• Desserts
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  • Fresh Milk
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Peter Gordon's Two Layer Banana Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing, Salted Caramel Drizzle & Walnuts

  • Desserts
  • Cream
  • Fresh Milk
  • Cheese & Culinary
  • Butter
Raspberry and Chocolate Trifle
10
2h 0 min
Peter Gordon's Layered Banana Cake

This two-layered cake is a bit of a show stopper as it looks like it has a ridiculously thick layer of vanilla cream cheese filling. The reality is that each of the two cakes form a peak when they cook, and when you invert one cake over the other (the base of one becoming the top of the cake), there's a gap which you pack out with the cream cheese filling. The salted caramel drizzle contrasts with the rich filling and the walnuts remind me of banana cakes I made as a child sprinkled with chopped walnuts.

Cake
Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling
Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 170°C Fan Bake, place one shelf near the bottom and the other just over halfway up.
  2. Line the bases of 2 x 26cm cake tins with baking parchment – don’t grease them. If your tins are a little smaller or larger they will still work – just adjust cooking time.
  3. Cream butter and sugar using a stand or handheld mixer until light and fluffy, around 6 minutes – it’ll remain a little granular as the sugar won’t dissolve as caster sugar does.
  4. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down bowl after each addition.
  5. Beat in the banana in four stages – don’t worry if it looks curdled.
  6. Heat the milk till almost boiling then stir in the baking soda, and slowly mix into the batter.
  7. Gently mix the sifted flour and baking powder into the batter.
  8. Divide between your cake tins and smooth the top.
  9. Bake 50 – 60 minutes until cooked – a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean.
  10. Place the cakes on a cake rack to cool in the tins for 15 minutes.
  11. Remove from the tins and peel the baking parchment off then leave to cool completely – you can place in the fridge at this point to make them cool more quickly.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling
  1. Beat butter, cream cheese and vanilla using the paddle of your mixer 2 minutes.
  2. Add the icing sugar ¼ cup at a time until fully incorporated – adding it slowly prevents it from flying all over your kitchen bench.
  3. Beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
Salted Caramel Drizzle
  1. Place the sugar in a medium pan (make sure it’s dry and has no oily residues) and put over medium heat, don’t stir it.
  2. Eventually, the sugar will begin to melt, at which point increase the heat a little and gently shake the pan keeping it level on the hob until some of the sugar begins to change colour and caramelise.
  3. Using a long-handled metal spoon (so you don’t burn yourself) you can gently give it a stir to ensure it cooks evenly and is now a deep golden colour.
  4. Take off the heat and add the salt and butter and carefully stir it – it will bubble up so take care.
  5. Once the sizzling lessens, put back on medium heat and add 1/3 the cream, stirring as you do, and bring to the boil.
  6. Slowly add the remaining cream, stirring as you do, and bring to the boil, you don’t want any lumps.
  7. Lower heat to medium and cook 4 - 5 minutes to reduce the sauce and thicken it.
  8. Pour into a clean bowl and leave to cool to room temperature, then place in the fridge 15 minutes before pouring on the cake – if it’s too hot it will melt the cream cheese filling.
To Assemble
  1. Place one cake on your platter, spoon 2/3 of the vanilla cream cheese filling on and spread out to the rim of the cake.
  2. Spread the remaining 1/3 of the filling on the top of the other cake then flip it over and sit on the base cake.
  3. Gently press down and use a spatula to smooth the filling.
  4. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to let the filling form up before glazing the cake.
  5. Pour the cooled salted caramel onto the centre of the cake and use a spatula to push it gently to the outside, making sure it runs over the top and drizzles down the sides.
  6. Scatter the walnuts on the top.