Banana Nut Crunch Layer Cake

I have a friend again! My friend who moved to Toronto 8 years ago came back to Vancouver for good just recently. I’ve never made her a birthday cake, because, well, the whole transporting a cake to Toronto is a tad difficult. But with her back in town, I finally had the chance to make her one.

It was a no-brainer as to which cake I was going to make. Ever since I bought the Milk Bar cookbook a few years ago, I’ve been eyeing the banana cake recipe. My friend really likes bananas (which I find interesting as I don’t know anyone else who would put bananas in their top 5 list. ps. she also likes rocks, which I find interesting. And maps.)

So here’s the cake! It’s a pretty intensive cake with recipes within recipes. Check out the verdict at the end of the post.

Banana Cake

slightly adapted from Milk Bar Cookbook

Ingredients

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 egg, room temperature

½ cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 Tablespoons oil (I used canola)

½ teaspoon banana extract (I omitted and the flavour was still there)

2 very ripe bananas

1 ⅓ cup flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line the bottom of 2, 5-inch cake pans with parchment (or use 3, 6-inch and omit slicing in half after baking). Grease the sides with oil or butter and add a thin layer of flour
2. Beat butter and sugar with the paddle attachment of a standmixer for 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides,  add egg, and beat for another 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides.
3. To the buttermilk, add the oil and banana extract (if using) and stir. With the mixer on low, stream in the buttermilk mixture a little at a time. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until doubled in size and light in colour (6 min). If after 6 minutes it doesn’t look homogenous, keep beating. Scrape down bowl.
4. Add banana and mix on low for 60 seconds.
5. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low for 60 sec just until things come together.
6. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the toothpick test come out clean. This will depend on your oven and the size of your cake pan.
7. Cool for 10 minutes before popping them out and cooling completely. Torte, or cut the cakes in half to make 4 layers (no need if you baked in 3 pans).

Hazelnut Brittle (to use in Hazelnut Crunch) (make ahead of time)

from Milk Bar Cookbook

Ingredients

½ cup sugar

¼ cup hazelnuts

Directions

1. Place silicone mat on a baking sheet.
2. Put sugar in a small saucepan and heat on medium-high to caramelize. Stir with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to cook evenly. Get to a dark amber colour. Take off heat.
3. Stir in hazelnuts and quickly spread out onto silicone mat. Cool completely
4. Break into pieces and place in a ziplock bag. Crush with a meat pounder or rolling pin until you get rice size pieces.

Hazelnut Crunch (make ahead of time)

slightly adapted from Milk Bar Cookbook

Ingredients

3 Tablespoons hazelnut paste (I used almond butter because that’s what I had)

1/3 cup of the hazelnut brittle from above

½ cup feuilletine (you can find this in specialty stores or online. If in Vancouver, you can get it at Gourmet Warehouse)

1 Tablespoon icing sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer and paddle until combined. Store in an airtight container.

Banana cream (make ahead)

slightly adapted from Milk Bar Cookbook

Ingredients

1 very ripe banana

2 ½ Tablespoon heavy cream

2 Tablespoons milk

¼ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ egg yolks

½ teaspoon powdered gelatin

1 ½ Tablespoon butter

yellow food colouring

¼ cup + 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

½ cup icing sugar

Directions

1. Puree banana, 2 ½ Tablespoons of heavy cream, and milk in a blender.
2. Add sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolk and blend until smooth. Pour into a saucepan. Clean the blender.
3. Bloom gelatin by sprinkling it over 2 Tablespoons of cold water in small cup. Allow it to sit for 3-5 minutes to soften.
4. Place saucepan over medium-low heat and cook while whisking. Bring to a boil then continue whisking for 2 minutes until it comes to a thick glue consistency.
5. Place contents of saucepan into the blender, add the gelatin, and blend until combined.
6. Add food colouring and blend.
7. Transfer to a bowl and cool in the refrigerator until completely cooled (1 hour).
8. Whisk remaining heavy cream and icing sugar to medium-soft peak. Add banana mixture and slowly whisk until combined. Store in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.

Ganache

from Sweetapolita Bakebook

Ingredients

150g dark chocolate, chopped

¾ cup heavy cream

½ Tablespoons corn syrup

pinch of salt

1 Tablespoons butter, in cubes

½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Place chocolate in a bowl.

2. In a saucepan, combine cream, corn syrup, and salt, and bring to a boil.

3. Pour over chocolate and let stand for 1 minute.

4. Whisk to combine, from the middle slowly out to the outer edge.

5. Add butter and mix.

6. Cool before using. If you make ahead, keep wrapped in the fridge and microwave for 10 seconds to make pliable.

Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients

¼ cup butter

1 cup icing sugar

1 Tablespoon heavy cream

¼ teaspoon vanilla (or banana) extract

yellow food colouring

Directions

Combine all ingredients except for the food colouring and mix until smooth. You can add more cream if it’s too thick. Add food colouring to your desired hue.

Finished product with acetate.

