Monday, July 19, 2010

Chocolate Banana Stud Cake



Rose's Heavenly Cakes, Page 96: Chocolate Banana Stud Cake

I never remember to take step by step photos!!  I think it's not easy to bake and take photos at the same time cos when i bake, i really concentrate..yup..Really! lol! 

I made the ganache like just before i baked the cake..lol! But...i put the ganache in the freezer to expedite the hardening process..and it seems to work quite well..just in time when i need to frost the cake.  I added rum to the ganache. 

The recipe is easy..pretty straight forward. Except when looking at the recipe, i can't find the oven temperature!  So i baked at 175c for 45mins.   I baked in 2 6" cake pan instead.  I wanted to layer the cake and at the same time, i thought to myself, the smaller the surface area, the lesser studs i need to put onto the cake..LOL!   I measured the weight of the banana and realized that it is slightly more than 1 banana..(i ate the left-over of the 2nd banana).  

After the cake cooled, i frosted ganache over and realised it is not very easy to frost on such a soft cake. The cake is exceptionally soft and tender. The cake kept wobbling..lol!  I look at the chocolate chips and felt lazy....so tiny & so many to put on the cake..  then I found some M&Ms...these were the halloween ones sold Oct last year and nobody bothered to eat them..including me..lol!  I thought i better use it up to decorate cake instead before this coming halloween and before the expiry of the M&Ms.  Plus M&Ms surface area larger..so means less work..lol!



Verdict:  Cake is exceptionally tender & soft with a hint of banana flavor and melts in the mouth.  My daughter didn't like the ganache and said it was bitter. But that's my fault i think cos i couldn't tell if the chocolate i used was 75% or 65% cocoa...the print on the paper faded off..   Now that she complained bitter, i guess must be 75%..:p  To my husband & me its ok cos i like dark chocolate...plus with all the other chocolate, I thought should blend in quite nicely.  I like the texture of the chocolate cake..although i'm not a fan of the combination of banana and chocolate though.    My husband doesn't like anything banana and yet said this cake is yummy, says so much for itself right?  

PS: However nobody really liked the chips or M&Ms..neither did i..we all threw out the chips after taking a bite with the chips on (what a waste..i thought of recycling the unwanted chips into cookies..lol!..of coz i didn't..just a mere thought that's all..). Eating chips or M&Ms on its own is fine..but eating with the cake..i don't like cos it mask the actual flavor of the cake which on its own is delicious enough imo. 


30 comments:

evil cake lady on July 19, 2010 at 11:06 AM said...

faithy, your cake looks so beautiful! great idea to make a little two layer version. i have a hard time remembering to take process photos too--sometimes i'm in the flow and don't want to stop and photograph.

Vicki on July 19, 2010 at 11:19 AM said...

I like how your cake looks! So bright and cheery.

Jenn on July 19, 2010 at 11:21 AM said...

Your cake is so cute!!! I love the size and how tall it is. Also love the idea of using M&M's, the orange color works well with the chocolate.

jkcurtis on July 19, 2010 at 12:03 PM said...

How fun to add some color to the cake -- makes it look a bit more festive.

NEL on July 19, 2010 at 12:15 PM said...

Very nice with the M&Ms, and the texture of the cake and ganache looks great too!

maameemoomoo on July 19, 2010 at 1:49 PM said...

It looks so rich!!

My cake totally.. now i want as well!

p.s : i really baked pound cake the other day, y'know.. LOL!

cocoa and coconut on July 19, 2010 at 4:15 PM said...

beautiful and i like the red studs :)

Y on July 19, 2010 at 8:22 PM said...

I saw this cake, and was tempted to make it, but wasn't sure I'd have the patience to apply the studs to the cake :P

Jamie on July 19, 2010 at 9:12 PM said...

What an adorable cake! Too cute! And the cake itself looks perfect! Chocolatey dense and luscious. I love Rose`s Cake Bible and now I think I have to buy this book. Yum!

Unknown on July 19, 2010 at 10:28 PM said...

