This was actually the second cake I was commissioned to make this week, though it was due first so got prime ranking in our (already overburdened) fridge! It was a cake that served a double purpose, as it turned out... both as a celebratory gesture for my friend Magdalena's work anniversary and a sorrow-drowning tactic for the team as they had to say goodbye to my mom, who was shuffling jobs (and therefore offices). While it's depressing to think that I won't be able to drop by and hang out with everyone at once as easily as I used to, at least we don't have to move across the province for her new position (or out of province - that would really suck). In fact, mom's the only one who's doing any moving at all, since her new office is a grand 15 minutes down the street!
Magdalena (who the cake was actually ordered for - by my mom no less!) is a huge fan of my banana bread, and I had also heard through the grapevine of women at the office that there was a call out for something chocolate too! I knew the combination was already a winner... heck, banana chocolate chip bread was one of my absolute favourite snacks as a kid... the trick was how to combine them into a somewhat fancy cake-like object that would serve the horde, decorate it and transport it in one piece! I wound up deciding on marbling the two flavours - I've always adored marble cake! - and figured a double-decker sheet cake would fit the bill nicely since I had the perfect filling in mind!
Nicole at Baking Bites (as seems to be my go-to source these days) gave me the perfect inspiration for a recipe: her Black and White Marble Sheet Cake looked just what I was after. After flip
At any rate, the cakes came out beautifully, smelling to high heaven of caramelizing sugar and rich cocoa (as I HOPE heaven smells like - really, if I can't bake in the afterlife I'm not too sure I'll strive towards nirvana, thank you very much!). A simple peanut butter buttercream filling glued the works together, before I got down to work smearing gratuitous amounts of espresso-fudge frosting over the body. Two hours after starting that little endeavour, I chucked it into the fridge to firm up, then later I finished it up by making a gorgeous (if I do say so myself) banana-chip sunflower with a dash of sanding sugar for sparkle. It may
Marbled Banana Cake
Serves 20
3 cups flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter, use 1 1/2 tsp)
1 1/4 cups sugar
5.5 oz salted butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup full-fat, Greek-style vanilla (or plain) yogurt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tsp banana extract
1 tsp yellow food colouring (optional)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup hot water
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Filling
2/3 cup buttercream icing
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (preferably unsweetened)
1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted
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Chocolate-Espresso Frosting
2 cups buttercream icing
3 tbsp unsweetened (preferably Dutch process) cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp instant espresso powder
- Preheat the oven to 350F, grease two 10" springform pans well and line the bottoms with parchment.
- Whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until light.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and yogurt.
- Alternately add flour mixture and milk to creamed mixture, ending with flour, mixing thoroughly.
- Scoop out about 1 1/2 cups of the batter and put into a separate bowl. Add banana extract and food colouring if using.
- Combine brown sugar, cocoa powder and water in a small bowl, then stir into vanilla batter, beating well.
- Pour chocolate batter into pans.
- Top with dollops of the banana batter, then drag a skewer or knife through to create a swirling pattern - don’t over marble.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, until tests done.
- Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing, filling and frosting.
Filling:
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl until thick and rich-textured. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Frosting:
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, beating until thoroughly blended.
- Mask and finish cake as desired. Store in fridge.
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 423.6
Total Fat: 17.2 g
Cholesterol: 51.7 mg
Sodium: 157.3 mg
Total Carbs: 64.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 2.6 g
Protein: 6.7 g
You can't go wrong with chocolate - the cake looks fabulous!
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