May 31, 2007

This Cake is Bananas: B-a-n-a-n-a-s!


The lovely Meeta or What’s For Lunch Honey is the always enthusiastic host of the Monthly Mingle which has been going strong for a year now. To celebrate the Mingle’s first anniversary, the theme this month is quite appropriately entitled “Big Birthday Bang.” Meeta has challenged us to make her something special and what better place to find a special recipe than from Baking: From My Home to Yours, (is it really a surprise to anyone that this is the first place I looked?). I’ve been steadily making my way through Dorie’s book, for no other reason than the fact that I like it so much. I love her writing style and I love the way her recipes turn out. As with all of Dorie’s recipes, this banana cake, (Lots-of-Ways Banana cake, page 204) is presented as a versatile recipe that can be dressed up or dressed down depending on the occasion. Since this was a special occasion, I was certainly going to dress it up and I actually went a step further than the suggestions and turned it into a three layer cake, with a fourth layer crumbled on top. Don’t worry though, I didn’t stress myself trying to dream up this wonderful technique, I simply turned a few pages. This is the same frosting, (marshmallow) and method used for Dorie’s Devil’s Food White Out cake, (page 247). I had previously made the White Out cake for New Years and it was a big success. I figured if it worked with Devil’s Food cake, why not banana? I wasn’t disappointed. Bananas, coconut and marshmallow stacked into a towering cake is nothing short of impressive. Making it was pretty fun too. Although I don’t think I’m all that good at icing cakes, I find the process visually appealing. Cakes are so cute when they go from naked to fully dressed. Is that weird? Have I said too much? I better go eat some cake…




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22 comments:

Meeta K. Wolff said...

OMG!!! Now that is the hottest Birthday cake. Has all my favorites banana, coconut and from one of my fave cookbooks and authors! Bril, you struck gold with this one! Hugs!

K and S said...

looks great!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! I made this cake a little while ago too, but I used the coconut buttercream recipe - it was delicious! I had to freeze about half the cake as we were away for a week, and it was still delicious once I defrosted it! Win-win.

Cookie baker Lynn said...

How fun! I love the Devil's Food White Out cake - what a great idea to apply that technique to a banana cake. It looks fabulous.

Cheryl said...

That cake is BANANAS. Great now you will have that song in my head all day long.

Its big, beautiful and the ingredients sound to die for. I will be over for my piece around 11am.

Patricia Scarpin said...

I almost baked that cake when I made the banana muffins - I just didn't make it because there was no one to share and I knew I would end up eating the whole thing... :)

It looks fantastic, Bri!

Anonymous said...

This cake looks great! Good idea of combining recipes. I will have to try this variation out. Dorie's book is the greatest!! She sent me a couple emails this week and I am still on cloud 9..ha!

Anonymous said...

Added Dorie's book to my "wanted cookbook" list. I NEED this recipe.

Lis said...

Holy cow, Bril.. I can almost taste it. Fanfarkintabulous, my friend! I would go bonkers if someone made me a banana cake with marshmallow frosting.

xoxoxox

Deborah said...

GORGEOUS!! This will be one recipe I will be trying out - I love banana anything. I love that you added the marshmallow frosting. Yummy!

Laura said...

A bananay thing of beauty...

Mercedes said...

Wow, I love the combination of bananas and coconut- I'm passing this on to my mum- it's right up her alley.

Kelly-Jane said...

Bananas and coconut, yum! Looks fab too :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Bri! Wow, now that is an impressive cake! And the marshmallow frosting look so amazing... Gorgeous decorating for a gorgeous cake!

Elle said...

A best dressed cake for sure...clever to use that crumbled layer technique and it looks soooo yummy. I love the addition of the banna bunches in your photos, too.

Anonymous said...

Holy cow that looks awesome! I love the thought of the banana, coconut and marshmallow frosting combination.

Anonymous said...

talk about dressed up... that looks delicious!

Anonymous said...

That looks amazing! Yummy!

Freya said...

That cake is bananas but very cool as well!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

I've got to remember this for mom's b-day next year; it's all her favorite flavors!

Viji said...

Wowwwwwwwww Great combination of ingredients.Looks delicious.

Anonymous said...

Did you split the layers or bake in 4 pans? I am thinking of doing a 4-layer cake with this and was concerned about how well the layers would split. Thanks!