Chocolate Banana Cake

Two ripened bananas, left untouched for the last couple of days, had been calling out to me. I had been ignoring them. There were cakes and cookies baked for the long Christmas weekend. Since the bakes didn't last us very long, it's time for me to acknowledge the presence of these bananas! Tired of baking the usual Banana Loaf, Banana Muffins, I googled and found a recipe combining two of my favorite ingredients ... Banana and Chocolate!

The Chocolate Banana Cake recipe is adopted from JoyofBAKING.com.

The cake posted on the website looked so moist and yummy! I couldn't wait! I had to bake immediately, after looking at the photo and recipe!

I halved the recipe given.

Chocolate Banana Cake

200g Granulated Sugar

122g All Purpose Flour

38g Cocoa Powder

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

3/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1 Large Egg

1/2 cup Mashed Banana (About 1.5 Medium Bananas)

1/2 cup Warm Water

1/4 cup Milk

1/4 cup Canola Oil (I use Olive Oil)

3/4 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

• Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
• Spray and grease a 8" square pan.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
• Stir till just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and baked for 35-40 minutes, till a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Let cool on a wire rack.
• When completely cooled, frost with ganache.

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

4 oz Bittersweet or Semi-sweet Chocolate, cut into small pieces

90 ml Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 tbsp Unsalted Butter

• Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof or stainless steel bowl.
• Heat the cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Bring just to a boil.
• Pour the boiling cream over the bowl of chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes.
• Stir until smooth.
• When the ganache has completely cooled, beat until soft and fluffy.
• Spread frosting on the cake.

I left the cake in the fridge for about half an hour, to allow the frosting to set. The cake was moist and not overly sweet even with the chocolate frosting. It remained moist even when we left in overnight in the fridge.

This cake is definitely a keeper! Hubby dear who is not a fan of cakes, chocolate cakes especially, helped himself to two servings of the cake =)

Definitely a good looking birthday cake when decorated with fruits! Darling son always asks for chocolate cake for his birthday ... I know what to bake for his birthday next year!