Daffy2016 Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 DH has requested banana cake for his birthday and I’m wondering if anyone has any tips to make it a bit fancier? He’s asked for vanilla icing rather than cream cheese too, so I’m wary of making it too sweet.I’m wondering if chocolate ganache in the middle might be too much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-song Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I’ve made banana bread with a browned butter icing, which was pretty fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okelydokely Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Oh man. No cream cheese frosting? Why even bother!! I’m sorry, I have nothing constructive to add because cream cheese frosting is LIFE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly_F Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I had one where they just sprinkled lots of sugar on the top to caramelise, so bloody good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LemonMyrtle Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Chocolate ganache will be too much. Do a caramel filling, maybe with a tiny pinch of salt. And swirl the top with the vanilla icing and caramel. Serve with fresh strawberries, yup, it goes well. I actually made a strawberry and banana cake once when I didn’t have quite enough bananas, it was delicious.Caramel and banana cake is a match made in heaven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffy2016 Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 [mention]Okelydokely[/mention] I totally agree, but he has a weird thing about cream cheese. He doesn’t even like cheesecake.[mention]LemonMyrtle[/mention] I did think of caramel but I wondered if it would be too sweet. Good to know it works, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daffy2016 Posted February 9, 2021 Author Share Posted February 9, 2021 [mention]ali-song[/mention] I haven’t had brown butter frosting before but the recipes I’ve googled look yum. Do you think it would be too sweet if I had a salted caramel filling? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Babetty Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I like the sound of caramel filling. You could reduce the amount of sugar in the cake to balance it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LemonMyrtle Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I’ve put this icing on banana cake before. Almost better than cream cheese. Almost.http://trtlmt.com.au/caramel-frosting/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruitmincepies Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 You could add chopped nuts to the caramel, walnuts are the classic pairing with banana. That is if your banana cake doesn’t include nuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Hummingbird cake - which is banana with pineapple and coconut?Choc chips in the banana cake? These aren't very fancy though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riotproof Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 You could make some praline shards.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenbean Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Yep like a PP I came here to say would he like a hummingbird cake. I made this for a lockdown birthday with vanilla frosting with a hint of lemon and cinammon to take the edge off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 When you say fancier, do you mean for presentation or flavour?For presentation, I would use the requested vanilla icing and cover the whole cake. Decorate with some fresh fruit, flowers, sugar decorations and/or chocolate plaques. I know this recipe uses cream cheese icing but the simple decoration can work just as well with a vanilla buttercream. https://livforcake.com/blueberry-banana-cake/Or, sandwich two layers together with the vanilla icing and pour a chocolate ganache over the top for a really smooth finish. If you’re looking for fancier flavours, you could think along a dessert idea of a toffee butterscotch pudding type flavours. Have some brûlée or flambé bananas to serve with it/as decorations on top. Maybe a bombe Alaska riff with a meringue icing which you pour some warmed alcohol (rum flavours work with bananas) over it and then set the whole thing alight. Similar in idea to this:https://www.saveur.com/baked-alaska-recipe/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bethlehem Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I do a lemon glaze icing or a maple syrup icing. Beautiful and not too sweet.Don’t muck with the banana cake too much. A simple banana cake is my favourite cake. I have great recipes for banana and chocolate cakes and banana and tahini and chocolate cakes and banana and chocolate chunk cakes, but plain and simple banana cake often wins out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eponee Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 How about a 'fancy' one -https://www.annabel-langbein.com/recipes/bestever-banana-cake/3486/https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/baking-and-desserts/banoffee-cake/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Escapin Xmas Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Simple banana cake is absolutely delicious. So I would definitely NOT mess with that. To make it ‘fancy’ for a birthday means layers and/decorations. So that’s what I’d do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingle Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/coconut-banana-cake/I haven’t made this but just saw it on a page I follow on Instagram...... looks delicious !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caitiri Posted March 12, 2021 Share Posted March 12, 2021 Possible too late but I made this last week https://www.butterbaking.com/2017/05/30/banana-nutella-cream-layer-cake/. It was soo good and very fancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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