Mmmmm.looks tasty! I often have to work hard to take any progress pics! I find I get my camera sticky when I do... :/

PAM on July 19, 2010 at 10:47 PM said...

I love the halloween m&m's, they really added to the cake. I also noticed there was no baking temperature so I baked it at 350 degrees F. Great job on your cake and post.

Hanaâ on July 20, 2010 at 1:09 AM said...

Your 2 layer looks gorgeous. Funny how we both went the "layer cake" route and used "bigger" chips for less work, ha ha. We didn't mind the chips because we didn't have that many of them.

Juliana on July 20, 2010 at 2:25 AM said...

Faithy, this chocolate cake looks fabulous...and so cute decorated :-)

Alpha Baker Joan on July 20, 2010 at 4:09 AM said...

Sooo cute. Love the color and the design! fantastic. The cake looks delicious.

Unknown on July 20, 2010 at 7:09 AM said...

Your cake sounds and looks delicious. The chips may not have tasted very good but they sure looked great on the cake!

faithy on July 20, 2010 at 10:55 AM said...

Thank you ladies!! You all sure know how to make my day with all your lovely comments! :D

Angie's Recipes on July 20, 2010 at 12:12 PM said...

The cake looks so moist and sinful with all the chocolate! A real treat!

Unknown on July 20, 2010 at 3:34 PM said...

This cake looks so cheerful, I would like to do something similar with Smarties!

SweetThingsTO on July 20, 2010 at 9:17 PM said...

Thanks for sharing. Your photos are wonderful!

Pei-Lin on July 20, 2010 at 11:19 PM said...

LOL! Yea, using M&Ms indeed was less time-consuming! Well, I've never used "wobbly" to describe a cake. LOL! You just made me laugh ...

Well, I don't mind choc cake being on the bittersweet side though as I'm more of a dark choc person, ideally, 85 percent is best for me. LOL! I rarely crave for milk choc and white choc.

Faithy, wonderful job here! Keep it up!

Bakertan on July 20, 2010 at 11:23 PM said...

Hi Faithy,

This is a happy looking cake. Anyone who sees it will wear a bright smile =]

the thought that the cake is very tender is making me drool. I love the combination of bananas and chocolate.

I dont like the idea of eating choco chips on their own. would rather use these precious ingredients for choc chip cookies. It where they truly belong.

same like you, i will forget to take process photos too. sometimes its because i find it too troublesome. need to wash hands and wipe dry before handling the camera.

Barbara Bakes on July 21, 2010 at 9:50 AM said...

Such a fun cake. I love the way you decorated it. Too bad everyone didn't love it.

Amanda on July 21, 2010 at 11:25 AM said...

Well the design is just adorable and amazing!! The recipe sounds fantastic!

Be blessed-
Amanda

Unknown on July 21, 2010 at 7:21 PM said...

I thought I was a decent baker but you put me to shame! I've been looking through your site and it's incredible! Your cake decorating skills (just one thing I need to improve on) are incredible - nothing amateur about it!! Love your daily verses too!

Jenniffer on July 23, 2010 at 2:20 AM said...

This is too cute! Great job!!

Mendy on July 23, 2010 at 11:05 AM said...

ב''ה

Your intense concentration shines through again.

:)

Great looking cake, even if you did not like the studs.

Unknown on July 25, 2010 at 6:01 PM said...

ooh Yum, Love the added rum, that is one delicious ganache.:-)
I spend so much time on taking photos my food usually gets cold before I touch it. LOL
love that colorful presentation.

Tracy on July 26, 2010 at 9:11 PM said...

So cute! I'd love to reach in and grab that slice! :-)

Deeba PAB on July 27, 2010 at 1:02 AM said...

Absolutely gorgeous...this is a winner Faithy!

Patricia Scarpin on July 27, 2010 at 7:56 PM said...

I wish I could have a slice of something so beautiful and delicious! Love bananas and chocolate together!

 

diary of Faithy, the baker Copyright © 2009 Cookiez is Designed by Ipietoon for Free Blogger Template