I hesitate to share this recipe with you. Not because it’s some sort of secret family recipe, or because it holds a special place in my heart, but because it holds a giant place in my stomach. I made this cake on Monday, and we (only two normal sized humans) demolished this cake in under two days. It’s ridiculous really, but this cake is out-of-this-world good. It’s super moist, almost like a bread pudding, and my favorite way to eat it was hot out of the oven (or reheated in the microwave) with a scoop of ice cream on top. Don’t judge me.
It’s not the prettiest cake you’ve ever made, but it makes up for it’s mediocre appearance with each heavenly bite. We go through a lot of bananas in our house, but I’m secretly happy when they get too ripe as I know I can make some sort of banana bread/muffin/cake concoction out of those sad, brown bananas. And this baking outcome certainly didn’t disappoint.
So make it now, but proceed with caution.
Chocolate Banana Caramel Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups canola oil
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 ripe bananas, mashed
Caramel:
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Butter and flour a bundt pan, and preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs, oil and sugar. With the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that the sugar has been incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and mix for another 30 seconds.
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients a bit at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then to ensure everything is incorporated.Once the dry ingredients have been added, remove the bowl from the stand mixer and the chocolate and bananas. Gently fold them in with a spatula or a wooden spoon. Don’t over mix.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes and then test the cake to see if it’s done by poking a toothpick or cake tester into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, bake the cake for another 5 to 10 minutes – I had to bake mine for about 65 minutes.
About 5 to 10 minutes before the cake is done, make the caramel by combining all the ingredients in a small pan. Bring to the boil and stir occasionally to ensure that it doesn’t burn. Let it boil for about 5 minutes and then turn off the heat.
Once the cake is out of the oven, poke holes all over the cake with a skewer (I used my cake tester) and Immediately pour 1/2 the caramel over the cake, stopping every now and then to let the caramel sink in. If the caramel pools in spots, poke more holes to allow it to sink in.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack. Once it’s cool, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and then unmold it onto a plate. Pour the other 1/2 of the caramel over the top of the cake or you can pour over individual pieces.
