Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Banana sheet cake with fudgy chocolate frosting and a forgotten book

Banana sheet cake with fudgy chocolate frosting / Bolo de banana com cobertura de chocolate

When I was a kid all my friends were tall and strong, unlike me – I had a sort of development delay, so to speak (due to my mom’s death) and I was very tiny. Can you imagine how much I loved P.E. classes? #not
I was always picked last for everything and I don’t blame my colleagues: I could barely hold a basketball, let alone play with it.
I’ve had this book for years and had only baked from it once. I thought of me, always picked last, and felt that I was doing the same with the book. I felt guilty. So I baked from it. I made this banana cake and brought it to the office. All I’ll say is that my coworkers loved it even more than the Texas sheet cake – and I thought that chocolate was unbeatable... :)

Banana sheet cake with fudgy chocolate frosting / Bolo de banana com cobertura de chocolate

Banana sheet cake with fudgy chocolate frosting
cake from The All-American Dessert Book, frosting from Modern Classics Book 2

Cake:
2 1/3 cups (326g) cake flour*
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
scant ½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
½ cup (130g) plain yogurt
1 ¼ cups well mashed overripe bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting:
185g dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour a 22x32cm (9x13in)** baking pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl and stir well. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the yogurt and beat for 1 more minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl again.
Reduce the mixer to low, and then beat in half of the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Beat in the banana and vanilla, then the remaining dry ingredients. Beat just until incorporated.
Transfer batter to the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack.
Make the frosting: combine the chocolate, heavy cream and butter in a small heatproof bowl. Set it over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until completely melted and smooth. Cool completely then refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Using an electric mixer, beat until thick and fluffy. Spread over the cooled cake.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

** I made the exact recipe above and used a 20x30cm (8x12in) pan

Serves 15

17 comments:

lena said...

this really sounds like a wonderful cake! tell me abt it..those forgotten books..i have one or two that i hav not touched a single recipe on that!

Rachel said...

These sound so amazing, and look amazing. Great pictures. I love baking with banana so I will for sure being trying it :)

Mike said...

Banana cake is my favorite! And you don't see it anywhere. Banana cake should be the new macarons.

Alina---Explora Cuisine said...

I'm in love with banana cakes, and this dessert looks wonderful, great for a perfect breakfast!

No Raisins on My Parade said...

Yum! I have some very ripe bananas so I was going to make my favorite banana bread tonight, but I just make have to make this instead!! :) Thanks for sharing!

-Marissa
http://noraisinsonmyparade.com

Sara said...

This sounds fantastic! :) I love the idea of combining bananas and chocolate...yum!!

Priya Suresh said...

Cake looks excellent with yummy topping..

Rivki Locker said...

I am SO glad you tried this because it looks fantastic! I will have to try this too. Always looking for banana recipes!

delphcotecuisine said...

Gorgeous photos and what a delicious dessert!
Delphine

janelle said...

my kids would LOVE me if I made these!!!

Viv said...

This has definitely become my go-to banana cake recipe! I usually make cupcakes with it and fill it with banana pudding. The cake is so nice and moist and has just the right amount of banana flavor! Thank you so much for sharing!!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Hey, Viv, that is great news! I'm glad to know you liked the recipe!
Thank YOU for stopping by!

Pasu said...

Hi!

I want to made this cake but I only have frozen overriped bananas!!! Can I use them!?! or it's better with the fresh ones??

thanks

Miriam

Patricia Scarpin said...

Miriam, I use frozen bananas all the time in baking! Go ahead! :D

Jelli said...

Lovin' these pics. The printed napkins add such a "pop" to the photos. I've got plenty of bananas and would love to try this after my last cake success from your blog.

Anonymous said...

Hi Patricia,

The seven year old boy next door requested that I bake him "something with banana and chocolate". Of course, I checked my most trusted recipe source, Technicolor Kitchen. As always you came through for me. The cake is tender, moist and bursting with banana flavor. The frosting is fluffy, chocolaty and wonderful. They are a great match with the bitterness of the chocolate tempering the sweetness of the cake.

Thank you once again for being so generous with deliciousness.

Yours,

Ellen

Patricia Scarpin said...

My dear Ellen, I am so glad to hear how the cake turned out! Especially because it was a request from your adorable neighbor. <3
Thank you for letting me know
xxxxx

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