Good Cooking since 1995
Banana Cream Cake with Rum Buttercream
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Recipe by: Chef John V.
description:A Bananas and rum are a delicious, slightly tropical combination. It's layered with a banana pastry cream, topped with a buttercream laced with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and rum and glazed with chocolate ganache.
Serving size: 12 portions
Preparation time: about 1 hour, plus baking and cooling times
Amount/Measure/Ingredient:
Banana cake:
12
tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4
cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups fresh mashed
ripe banana (about 4 small-medium bananas)
3
x-large eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup sour cream
1½ ounces
bittersweet chocolate, grated
Banana
pastry cream:
1 cup whole milk
½ cup
granulated sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 x-large egg yolks,
slightly beaten
½ cup mashed banana
1
tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Rum
buttercream:
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼
cup water
2 x-large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 tsp. of salt
14 tablespoons unsalted
butter, softened but still cool
¼ teaspoon
cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
dash of
ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon dark rum
Preparation:
1. Make the banana cake: Preheat oven to 350F.
Butter and lightly flour a 13" x 9" metal cake
pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Place
butter in howl of heavy-duty electric mixer
fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter
until soft and smooth. Add sugar and mix until
combined and light in color. Add banana, eggs,
and vanilla and beat well.
2. Combine flour,
baking soda, and salt in medium howl with whisk.
Add to butter and sugar mixture. Slowly add sour
cream and beat until well blended. Fold in
grated chocolate.
3. Spread in prepared pan
and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick
inserted into center comes out clean.
4. Make
banana pastry cream: Heat milk in medium,
heavy-bottomed pan until very hot. Mix sugar,
flour and salt together in bowl and stir in hot
milk. Beat until blended with whisk and pour
back into pan: bring to boil, while whisking.
Continue to beat vigorously over medium-high
heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until thick and smooth.
Reduce heat, whisk in yolks and cook for a few
minutes more. Cool, stirring occasionally.
5.
Combine bananas and lemon juice. Mash until
smooth and add to cooled pastry cream mixture.
Cover and chill.
6. Make buttercream: In a
small, heavy saucepan, combine sugar and water
and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly
and occasionally brushing down sides of pan with
a wet pastry brush, until sugar dissolves.
Remove pan from heat and attach a candy
thermometer to side of pan.
7. In bowl of
electric mixer, using whisk attachment, begin to
beat eggs at medium speed.
8. Meanwhile,
place sugar syrup over-high heat and cook,
without stirring, until it reaches 238'F on
candy thermometer. Immediately remove pan from
heat and, with mixer off, pour about a 1/4 cup
of hot syrup over beaten eggs. Beat at high
speed until blended, about 10 seconds. Turn
mixer off and add another 1/4 cup syrup, then
beat at high speed for another 10 seconds.
Repeat this process until all syrup is used.
9. Using rubber spatula, scrape down sides of
bowl and continue to beat at medium-high speed
until mixture is completely cool, about 5
minutes. Beat in salt.
10. At medium speed, beat softened butter 1
tablespoon at a time into egg mixture. Add
spices and rum, increase speed to medium-high,
and beat until buttercream is smooth and shiny,
about 4 minutes.
11. Assemble cake: Remove
cake from pan. Slice in half horizontally and
place bottom back into pan. Spread prepared
pastry cream over layer and place second half of
cake on top. Spread buttercream decoratively on
top and set aside.
Refrigerate the cake
at least for 3 hours or overnight for best
results before glazing with Ganache, and or
slicing.
Serve cake: Remove cake from
refrigerator 30 minutes before serving and cut
into 12 servings.
Garnish with chocolate
Ganache.
To make Ganache, hot heavy cream
is poured over chopped chocolate, and the
mixture is stirred until smooth.
8
ounces (227 grams) semisweet chocolate, cut into
small pieces
1 cup (180 ml) heavy cream
The ganache is to be used as a sauce that is
poured on a plate and then the cake is set on
top of it.