Caramelised Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Icing
The Rolls Royce of banana cakes. This caramelised banana cake is sandwiched and topped with creamy peanut butter icing, then sprinkled with chocolate chips. The cake itself is made with caramelised bananas, coconut and chocolate chips. It’s lush.
Did you know it is World Baking Day on the third Sunday in May? The idea is to have some fun baking a cake and then sharing it with others, whether that’s in actuality or sharing a picture. This year the theme is to photograph your cake “somewhere interesting” in an unusual place or setting.
You can see from the above photo that my bake was undercover in the undergrowth.
If you’re stuck for ideas as to what to make, you’ll find plenty of recipes in my baking section.
I was lucky to be given some encouragement by the organisers in the form of an an amazing box of goodies to use in the making of my cake. This not only included flour, baking powder, sugar, cocoa and various cake decorations, but also a splendid silicone spatula which has a built in rest to keep the blade off the work surface and a very handy recipe journal.
Caramelised Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Icing
So what to make was the big question? Well it didn’t take me too long to figure it out. Last week I couldn’t resist buying up a load of bananas I saw going cheap. Then, serendipitously, the very same day I saw the most amazing banana, chocolate, peanut butter layer cake on Buttaz Blog.
Although I wasn’t quite ready to make anything as grand as that, it did form the inspiration for the flavours I wanted to use. I would make a banana cake with chocolate chips sandwiched together with peanut butter icing. But not just any banana cake. Oh no.
At Christmas last year I’d made Dan Lepard’s Butterscotch Banana Cake, in muffin format for the guys next door, using that most excellent of books Short & Sweet. Well caramelising the bananas is a revelation. It transforms a simple banana cake into something else entirely. Inspired by this, I upped the quantities, omitted the spices and nuts, added coconut and then some chocolate, of course. Then I filled and iced it with a creamy peanut butter icing.
This is one highly calorific banana cake, so it’s best reserved for birthdays and other special occasions. But sometimes calories just shouldn’t come into the equation.
I can only describe the result of this caramelised banana cake as being the Rolls Royce of banana cakes. It has a good crumb structure and is really light. So light in fact that you can have a really big slice and not feel full, said CT as he tucked into his second slice. The taste is just sublime. The peanut butter icing I could have happily polished off with a spoon before ever it got to the cake, but I held fast.
The flavours balance out really well with the sweet, salt and bitter each playing their part. You can taste the individual flavours of banana, peanut, coconut and chocolate separately, but they also form a sublime whole. As Alexander Dumas would have put it: “All for one and one for all”.
Other Banana Cakes You Might Like
- Banana blondies
- Banana chocolate vegan honey cake (vegan)
- Chocolate banana cashew cake (vegan)
- Leftover mincemeat & banana buns
- Muscovado banana bread with raisins or chocolate chips
- Quick banana cake with rum soaked raisins
- Peanut butter banana muffins (vegan)
- Sticky banana ginger cake
And if you like the combination of banana, peanut butter and chocolate, why not try my tortilla wrap hack. It’s ever so easy and really delicious.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this caramelised banana cake with peanut butter icing, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more layer cake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Caramelised Banana Cake. PIN IT.
Caramelised Banana Peanut Butter Cake
Caramelised Banana Peanut Butter Cake
Ingredients
Caramelised Bananas
- 150 g golden caster sugar
- 4 bananas sliced
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 50 g desiccated coconut
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Cake
- 175 g unsalted butter softened
- 120 g light brown sugar
- 4 medium eggs (I used a goose egg)
- 1 tbsp natural yoghurt
- 200 g self-raising flour (self-rising flour)
- 60 g rye flour (swap for wholemeal flour if you don’t have rye)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 50 g dark chocolate chopped (I used Green & Black's 70% chocolate)
Peanut Butter Icing
- 50 g unsalted butter softened
- 150 g smooth peanut butter
- 200 g icing sugar
- 4 tbsp double cream (heavy cream)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Caramelised Bananas
- Pour the caster sugar and 50ml of water into a heavy bottomed pan and place on a low heat until the sugar has melted.
- Turn the heat up and boil the mixture for a few minutes, until it turns into a light brown caramel.
- Add the banana slices and turn down the heat to a simmer.
- Add the butter and let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes until the bananas are mushy.
- Add the desiccated coconut and vanilla extract. Stir and leave to cool.
Cake
- Set the oven to 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4).
- Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
- Beat in the banana mixture.
- Stir in the yogurt.
- Sieve in the flours, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and fold in until just combined.
- Gently stir in the chopped chocolate.
- Divide the mixture between two 22 cm silicone cake moulds or lined tins and bake for 30 minutes or until the the cakes are well risen and firm to the touch.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Peanut Butter Icing
- Cream the butter, then add the peanut butter and cream some more.
- Sift in the icing sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.
