I think the combination of chocolate and banana is one of the all time great and classic combinations. I had high hopes for this cake and couldn’t wait until we got to it. The results however I found less than stellar. I thought that the cocoa mixture totally obliterated the taste of the banana. I ripened my bananas for an entire week so I know they had alot of flavor. I found the cake to be moist but very dense and cloying with chocolate flavor. I also found the chocolate ganache to be way to strong and this whole thing just seemed to be too intense of a chocolate flavor for my taste. I think it would have been better with just some whipped cream or creme fraiche instead of the ganache.
I have traveled this rocky road before but this recipe just made me want to scream about these issues. I apologize to everyone in advance, these are just my opinions and I mean no disrespect to anyone. I love Rose, I truly do. She is a wizard with cakes, but ever since I embarked upon this project I have found some of the steps in her recipes to be nothing more than gimmicks to make the recipes seem different from other similar ones. First, I absolutely hate this sifting the flour into the cup method of measuring. It seems that no matter how careful I am with this step I end up with a haze of flour all over my kitchen that I spend the next week cleaning up. I have resigned myself to the fact that the recipes in this book have all been formulated and tested to use this method of measuring but I have to admit that of all the cookbooks I own, and I own alot of them, this is the only one that doesn’t use the scoop and level method. I just wish it did. Secondly, this penchant Rose has for using the food processor for very simple tasks just baffles me. We had to do it twice in this recipe (of course I didn’t). I don’t see why we needed a food processor to mix sour cream, ripe bananas, and cocoa mixed with boiling water. This could easily have been done in the mixer or by hand and still reached the same result. Instead we had to drag out the food processor, use it for about a minute and then spend 15 minutes washing, drying and putting it away. Who has time for this. I have ranted about the food processor and ganache many time so suffice it to say I made mine the old fashioned way. Again, these are just my opinions but it has been one of those kind of weeks and I needed to vent my frustrations. Let’s bake.
Cocoa powder and boiling water are mixed and set aside to come to room temperature. Once it reaches room temperature the cocoa mixture, sour cream, vanilla, eggs and banana are blended in the food processor until smooth.
Mixing the wet ingredients
In the bowl of a stand mixer, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt are mixed to combine. Then butter and half of the chocolate mixture are added and blended. Then the remaining chocolate mixture is added in two additions, blending for at least 20 seconds with each addition.
Mixing the dry ingredients
Adding the butter
The finished batter
Ready for baking
The finished batter is poured into the prepared pan and baked for 35 to 45 minutes. Did anyone notice that the recipe didn’t state what oven temperature to use. I took a guess and baked mine at 350. It took 45 minutes to test done and once it was cooled and removed from the pan I felt it was still a bit underdone and could have gone for an additional 5 minutes.
The baked cake
Allow the baked cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then unmold it and reinvert so the top side is up and cool completely.
To make the ganache, chopped chocolate is put in a bowl. Cream is heated and then poured over the chocolate and allowed to sit for a few minutes. Then the mixture is whisked until smooth and completely blended. Vanilla and the optional liqueur is added. I wanted something strong and gutsy to go with the bananas and a trip through the liqueur cabinet produced the perfect thing. I decided on bourbon for my ganache. Frost the cooled cake as usual and stud the cake with chocolate chips. I alternated dark and white chocolate chips as I thought it would make a nice contrast. I was less than thrilled with the results.
Next Up: Designer Chocolate Baby Grands
Your Just Desserts Feed
Oh bummer…….I’ve been looking forward all week to making this into a birthday cake. I bought white chocolate chips to spell out my son’s name. I was wondering how the banana and cocoa powder would play off each other. Thanks for being the first one “in the pool” to test the water.
Raymond, ya gotta treat yourself to a mini Cuisinart. Costco had them. If I had to give up every appliance but one, this is the one I’d keep. I’ve only used the big beast Cuisinart for two of Rose’s cakes. The mini has handled all the rest.
Hi Vicki,
Thank you so much for being such an avid reader of my blog. I don’t always get around to answering posts and I should be a little better about it. I sometimes feel that all I do is bash on these recipes. I really do like most of them but I find alot of Rose’s techniques to be gimmicky and it really annoys me. Actually, I do have a Cuisinart mini processor and I do use it most of the time but I still feel that most of the time when Rose uses a processor that it can just as easily be done in the mixer or by hand. Thanks again for being a loyal reader
Raymond
Well I been on the fence in making this cake all week.. so much so that I waited until today to start on it… ironically TWD bake club also have a banana cake this week.. and her looks to be a better fit for our taste around these parts. But, like you I figure this was one of those cakes that was going to wow as the end product.
Now after reading your post.. I think I’m going to skip it.
And I second Vicki’s recommendation about the mini processor, that is the one that I use the most (and not only with baking).. the big only comes out to play when I need the big guns.
Hi Monica,
Thank you for your loyal readership. I do appreciate it. I was really disappointed to not have liked this recipe very much. I was really looking forward to it and just found it fell flat in my house. As I told Vicki, I do own the mini processor but still feel that most of the time when Rose recommends using it, it really isn’t necessary. I guess I am just a crabby old man LOL
Raymond
When I received Heavenly Cakes as a birthday present many months ago, this is the cake that first caught my eye. I finally got around to making it last week. I was waiting to read your take on it and I echo many of them. I thought maybe the lack of banana zing was because I hadn’t let them ripen enough. My husband I thought the banana flavor was more distinct the day I baked the cake. A friend who shares my love of chocolate agreed that the chocolate really overpowered the banana. We did consider using the peanut butter cream instead of the ganache and maybe adding a pickle on the side to make an Elvis tribute cake! I really enjoy your posts and look forward to them.
Hi Marilyn.
I appreciate your comments. I was really disappointed with this recipe. I knew that the banana was going to have to be very ripe to compete with the chocolate and made sure mine was. It just fell flat. I think it needed more banana and less chocolate. If I make it again I will certainly leave out the ganache. Thanks for reading
Raymond
I also thought it wasn’t stellar, but for different reasons. I wasn’t expecting big banana taste so the subtle banana in what is otherwise a chocolate cake with ganache was fine. I felt it needed the ganache for moistness, because (again!) the cake just wasn’t as moist as I’d like for a cake with banana and sour cream. The gimmicky part to me was the “studs”, which made a nice visual effect but detracted from the eating experience.
LOL! I too hate the drag my food processor out..cos it’s hidden way back in my kitchen cabinet..and it’s so cluttered with stuff..hard to take it out and put it back.
I do like this cake cos it’s very moist and not too much banana taste to it.
I always appreciate your honesty when it comes to your evaluation. I have to agree with you that the banana flavor didn’t come out as much as I had hoped. I think I would add more banana another time. But I did enjoy the cake in spite of that.
Thanks for the idea……it sounds yummy!
for more visit
Food Recipes Hub [dot] Com
ב”ה
The banana flavor seemed to come through O.K. in mine.