Did you know that I have a brother? His Name is Brian and he just turned fourteen. For his birthday I offered to make him a cake. Brian requested a chocolate cake. Now, my natural inclination was to add all sorts of things to this simple request for a chocolate cake. Lavender came to mind. Sour cherries came to mind. Caramelized figs and pears with chocolate ganache came to mind.
But in the end I had to edit myself because as delicious as the previously mentioned flavors seemed to me, I just wasn't confident that they'd suit Brian's palate and it is his birthday after all.
I came to a compromise. Caramelized banana filling and a Nutella frosting. Approachable, right? The idea for the Nutella frosting came first and then bananas came to mind as a good pairing. And I really do love caramelized fruit of all kinds.
A small tragedy happened while I was baking this cake. I really wanted this to be a tall 3-layer cake and everything was going well until I accidently dropped one of the layers and it split. There's just no salvaging a broken layer of cake. It won't ice prettily. Sure I could have left it at a two layer cake, accepted my losses, but I felt almost comically resolute about this having to be a 3-layer cake. It was about 2 or 3 a.m. and at that hour sometimes I lose a sense of practicality and common sense (though it could be argued that I lack that altogether). So for me the logical solution was just to bake another three layers of the cake. Again, I could have done the math to change the measurements to make one layer, but again...loss of common sense.
I feel like maybe I put at lot of expectations on this cake, like I had high standards for it, or something. Or maybe I was projecting a lot of tension onto the poor cake. In any case, while I was assembling the cake a small bit of the bottom tore off, the tiniest bit, an imperceptible bit. I sort of lost it. With my icing spatula in one hand I sort of leprechauned into the air and had a nano-second tantrum, yelling something about needing the cake to be perfect. Saeyoung was a shocked witness. It was weird. I felt very out of body. I think I need sleep.
But yeah, the cake was pretty yummy.
Ingredients
1 3/4 cup cake flour (you can also use all-purpose if you choose)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, unsweetened (I recommend Valhrona or Callebaut)
6 ounces dark chocolate, unsweetened (I also recommend Valhrona or Callebaut)
1 stick of butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar + 1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup freshly brewed extra strong coffee
1/2 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons of vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk
Filling:
5 bananas, sliced at about 1/4 inch rounds
5 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons rums
Icing:
2 1/4 cups Nutella
2 sticks of butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1. preheat oven to 350
2. in a double broiler, melt the 6 ounces of chocolate
3. when the chocolate begins to soften, add the coffee and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar and whisk until smooth
4. in a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt and set aside
5. in a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and 3/4 cup of sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy
6. add the honey to the sugar and butter mixture
7. add eggs one at a time
8. add the vanilla
9. alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk in three separate additions and fold until just combined. finally fold in the melted chocolate/coffee mixture.
10. divide the batter between three greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans
11. bake for about 20 minutes
12. invert the layers and let cool completely
13. meanwhile, slice the bananas and melt the butter on a very large saucepan or griddle type pan
14. sprinkle about half the sugar onto the pan
15. arrange the banana slices into a single layer on the pan and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the top
16. let the butter and sugar bubble. when they look brown and caramelized on one side, flip them
17. add the rum
18. remove from heat when both sides are caramelized
*note : if you do not have a large enough pan, you may need to do this step twice
19. let the banana slices cool
20. meanwhile make the frosting
21. with an electric mixer beat the nutella and butter
22. add the confectioners sugar, vanilla, and salt
23. add the cream
24. when the cakes have completely cooled, arrange one layer on top of a doily
25. take strips of parchment paper and line the sides of the cake by tucking the edges slightly under the cake for easy removal after icing
26. put a layer of caramelized bananas over the layer of cake
27. top with the second layer of cake and again place the bananas on top of that layer
28. place the third and final layer on top
29. ice the cake generously
30. remove the parchment strips
* the chocolate honey cake was adapted from "Sky High Cakes" chocolate almond cake with bittersweet chocolate ganache cake"
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