- Add the cream and vanilla extract and beat until light and smooth.
- Sandwich the two cakes together with half of the mixture and spread the other half on top.
- Decorate with chocolate sprinkles.
What a cake! Yummy,yummy! Chocolate, banana ,coconut and peanut butter are best match! So delicious. I have to make again . Thank you!
So glad you liked it Hui. It is a lovely combination and you’ve inspired me to make it again now.
My favourite food in the whole world is peanut butter and banana sandwiches…now you have shown me how to make it into a cake..WOW!!! Thank you 🙂
Oh gosh – it does sound fabulous. I think I’d have trouble resisting the icing too. Thanks for letting me know about this one!
I love the sound of this. I’d never have thought of caramelising the bananas. Now I’m gonna have to give this one a go!
Oh my! This is simply amazing & what a wonderful cake! Indeed a Rolls Royce of Banana cakes & so tempting! You can count on me to try this recipe out! DELICIOUS! 🙂
LOVE your last photo Choclette…….and it just looks so right! And the cake ingredients also sound divine too….. LOVELY box of baking ingredients too and stork is still a favourite fat in baking for me,I use it a lot.
This look amazing. I completely forgot that I was meant to take a photo of it in an unusual place. I’d better make more to make up for it!
Cracking combination of flavours – I love the look of this one!
Your cake looks great, wonderful taste combination! Fun pictures too!
What to say, this looks so good! A yummy yummy cake! Well done you.
yay… that last photo of the cake on the doorstep is genius and really made me smile… I love it… I love the fact that it is going to make me check to see if you drove over from home to deliver one to my front door… but also makes me smile because i’m the kind of person not to notice and step right in it… which is why it is so genius… as well as the fact that the cake looks superb! x
Yum! Chocolate, banana and peanut butter are a match made in heaven and I totally understand why you wanted to eat that icing with a spoon, it sounds absolutely delicious.
Hahaha, love your last photo. What an amazing cake. Wow! I don’t know how you keep coming up with such fabulous recipes Choclette.
love this so much!
Wow all my favourite flavours except coconut! I would love to have one of these placed on my doorstep 🙂 How did I not know about World Baking day? I’m just catching up on blogs now and everyone is posting about it. Luckily I’ve baked something tonight so I can join in tomorrow 🙂
Looks lovely, and a great combination, chocolate, coconut and peanut butter sounds delish x
I hadn’t realised! How could I not have known it was World Baking Day! Perfect excuse (as if one is needed) to pop the pinny on! And what a great cake you’ve baked Choclette to celebrate!
Love the flavor combinations in your cake – what an amazing group of flavours! It’s a stunner visually too, I wish I had been there to taste some! Particularly like the idea of the peanut butter frosting. Yum.
I am loving the way you caramelised the bananas in caramel and can imagine this turned a good banana cake into something very special indeed. It is something I would love to try especially with that icing. What a good idea as always!
I am out all day tomorrow and have been gardening all day today so sadly I will not get to post anything for World Baking Day. Also, intending to write up my We Should Cocoa post tomorrow evening and that takes precedence for me!
Happy Baking Day 🙂
I’m not a fan of peanut butter-unless I’m making a satay but that cake looks o good…love the last photo of it on the doorstep!!
Caramelising bananas sounds very interesting, as does a peanut butter-coconut combination. This cake looks and sounds amazing, it literally has be salivating. I will definitely be making this!
Yum, that does look rather decadent. Happy Baking.
Ooh yes please, that sounds like a wonderful combination and interesting to see that the marg worked well.
This cake looks wonderful. Wish someone would leave me a slice on my doorstep !!
I am not a fan of peanut butter but for some reason, goodness knows why, I have a jar of the smooth version in the cupboard……..
I looked at the World Baking Day website and some of those pictures are very witty. Great fun. Now I have worked out that tweeting is not essential to taking part I might just have a go…..excuse for baking number 38c !!
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I had chocolate and peanut butter in a slice yesterday and was thinking how good it is – you are doing a fine example of leading the way for world baking day – maybe I will need to join in!
This sounds like a really interesting combination…the caramelised banana sounds great too!! I was trying to think of where I could take a picture of my cake for World Baking Day…! I’d love a slice of this cake it looks delicious 🙂
Wooww, LOVE the combinations, I love all of these but I usually get strange looks when I put them all together – but this looks declicious! Maybe you could send me a doorstep delivery? :p
What an amazing combinations, there are my favourite flavour boxes being ticked all over the place. It’s a good job you’re in Cornwall otherwise I’d be round to swipe a piece 😉
That cake looks amazing. I think the banana and peanut butter would be a real hit in terms of flavour combinations. I have never caramelised bananas before adding to a cake either, but what a fan idea.
This does sound yummy!!! I want to try it asap – have to buy some bananas and let them ripen first 🙂