Assembly

Components

1. cake layers
2. ganache
3. hazelnut crunch
4. banana cream
5. frosting
6. ¼ cup milk
7. acetate 

Directions

1. Place a little dollop of frosting or ganache on your plate or cake board. Place first cake layer on top.
2. Using a pastry brush, brush milk over the surface and sides of cake.
3. Spread on a layer of ganache.
4. Sprinkle hazelnut crunch to completely cover the surface.
5. Add banana cream and spread out with a small spoon.
6. Place second cake layer on top.
7. Wrap acetate tightly around the cake so that it creates a container around it that extend above it. Secure with tape. This will hold the remaining layers and make it easier to build.
8. Repeat the layers until you end with the final cake layer.
9. Spread the buttercream frosting on top. Decorate as you like.
10. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Remember to peel of the acetate before serving.

Verdict: This cake was amazing! Moist, flavourful, with great texture from the hazelnut crunch. Definitely worth it to make, you just need to be very organized and start planning and prepping components days in advance because it’s too much to do in one day. I was on my honeymoon right before her bday, so I baked the cake beforehand and froze the layers. I made the ganache, banana cream, and hazelnut crunch the day before.

Hazelnut Meringue Cloud Cake

Another friend another birthday. I realized that I had never made a cake for this friend even though we’ve been friends for years. Well it was about time!

She loves hazelnuts and Nutella, so I knew I had to incorporate them into the cake somehow.  I was thinking of a light sponge cake with a hazelnut meringue layer inside.  I’ve never made a sponge cake before, so it was a bit of a risk.  Turns out sponge cakes have very few ingredients.  Some recipes have butter, while others don’t – I went with one with just egg whites, sugar, flour, salt and vanilla.

The cake would consist of 5 parts:

Sponge cake layers

Hazelnut meringue disk

Piped hazelnut meringue pieces

Swiss meringue buttercream

Nutella

Check out the verdict at the end of the post!

Hazelnut Meringue (disk and pieces)

Adapted from here. 

Ingredients

½ cup hazelnuts

3 egg whites, at room temperature

½ cup + 2 Tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1.  Place hazelnuts in a pan over medium heat and toast until golden.

2.  Gather the hazelnuts in a tea towel and rub together to take off skins.

3.  Blitz in a blender or food processor until finely ground.

4.  In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat egg whites until frothy.

5.  Add sugar one tablespoon at a time, and beat until thick and glossy.

6.  Add vanilla, and beat.

7.  Fold in hazelnuts with a spatula.

To make the disk, fill a piping bag with ¾’s of the meringue. Trace a 6-inch circle on parchment paper. Flip over onto a baking sheet and pipe the meringue tracing over the circle. Build it into a tall disk using.

To make the meringue pieces, line one side of the piping bag with Nutella. Fill the bag with the remaining meringue and pipe pieces onto a baking sheet.

8.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees F., and bake for 1.5 hours.  Turn off oven and let the meringue cool in the oven for 2 hours, but preferably overnight.

Ground hazelnuts

About to fold in hazelnuts.

Before baking.

After baking.

Sponge Cake

Adapted from here. 

Ingredients

3 egg, separated, and brought to room temperature

¼ teaspoon salt

90g sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

105g all purpose flour, sifted 2 times

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 355 degrees F.  Line 2 6-inch baking pans with parchment.  Grease and flour the sides.

2.  In a standmixer with whisk attachment, beat egg whites with salt until frothy.

3.  While beating, add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue beating until fairly stiff and very glossy.

4.  Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well between each. Add vanilla.

5.  Sift flour onto egg mixture and fold in with a spatula.

6.  Divide into baking pans and bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

7.  Turn off oven and allow cake to sit and cool with the door open for 30 minutes.

Before baking.

After baking.

Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Adapted from here. 

Ingredients

2.5 (75g) egg whites

½ cup sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1.  Wipe down bowl of stand mixer and whisk attachment with vinegar using a paper towel.

2.  Combine egg white and sugar in the bowl and place over simmering water.  Whisk continuously by hand until the temperature reaches 140 degrees F.

3.  Place the bowl in the stand mixer and whip until stiff peaks form and the meringue has cooled.

4.  Switch to a paddle attachment and add cubes of butter one at a time while beating.  Beat until smooth and silky.

5.  Add salt and vanilla and beat to combine.

Assembly

1.  Place a sponge layer on the cake plate. Spread a healthy amount of Nutella.

2.  Top with meringue disk. Spread more Nutella onto the meringue, and top with the second sponge layer.

3.  Use the Nutella to fill in the gap between the meringue and sponge layers (see photo).

4.  Spread a crumb coat of Swiss meringue buttercream over the entire cake.

5.  Line a piping bag with Nutella. Add the remaining Swiss meringue buttercream and pipe around the sides of the cake.  Don’t worry if there’s not enough to cover the entire side.

6.  Use a spatula or spoon to make swirls and spread to cover the sides.

7.  Top with meringue pieces.

Verdict: OMG, awesome cake, if I do say so myself! I don’t even really like hazelnuts but this cake was amazing. The sponge cake was super fluffy, which is requirement for any good cake and the combination of the cake layers, Nutella, and crunchy meringue, not to mention the fluffy and not too sweet Swiss meringue buttercream was perfectly balanced.  I can’t wait to experiment with the sponge cake recipe. Oh yeah, and the birthday girl was super surprised and really liked the cake!