Tangerine's Kitchen: Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting ** Cake Slice Bakers**

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting Cake Slice Bakers

I love banana cake, the usual one that saves the overripe bunch that sat waiting its turn on my counter many a times. With walnuts in them and no frosting they make a nice snack. This month, the choice of the Cake Slice Bakers was a Banana cake with chocolate frosting.We had already baked a Banana cake but with a white chocolate ganache and praline filling.

The cake on its own had a very moist crumb and is very flavourful. I halved the orginal recipe and used a loaf tin for the purpose. Hence it isn't a layer cake. This cake was a hassle free cake when it comes to the making of it. The frosting on the other hand turned out very thick when the recipe was followed exactly. I had to reduce the amount of icing sugar. Adding all the mentioned sugar would have resulted in a very sweet frosting. The frosting did set fast. The sweetness of the babanas with the chocolate frosting is a excellent option when it comes to making a quick dessert considering that the frosting sets fast.

The recipe is from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott.

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Banana Cake

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, softened

1½ cups sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup buttermilk*

1½ cups mashed ripe banana

Chocolate Frosting

½ cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half

4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

* If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own by stirring 1½ teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice into ½ cup of milk and leaving for 10 minutes.

To make the cake, heat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat well, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one by one, and then the vanilla. Beat well for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally until you have a smooth batter.

Using a large spoon, stir in half the flour just until it disappears into the batter. Stir in the buttermilk and then the remaining flour the same way. Quickly and gently fold in the mashed banana and then divide the batter between the 2 cake pans.

Bake at 350F for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched lightly in the centre, and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Cool for 10 minutes in the pans on wire racks. Then turn out onto the racks to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the butter, cocoa and evaporated milk in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Cook, stirring often for about 5 minutes, until the cocoa dissolves into a dark, shiny essence. Remove from the heat and stir in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at low speed until you have a thick smooth frosting.

To complete the cake, place one layer, top side down, on a cake plate and spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly over the top. Cover with the second layer placed top side up. Spread the rest of the frosting evenly, first over the sides and then covering the top of the cake.

See what my fellow Cake Slice Bakers have baked