No, no, please, don't go away. You're not in the wrong place. Yes, this is a baked cake (that doesn't look lopsided) and yes, it's covered with chocolate, but it's still me. The Mom Chef. Hater of chocolate. Baking-challenged.
I promise that I didn't go to sleep last night with some giant extraterrestrial pod under my bed, only to wake up a mindless pod person. I've always been mindless.
I have a family. It's as simple as that. I'm the only non-chocolate person in my family. The other two love chocolate and they love sweets. So, occasionally I have to combine both. Today I also had some bananas that were so ripe they were ready to fall off the banana-hanging-take-up-space-on-my-counter thing.
Enter Kita from Pass the Sushi. Maker of Banana Cake with Chocolate Glaze. I had been looking for something that wasn't banana bread simply because it's not Hubby's favorite and Dudette's getting to the point that if she sees a sweet quick bread, she thinks there's zucchini in it.
The cake looked perfect; with one change. I needed peanut butter. For the two that would eat the cake; they needed peanut butter. It's a bit of a trifecta: peanut butter, chocolate, banana. So, I took Kita's cake and added a layer of peanut butter frosting in the middle.
Make the cake. Dry goods get whisked together here; butter and sugar get creamed there. Add the wet stuff to it and mix it up well (including the bananas). Marry the dry and wet with the buttermilk acting as pastor and the batter is good to go.
Pour it in greased pans and bake.
Kita recommends using a double boiler for melting the chocolate and butter to make the glaze, but I have to admit that I went the easy route and did it in the microwave. I simple nuked both in a small bowl for 30 seconds, then stirred and nuked again until it was nice and smooth. Just until it was nice and smooth. Any longer and you'll ruin it.
The peanut butter frosting is simply butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar and heavy cream all mixed together.
When the cake is out, de-panned and cooled, spread the frosting over the bottom layer, going to the edge. Add the second layer and scrape around the side, making sure to remove any of the peanut butter frosting that might have bulged out. I also added some to fill in any empty spots. I wanted a nice, flush side.
Now pour your warm, not hot, glaze over the top of the cake. Right in the center. Let it ooze its way down the sides. When the bowl's empty, use the spatula to even out the top and to spread the drips around the sides.
I didn't worry about the air bubbles or a bit of drippage showing because I was making this for family and honestly, I think the drips look really cool. one thing I did do was to put pieces of parchment under the bottom edge of the cake before adding the glaze so the plate wouldn't get covered with it and it would look neater. I just slipped the pieces out when I was done.
The Verdict
If "Oh, Mommy, yum!" is anything to go by, yes, this was a success. Hubby did say that the chocolate was a little too dark for him still. They're both very milk chocolate. But, he snarfed down his piece quickly enough. I also enjoyed the cake with the peanut butter frosting immensely. Even the chocolate glaze wasn't bad, especially with a bite of peanut butter included. The cake was very, very moist and perfect.
This is a bit like having a chocolate covered banana and a Reese's Peanut Butter cup all in one sitting. Can there be anything wrong with that?
What I'd Do Different Next Time
I'll probably need to go with all milk chocolate chips for my family.
Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Filling and Chocolate Glaze - print this recipe
adapted from Pass the Sushi
Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/2 teas salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1 teas vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk
Glaze:
12 ounces (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate
8 tablespoons butter
Peanut Butter Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 2 8-inch round cake baking pans.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Mix in the bananas and vanilla extract.
Working in small batches, slowly add in the flour mixture and buttermilk in 5 additions, starting and ending with the flour. Pour batter evenly between prepared baking pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from cake pans. Cool completely before frosting.
For the Peanut Butter Frosting
Cream the butter and peanut butter together in a large bowl. Add the powdered sugar and heavy cream. Mix well. Add either more cream or sugar to reach the desired consistency.
For the Chocolate Glaze
In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Glaze will be thick. Remove from heat and frost cake before glaze hardens. Garnish with chopped walnuts if desired.
Let cake set, slice and serve.
