We had our friends Elaine and Gary over for dinner on Saturday. They hadn't been to see the new house yet, so up they came and I made a meal of lasagne and garlic bread for us to enjoy.
As always, in the Cakeyboi household though, dessert is the main event and I decided to make banana bread pimped up slightly.
I had some frozen bananas in the freezer, which I find is the best way to use them in any baking. You defrost them and the skins turn black. The centres mush right down and slide out of the blackened skins very easily and are a much more concentrated banana flavor.
I set about making the banana bread batter, with some added cinnamon, and instead of baking it in a loaf tin, I split the mix between two 8" round cake tins.
How to sandwich my two layers of banana bread together? Well, I took inspiration from none other than Delia Smith, the original domestic goddess, and used her recipe for fudge icing. But, as it turns out, it tasted much more like Scottish Tablet!
I was in my element with this concoction of evaporated milk, butter and dark brown sugar, melted together then cooled. To this I added icing sugar and the result was a sweet, fudgy frosting which went nicely between the two layers of the cake and over the sides.
I went for that semi-smothered look on purpose, with bits of the cake still peeking through the thin coating of frosting. The last addition really took the cake to next level...
I bought a tin of caramel. It's just like the tins of condensed milk, but pre-boiled and caramelised for you. None of this boiling a sealed can in a water filled saucepan. Seriously, did people actually do that back in the day? It must have been so dangerous.
Thankfully now the caramel pops straight out of the can. I popped it straight on to the top of my cake, which I had chilled for a while, before eeking the caramel to the edges and letting it drizzle down. Pure food porn!
To add a bit of height, I finished the cake with some chocolate curls things which were like chocolate Pringles. But this was entirely optional and you could top your cake with anything you fancy.
The cake went down well and Elaine took some home with her. A success I would say.
It tasted super banana(y) and the tablet tasting frosting really complemented the fruitiness of the cake. The caramel was just sheer indulgence and completely unnecessary, but oh so good!!
Here's how I made it...
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Banana Bread Caramel Layer Cakeby S Vettese February-06-2017Banana Bread Sandwiched with a fudgy frosting and drizzled with caramelIngredients
- 4 ripe, mushed bananas
- 330 grams granulated sugar
- 165ml vegetable oil
- 4 medium eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 330 grams plain flour
- 20 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 120 ml evaporated milk
- 6 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 100 grams unsalted butter
- 50 grams icing sugar
- 1 tablespoons milk (optional)