Eagle-eyed readers may think there’s something vaguely familiar about this week’s recipe.
Well, spotter’s badge for all you clever people who’ve noticed it looks a bit like the ‘Raspberry Fantastic’ cake I made last June.
For those that don’t remember it was a chocolate fudge cake topped with an almost ridiculous amount of things, from jelly to meringues to cocoa cookies.
This week, I suddenly thought of that cake and wondered to myself if any other variations could be made, and immediately jumped upon the idea of that classic combination of banana and toffee.
They get on so well together, those two; the creamy fragrant fruit and the sweet comforting taste of caramelised cane sugar. And you know me well enough by now to be sure that this cake was going to be made as soon as humanly possible.
I don’t get to use bananas in recipes too much, because Tracy, my wife, is not a fan. I can understand her dislike because they do have a rather pervasive scent, especially when ripe in warm weather – the whiff of a discarded banana peel can easily be detected on the breeze. So I had to work rather stealthily, bringing all the elements of this cake together.
For the main structure, I used a basic banana bread recipe – it’s good and sturdy, well-flavoured with lots of banana, and has a nice dense moist crumb. This I sandwich around a buttercream made with caramel flecked with sea salt, which enlivens the palate and enhances the sweetness.
On top, I needed something slightly sticky in which to fix all my toppings, so I used a simple fudge icing. And as for the toppings, well, I went bonkers again.
Muscovado meringues, chewy marshmallows and little hazelnut cookies are strewn randomly all over the icing, and the finishing touch is several slices of brûléed banana. All the flavours of the classic banoffee thrown up into the air and re-jigged, this is not a cake to chuck together on a weekday after work. You can make many of the elements beforehand, so it can be brought together over a couple of days.
It’s well worth the fuss, though, and it definitely grabs the attention of any sweet-toothed passers-by. I’ll get to the recipe early, as we might run out of room on the page!
FOR THE CAKE:
450g self-raising flour
125g golden caster sugar
125g light muscovado sugar
4 medium eggs
4 ripe bananas
225g butter
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
125g golden caster sugar
80ml double cream
½ tsp Maldon salt
160g salted butter, softened
200g icing sugar
FOR THE COOKIES:
225g butter
120g light muscovado sugar
120g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 free-range eggs
450g plain flour
110g porridge oats
110g chopped hazelnuts
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of Maldon salt
FOR THE MERINGUES:
100g golden caster sugar
50g light muscovado sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 medium egg whites
FOR THE MARSHMALLOWS:
3 sheets leaf gelatine
150g caster sugar
1 tsp liquid glucose
70ml water
1 small egg white
2 drops vanilla extract
2 tbsps each cornflour and icing sugar, for dusting
A little oil
FOR THE BRûLéED BANANA:
1 banana
A little caster sugar
FOR THE FUDGE ICING:
135ml double cream
110g light muscovado sugar
40g butter
40g icing sugar
EXTRAS:
Blowtorch*
Sugar thermometer
2 x 9” sandwich tins
METHOD:
For the cake, preheat the oven to 180°C / Gas Mark 4. Line the sandwich tins. Mash the bananas in a bowl until smooth. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs, one by one, making sure each one is well incorporated before adding the next. Carefully fold the two mixtures together. Sift over the flour and gently fold in. Spoon carefully into the cake tins and bake for about 40-60 minutes.
For the buttercream, heat the sugar and a splash of warm water in a saucepan over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved, then increase the heat and cook the caramel for 2-3 minutes, until it forms a nice deep amber caramel colour. Remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir in the cream. It will splutter a lot, so be careful. Stir in the salt and set aside to cool completely. Cream the butter and icing sugar together for 5 minutes, then beat in the cold caramel.
For the meringues, set the oven to 140ºC / Gas 1. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Whisk the cornflour, vinegar and vanilla extract together to make a smooth paste. In a clean, dry bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff and glossy, then whisk in a third of the sugar, adding a third of the cornflour paste and whisking back to firm peak stage. Repeat twice more until the mixture is thick and glossy. Decant into a piping bag and pipe small domes of meringue onto the tray. Bake for 1-2 hours until dry, then turn off the heat and leave them to cool in the oven for a further hour. Remove from the paper and store in a cool dry place.
For the marshmallows, soak the gelatine in 50ml cold water, turning occasionally to make sure it gets completely jellified. Put the sugar, glucose and water into a saucepan. Bring the liquid to the boil and bubble until the mixture reaches 127ºC or hard-ball stage on a sugar thermometer.
Remove from the heat, carefully slide in the gelatine and its water and stir to mix. In a mixer, whisk the whites to a firm peak, and slowly pour in the syrup. Add the vanilla extract and continue whisking for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is very stiff and thick enough to hold its shape on the whisk. Oil a wide tray and dust with icing sugar and a little cornflour. Pipe the marshmallow onto the tray in small blobs and allow to set. Dust with a little extra icing sugar when completely cold.
For the cookies, heat the oven to 180°C / Gas 4. Lightly toast the oats and nuts in the oven until golden. Beat the butter, sugars, salt, and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one by one, and beat until smooth. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the oats and nuts to the sifted flour, along with the baking powder. Bring together into a dough. Roll into a cylinder about 3cm in diameter, wrap in Clingfilm and chill for an hour. To bake, cut into thick slices and spread out on a lined baking tray. Bake for 5-10 minutes, until cooked but soft. Allow to cool on the tray before transferring to a wire rack.
For the icing, gently heat the cream, sugar and butter together in a small pan until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and then simmer, undisturbed, for 4 minutes. Leave to cool. When cold, sift in the icing sugar and beat until smooth.
To assemble the cake, sandwich the cakes together with the buttercream. Spoon the fudge icing over the top and work it to the edges of the cake. Arrange the toppings in a pleasing way. Slice the banana and set the slices on a metal tray.
Sprinkle with caster sugar and brûlée with the blowtorch until the sugar has caramelised. Place the slices among the toppings and serve.
