Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Banana Cake w. Praline Filling & White Chocolate Ganache (TCS)

Here is another terrific installment of The Cake Slice. Our group has been baking through Sky High: Irresistable Triple Layer Cakes, and our selection for this month is this beauty. Less dense than banana bread, this cake only requires a 1/2 cup of mashed banana but produces big banana flavor.
Paired with sugary pecans (yes, they're fried, but with all of the butter, cream and chocolate in this cake, it really doesn't matter, does it?) and a whipped cream frosting lightly flavored with white chocoalate, this cake received thumbs up from all who tasted it. I'm not a big praline fan, so I'm not the best judge for taste.


To see how my fellow super-talented bakers fared, check out The Cake Slice blogroll.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Banana Cake with Praline Filling and White Chocolate Ganache
from Sky High: Irresistable Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne
makes a 9-inch triple layer cake

Ingredients

Cake:

3 cups of cake flour*
3 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of ripe mashed bananas
8 ounces of softened unsalted butter
2 cups of sugar
7 egg whites

Praline Filling:
1 cup sugared pecans, cooled
1 and 1/2 cups white chocolate ganache

Sugared Pecans:
1 and 1/2 cups pecan halves
3 cups vegetable oil
1 cup confectioners sugar

White Chocolate Ganache:
8 ounces of white chocolate chopped
2 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.

Butter three 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper or wax paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside dry ingredients. In a food processor or blender, process the milk and banana into a smooth light puree. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. On medium high speed, beat in egg whites 2-3 at a time until smooth. Scraping down the sides of the bowl between egg additions.

With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and banana puree alternately in 2-3 additions, beating until just blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium-high speed for 1-minute. Divide the batter among the cake pans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of each cake. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out onto a wired rack and remove the paper liners. Then cool completely one hour.
To assemble the cake, put one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with half of the praline filling, leaving a 1/4"-inch margin around the edges. place the second layer on top, again flat side up, cover it with remaining filling. Finally add the third layer and frost the sides and top with the white chocolate ganache. Garnish with sugared pecans.

Praline Filling
With a large chef's knife chop the pecans. Or pulse in a food processor being careful not to turn into paste.

Add the sugared pecans to the white chocolate ganache and stir to mix well.

Sugared Pecans
Place the pecans in a medium sauce pan, add water to cover, and heat to a boiling.

Boil the pecans slowly until they are swollen and soft 5-8 minutes. Drain the nuts well in a sieve for about 5 minutes. (Do not pat dry; the nuts must remain damp.)
While the nuts are draining, heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan or deep fat fryer t0 350F degrees.

Set half of the nuts aside. Dust the remaining nuts in the sieve with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Shake the sieve to coat the nuts evenly, letting any excess sugar fall away. Immediately add the coated nuts to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown about 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon scoop the nuts out and drain them on several thickness of paper towels. Repeat the process with the remaining nuts.

White Chocolate Ganache
Put the white chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl. In a small sauce bring 1/2 cup of the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand for 1-minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the white chocolate cream stand until cooled to room temperature.

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters beat the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream and vanilla until softly whipped. Stir in the white chocolate cream and beat until fairly stiff. taking care not over beat, which would cause the ganache to separate.

18 comments:

Gigi said...

YUM! Your cake looks fabulous! Great job on applying the pecans to the side. Very pretty cake!

Katie said...

Your cake looks wonderful. I love how you rolled the edges in the crushed pecans.

Jo said...

Great job on your cake challenge. I loved the banana cake as well but not a fan of white chocolate so I substituted the frosting.

The Food Librarian said...

Looks great!!! But holy smokes, this is due today...and I completely forgot! Oops.

But yours looks sooo good I must make! :)

Anonymous said...

Your cake looks like a dream.

Isabelle Lambert said...

De toute beauté ! c'est splendide !

Rosie said...

Gorgeous cake Linda and I adore how you've decorated it! Well done.

Rosie x

Mari said...

Thank you for posting this recipe, because I NEED to make this cake!

Anonymous said...

Oh my. Every blog I've been seeing this cake on makes me want to climb into my computer screen and eat. They all look so good.

I so need to make this.

TeaLady said...

Beautiful cake. Wish I had put nuts around mine. Yours looks fantastic!!

PheMom said...

I will happily eat your share of pralines. They were my favorite part. Your cake looks stunning!

Caroline said...

Love your cake with the nuts on the sides and the spiral-ly top frosting. You know I got the spiral idea from you (your previous cake) and used it on one of my cakes. I'm gonna have to borrow the nuts idea for next time. ;)

steph- whisk/spoon said...

that looks crazy good--wish i had a piece!

Jodie said...

Looks great! I love how you crumbled the nuts on the sides! I was surprised how strong the banana flavor was, too. Maybe the puree distributes itself better than just a mash.

Cooking for Comfort by Jennifer said...

WOW! You did a beautiful job!!!!

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Oh, YUM! That looks so goooood. Love all that frosting you slathered on so prettily! You did do an awesome job with the nuts.

I so want that slice you're serving up!
~ingrid

test it comm said...

This cake sounds so good!

mama said...

It is amazing I make this came every weekend for my family. Its a real favorite

Blog Widget by LinkWithin