If we are what we eat, I am awfully sweet!
Hello peeps!
I recently shared a banana cake and couldn’t wait to write about the layered cake I built from it. Life got busy and blogging slowed down a bit, so my goal of posting a new recipe each week slipped. I’ll make up for it in the coming weeks!
Let’s talk cake.
This is unapologetically a sugar bomb — in the best way. Layers of moist banana cake alternate with dark chocolate ganache and salted caramel sauce, repeated to create a rich, indulgent stack. Chocolate cuts through some of the sweetness, and a touch of salt in the caramel heightens the flavors.
Chocolate and caramel pair beautifully, banana and caramel are a classic (banoffee pie, anyone?), and chocolate plus banana is always comforting. Combining all three gives you a showstopper: deep chocolate notes, sweet banana crumb, and a silky, slightly salty caramel that ties everything together.
The outside of my cake wasn’t perfect — I rushed the finishing and the caramel was a bit too thick to drip neatly down the sides, so I improvised a criss-cross decoration on top. It’s far from flawless, but what matters most is the interior, and the layers more than redeem the presentation.
Banana, Caramel and Chocolate Layer Cake
Ingredients
For the banana cake
- 190 grams or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
- 150 grams or 3/4 cup granulated or caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup mashed banana about 2 large bananas
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 120 ml or 1/2 cup milk room temperature
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup curd or yoghurt room temperature
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons hot water
For the salted caramel sauce
- 150 grams or 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup cream (I used Amul)
- 60 ml or 1/4 cup milk
- 56 grams or 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tsp vanilla optional
For the dark chocolate ganache
- 500 grams dark chocolate
- 300 ml or 1 1/4 cups low fat cream
Instructions
To make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F. Butter or oil and flour two 6-inch round pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper if you like.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients: mashed banana, milk, yoghurt, egg, oil, vanilla, and hot water until smooth.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk just until the flour disappears. Do not overmix.
- Divide batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake at 180 C / 350 F for 35–45 minutes, until the cake springs back when pressed and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the salted caramel sauce
- Measure the milk, cream, and butter and have them ready.
- Heat the sugar and water in a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Swirl the pan as needed, but don’t stir.
- Continue heating until the sugar turns amber. Timing varies by pan and heat — a few minutes to about 8 minutes.
- At the first whiff of smoke, add the butter, cream, salt, and milk while stirring. The mixture will bubble vigorously; be careful. The bubbling will calm in a minute.
- Keep stirring until the butter melts and the sauce is smooth.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla if using. Pour into a jar and chill — the sauce will thicken as it cools.
To make the ganache
- Chop the chocolate into small, even pieces and place in a bowl.
- Heat the cream until it just begins to bubble, then pour it over the chocolate and let sit for a minute.
- Stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth and glossy.
- Let cool at room temperature until scoopable.
To assemble
- Slice each cooled cake horizontally into two layers with a serrated knife.
- Fill a piping bag with about 1/4 cup ganache and snip the tip.
- Place one cake layer on a serving board. Spread 2–3 tablespoons ganache in the center.
- Pipe a ring of ganache around the edge to act as a dam to contain the caramel.
- Spoon about 1/4 cup caramel inside the ganache ring (use less if preferred).
- Top with the next layer and press gently. Repeat with ganache dams and caramel until all layers are stacked.
- Spread ganache over the top and sides of the cake and chill for 10 minutes.
- Apply a final coat of ganache, smooth the surface, and decorate as desired.
Notes
This cake is made for die-hard sweet lovers. I baked it for a friend with an enormous sweet tooth and she adored it. I hope you enjoy it as much as she did!
