As we are currently experiencing some stressful times with the Covid-19 outbreak and social distancing can leave you feeling a little lonely, I thought sharing a sweet little cake recipe would lift some spirits <3
This cake is filled with bananas, pecans, swiss meringue buttercream, and some homemade caramel sauce oozing out of every layer. It's THE PERFECT cake for those people that go "Oh yea, I don't really like cake. It's too sweet." *Cough cough my bf* The bananas add that naturally sweet taste (while keeping it super moist, bonus!) and the Swiss meringue buttercream is light and airy, not a big blob of butter and sugar like the American buttercream you're used to ;)
This cake is also my fav because it's the first time I used my Ateco Cake Comb to make a stripe design! I'm in love and already dreaming up all the things I can do with it... Anyways. I'll shut up now. Spend some time at home, keep calm, and enjoy a slice of cake.
Ingredients
Recipe adapted from Rosie Daykin's Butter Celebrates Cookbook
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (make sure they are VERY brown and spotty. The bananas will make or break this cake. Be patient and use super brown and sweet bananas. Trust me.)
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees f.
Prepare x3 six inch cake pans by lining the bottoms with a circle of parchment paper and spraying the sides with non-stick spray. You can also make this cake in 2 eight inch cake pans if you don't want the tall drip look.
On a large piece of parchment paper, sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then add mashed bananas and mix again.
Slowly add the sifted ingredients on your parchment paper to the wet ingredients, mix until JUST combined (don't over mix).
Slowly add in your chopped pecans and mix until evenly incorporated.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the centre.
Let sit for 5 minutes then remove from pans and place on cooling racks. (this will ensure your cake doesn't continue baking in the hot pans and become dry)
Swiss meringue Buttercream
(adapted from Natasha's Kitchen) 7 egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups salted butter, softened (I love using salted butter but you can change to unsalted and add extra salt according to taste)
2 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 tbsp caramel sauce (recipe follows)
Bring a pot filled with 1 inch of water to a boil.
Using a heat-proof bowl, whisk together egg whites and sugar.
Place bowl on top of boiling water until completely dissolved. You should not be able to feel any sugar granules between your fingers when you rub them together.
Once completely dissolved and mixture reaches 160 degrees F, remove from heat and move to a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat for 15 minutes until the bowl is cool to the touch and stiff peaks form.
Cut butter into cubes and slowly add one by one to the egg white mixture and whip for another few minutes until light and fluffy.
The mixture might begin to look liquid-y but don't panic, keep whipping and the mixture will come back to a thick whipped state in 5 minutes. If your mixture is too warm and doesn't whip up, you can always put the bowl in the fridge for ~15 minutes and try whipping again and it should come back to life! It's very forgiving ;)
Vegan Caramel Sauce
*can also make non vegan (Recipe Adapted from Butter Baked Goods) 1 + 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup water 1 cup full fat coconut milk (or heavy cream if not vegan) 1 Tbsp Melt Organic Butter (regular butter if not vegan) In a medium saucepan, mix together sugar and water and bring to a simmer until the sugar begins to turn a nice golden brown. Remove from heat and pour in the coconut milk. Whisk together until combined (sauce will spit a bit). Once incorporated, add the butter and mix until silky and smooth. Now that you have your frosting + caramel sauce, you can take on the challenge of 'striping your cake' OR you can keep it simple and make it all caramel buttercream instead *instructions to follow. Cut off the peaked tops of your cakes so they are all level and stack one on top of the other, filling in between each layer with your buttercream frosting and a nice spread of caramel sauce so you get some ooey caramel with each bite. If you're looking to make it striped, begin watching this tutorial and start with the white 'vanilla only' frosting, and when you need to introduce the other colour for the stripe, use your remaining frosting and add 3-4 Tbsp of caramel sauce to it so it turns a nice golden brown. If you're looking to keep it simple, add 1/4 cup - 1/3 cup of caramel sauce to your Swiss meringue buttercream and mix. Frost the outside of your cake evenly. Now it's caramel drip time! Cool your cake in the fridge for 10 minutes. Using your remaining caramel sauce, pour a 1/3 cup of caramel sauce onto the centre of your iced cake and using a rotating cake stand, begin twirling the cake while using your offset spatula to bring the caramel to the edges of the cake and watch it slowly drip down. Add more caramel sauce if needed. You can also be super precise with your drips by using a piping bag and creating 'pools' of caramel just above where you want your drips to drip down on the edges. Top it off with some pretty swirls using your favourite piping tip, and sprinkle on some gold pearl sprinkles to make it extra fancy. Enjoy!