Banana Caramel Cake

I know I already have a couple of banana cake recipes on here (you can find them here and here), and frankly, there must be thousands of recipes out there for the humble banana cake, so I’m not exactly reinventing the wheel here. Having said that, I am quite partial to this recipe I am sharing with you. I think it’s actually down to the caramel cream cheese frosting (truth be told, I’d even suggest the cake is merely a vessel for the frosting, because…..cream cheese frosting!!). Super easy to make and just a little bit fancy so that you can feel a bit smug when you serve this up to your mates.

serves 10-12

Ingredients

130g unsalted butter, softened

200g (1 cup) soft brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla paste

2 eggs, room temperature

2 large very ripe bananas (or 3 small), mashed

80g (1/3 cup) plain full fat yoghurt

180g (1.5 cups) self raising flour

1/2 tsp bi-carb soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting

250g cream cheese, very soft

100g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar

125ml (1/2 cup) pouring cream

Method

Preheat oven to 160C and grease and line a 21cm round cake tin.

Place butter, sugar and vanilla in a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater and beat until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between additions. Add the mashed banana and yoghurt and mix until combined. Sieve the flour, bicarb and cinnamon over the batter and gently fold through until combined.

Pour mixture into prepared cake tin and bake for around 60-70 minutes or until the middle springs back when gently pressed. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, place the brown sugar and cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and simmer rapidly for around 4-5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to lukewarm. Set 1/4 cup of the caramel aside to drizzle over the cake later. Place the cream cheese into a bowl along with the remaining caramel and beat until smooth. If the frosting seems a little runny at this stage, put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up.

Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and then drizzle with the reserved caramel.