Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache
I have recently decided that I want to be a better baker. I love doing it, and I feel like I’m competent, I just really want to learn how to take it to the next level. Michael is very supportive. I’m not surprised.
Anyway.
For some unexplainable reason, I got this idea in my head that I wanted banana cake. And I wanted that banana cake to have chocolate frosting on it. And this little idea has been percolating for about a month and a half, and last night, at about 8:27, I couldn’t take it anymore. So, whilst snuggling on the couch and watching Cary Grant wow me in His Girl Friday, I blurted out “IFIMADEBANANACAKEWITHCHOCOLATEFROSTINGWOULDYOUEATIT?”
And Michael was nice to me, and didn’t even feel annoyed that I’d interrupted our movie, and said “yes, I’d like that, I’m still a little hungry.” Which I then translated to mean “Yes, my darling, I would adore nothing more in this world than for you to begin a cake baking project at 8:27 in the P.M. when you still haven’t even cleaned up your mess from dinner. Please delight me with banana cake and chocolate icing. Also, I love you, and you look very attractive in your apron and skirt and shirt that don’t really go together. And I will come do dishes for you to make your life easier.”
Or something.
So.
Cake it was.
AND WAS IT EVER.
Please, oh please, try this cake. It is so much better than banana bread. It will change your life with it’s delightful light flavor and perfect blend of a sturdy chocolate mock ganache and tender golden crumb. And also it’s really good warm or cold. But I LOVED it most cold.
Banana Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/2c sugar
- 1/2c shortening
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 1/2c flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2c bananas, mashed well (and preferably mixed in a blender or something…this takes about 3 medium bananas)
For the ganache:
- 1c semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 5 Tbsp light corn syrup
- 2 tsp water
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
Instructions
For the cake:
- Cream sugar and shortening. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating till well incorporated. Beat in vanilla and almond. Breathe deeply as the batter smells like heaven. Stir with a mixer till light.
- In a bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add 1/3 flour mixture to batter, then 1/2 the bananas, then 1/3 flour, 1/2 bananas, 1/3 flour, mixing well with each addition. Pour into a well-sprayed 12c bundt pan.
- Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or till done.
- Let stand 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool.
- Drizzle with chocolate ganache
For the ganache:
- In a double boiler (I use a glass bowl over a saucepan of 2″ of simmering water), stir chocolate chips and butter till melted. Stir in corn syrup. Stir in water. Pour over cake. (I did this with newspaper under the wire rack to catch all my drips)
- Serve warm or refrigerate and serve later. Tastes amazing both ways.
- ***you will likely have a bit of extra ganache. Sandwich it between graham crackers and refrigerate them. Heaven.
Hey I tried this recipe for mothers day and it was a big hit! The cake was perfectly moist and I’ve never known how to make chocolate like this. Just awesome, thank you so much! It was so nice to have something different to do with our overripe bananas.
this look amazing I will make when I have bananas again!