it would be extra yummy with a cold glass of milk. I'll add this to my list. My husband will thank you.

Laura said...

I was thinking the top picture was really beautiful! well I just love your photography anyway I guess

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Yay! Love this banana loaded post! I'm even okay with the bit of chocolate in it.

We loved our cake and it was gone by the next afternoon! Thanks for the recipe heads up.

Btw, your photos were fine!
~ingrid

Jana said...

Your grandpa is adorable. Happy Late Birthday to him. This cake looks really yummy. Your pictures look great to me. Wish I could take pics like this on a normal day.

Leslie Harris said...

I love your new bundt pan. It made the cake even prettier. And I doubt you could ever take a bad picture, even if you tried! :)

Avril said...

Beautiful beautiful cake! I actually just purchased the cook-book that this cake recipe came from - a treasure of a cook-book! Today I made this cake and it was out-of-this-world delicious. I did have a little trouble with the frosting....it got really thick fast (i had to thin it out with some milk) and it really didn't "frost" the cake as I had hoped. Any suggestions that worked well for you?

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