If you are one of those people who used to eat peanut butter & banana sandwiches as a kid as I did, this cake is for you. It’s so nostalgic. I did some research and found a wonderful & easy banana cake recipe, thanks to http://food.com. I have found consistently this website has the best recipes, without fail. I imagine much like some of you, I don’t so much enjoy cake recipes that have 16 ingredients, I find to be a bit redundant. So I love how easy this recipe is and it yields the moistest (is that a word? it is now) banana cake I’ve ever had.
Note: I’ve been baking with stevia recently, and all of my cakes have turned out amazing. Feel free to replace the sugar with stevia or whatever sugar replacement you prefer. I’ve also been replacing eggs with a “flax egg”, so I will post those directions for you as well!
Banana Cake Recipe: yields 1-6″ cake pan
- 4 ripe bananas
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 tbsp. ground flax seeds + 4 tbsp. water mixed together or 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. almond extract
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1&1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Tip for making a flax egg: 1 tbsp. ground flax meal + 2 tbsp. water = 1 egg
Directions:
- Set oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small pot gently melt the butter – set to the side.
- In a large mixing bowl using a whisk, mash the bananas until they’re broken down into small chunks.
- Add the sugar, and continue to whisk and mash until bananas are completely mashed.
- Add in the eggs and whisk vigorously for about 2 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla extract, almond extract, salt, baking soda, flour and butter. Mix together just until batter forms together, leaving no raw flour in the bowl.
- Spray and parchment line your baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. Cover with foil – and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Let cool completely before slicing and decorating.
Whipped Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 oz. 60% dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbsp. dutch cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. maple syrup
Directions:
- In a heat proof bowl, measure out the chocolate chips and cocoa powder, set aside.
- In a sauce pot on medium heat, let the heavy cream come to a simmer.
- Immediately pour heavy cream over the chocolate chips & cocoa powder- let stand for 2 minutes.
- Gently whisk the cream into the chocolate, ensuring to break apart any cocoa powder clumps. Let cool completely in the fridge before whipping, about 1 hour.
- Once chocolate ganache is cooled, whip on high, drizzling in the maple syrup as its whipping, until stiff peaks form.
- Hold in fridge until you’re ready to decorate.
Decorating the cake:
- Slice the cake in half, place the bottom half on desired serving platter, and reserve the top of the cake to the side.
- Using your favorite peanut butter (I used Adams Natural Crunchy PB), place about 1/2 cup on the bottom half of the cake. Spread evenly over the layer & place top layer on.
- Using a piping bag with a star tip, pipe the ganache over the top of the cake in a small back and forth motion starting on the outside edges of the cake working your way to the center. Pipe some ganache on the sides as well.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the ganache along the side of the cake.
- Clean the edges of the serving platter with a dry paper towel, sprinkle on any garnish you’d like (I think the yellow sprinkles are cute, but chocolate shavings would work great as well. If you are serving this cake immediately, fresh banana slices would be a wonderful garnish too).
- Take pictures, slice and enjoy!
This cake is so dang yummy, I’m so happy with how it turned out. My husband Mark is pretty excited about this cake too, he is the one who came up with this flavor combo!
I love how much the banana shines through, and the peanut butter is just the perfect touch of salty and crunchy. The whipped ganache is decadent and melts in your mouth, and has a wonderfully rich chocolate flavor. I am currently obsessed with maple whipped cream. It adds just the right amount of sweetness without that overly sweet sickening flavor that I know a lot of people don’t enjoy. I honestly don’t see myself going back to powdered sugar any time soon (don’t quote me).
I hope you’ve enjoyed this recipe! Make sure to share this recipe with a friend, and thanks for reading. Cheers & happy baking friends!
A Taste Of Grace 