January 18, 2010

Banana Layer Cake with Fudgy Frosting









I made my first cake this weekend for John's birthday. I anticipated lots of problems & lots of profanity, typical of anything I'm trying for the first time. I was wrong. This cake was shockingly easy to make. The cake part was good, but the frosting. OMG, the frosting. I could eat an entire bowl of the frosting alone. I think this will be my new go-to frosting.

I got the recipe from The Weekend Baker. The recipe is way too long to type, but I'll post the ingredients & the info for the frosting. So good!

Banana Layer Cake with Fudgy Frosting
Makes one 9-inch cake, or 12 servings

For the Cake:
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
16 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temp
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 medium, very, very ripe bananas, peeled
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

Go-Withs (optional):
Toasted shredded unsweetened dried coconut or chopped, toasted walnuts for garnish

For the Fudgy Frosting:
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 2" pieces
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp table salt

To Make the Fudgy Frosting:
While the cake is baking, make the fudgy frosting. Melt the unsweetened chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave (I used the microwave in 15 second intervals). Meanwhile, combine the sugar, evaporated milk, butter, vanilla, & salt in a blender; there's no need to blend at this point. When the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat or the microwave & give it a stir. Scrape the hot melted chocolate into the blender. Cover with the lid & blend on high speed until the mixture darkens & is very thick, about 2 minutes. You'll also hear the engine working harder when the frosting is sufficiently thick, & it will appear to be barely moving in the blender. It will not be pourable. Scrape the frosting into a clean bowl & set aside at room temperature. When the frosting is cool, cover the bowl with plastic wrap until the cake is completely cool & ready to frost.

Bon appetit!

2 comments:

Mom said...

Wow, somebody else I know has a birthday today...hmmm.wonder if she or he will get a cake....lol

ND said...

Looks beautiful. That John is a lucky man.

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