Very chocolately ChocoBanana Cake

The finished product, though the chocolate ganache has not completely cool at this point in time.

It's been awhile since my last post. I had to go on a short hiatus because I was busy preparing for the wedding. Now that the wedding reception (all three) is over, Yes freeeedom! I can get back to baking and blogging again!

I shall put up a post on my wedding cakes, two of them, for the two dinner receptions I had for my wedding. That would be later. For now, this post is for the cake I baked last Sunday after my wedding weekend.

Since it was a colleague's birthday on Wednesday, I decided to spread some love and bake a homemade birthday cake instead of buying one. Homemade cakes always taste better because we, home bakers (at least some of us), use top quality ingredients and we don't skimp on the good stuff.

So here is the recipe for the very chocolately and delicious Chocolate Banana Cake.

The Cake:-

• 250g butter (soften)
• 300g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 250 ml instant coffee powder (Nescafe)
• 200 g self-raising flour sifted
• 100 g cocoa powder (Van Houten)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

The Chocolate Ganache:-

• 250ml whipping cream
• 250 g dark chocolate (chopped)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3-4 bananas (sliced thinly)

Instructions:-

Stand mixer makes life so much easier. Just leave the work to the mixer while you attend to the next step of baking the cake.

1.  Use an electric stand mixer to beat the butter and sugar (both referred to as "batter") on low-medium speed.

Dry ingredients should be loose and fine

2.  While waiting for the batter to turn light and fluffy, mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and instant coffee powder (all referred to as "dry ingredients") in a bowl. In another bowl, sift the dry ingredients using a fine sieve.

3.  Back to the mixer, add in the eggs into the batter, one at a time and continue beating the batter, now with eggs, on low-medium speed until it is light and fluffy. This may take quite some time so it is advisable to use a stand mixer.

4. Add the dry ingredients into the batter and fold the dry ingredients in until it is mixed well. Add in the liquid coffee in intervals. 

5.  Line a 9" cake pan with baking paper. I use a 9" in order to get a higher cake rather than a wider and shorter cake. Pour in the mixture into the cake pan. Drop the cake pan onto the counter to release the bubbles.

6.  Bake the cake at 175 degrees celcius for about 30 minutes.

7.  While the cake is in the oven, prepare the chocolate ganache. Double-boil the chopped dark chocolate and whipping cream in a small pan. Stir the chocolate continuously and add in the butter to the melted chocolate. Once the chocolate mixture is smooth and thick remove the pan from the stove and let the chocolate cool in the pan.

This is the effect you get after removing the liner from the cake

8.  When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven. Remove the cake from the pan once it has cooled down. If the cake is high enough you may, with a steady pair of hands, slice the cake with a serrated knife to get two layers of the cake. Otherwise, you can, like a novice like me if you don't want to risk cutting the cake unevenly, bake the first layer first and then the second layer later.

This is an extra layer of the cake, so I decided to cut it into half to get 2 layers.

9.  When the chocolate ganache is cool, spread it on the cake. Add thin slices of bananas in an overlapping manner to get more bananas in the cake. Cover the bananas with some chocolate ganache and then sandwich the filling with the second layer of the cake.

It is a hot mess icing the cake with chocolate. Use some newspapers.

10.  Pour the remaining chocolate ganache over the cake and even out the sides with a spatula.

11.  Let the cake cool in the fridge. The chocolate ganache should set nicely by the next day.

The whole process took me about 7 hours to complete (including all the waiting time). Of course that doesn't mean you have to be in the kitchen for the whole 7 hours, you could do other stuffs like watch tv, walk your dog, clean the dishes, have dinner during the "waiting time". 

This cake is so good that I had it every night for dinner (the extra) for the first 3 days after I baked it. The most fulfilling part of baking this cake though is that everyone loves it! I am glad that I played a part in making my colleague feel special on his birthday. I think that is the magic of birthdays isn't it, to make that person feel special on their special day.

Stay tuned for my next post on a review of my wedding cakes! ;)