Countless bananas, lots of cream, and a case of eggs later… my recipe testing for banana layer cake is complete. And she’s a stunner!
The idea for this cake came to me during pastry school on a day that we were making grapefruit crémeux for a citrus tart. I loved the stable pastry cream texture and immediately wanted to squish some between cake layers. At lunch while dining upon a banana that had ripened in my bag (yum), it hit me. Banana crémeux! But in what? Cake? Yes! Novel I know.
I used my recipe for banana cupcakes, moist, rich and lots of banana for the base. From there I did a few tweaks to the ratio of bananas to crème fraiche and added a touch of oil. Instead of the classic mixing method of creaming butter into sugar, I use the reverse technique of creaming the fat into the dry ingredients. The ripe banana, eggs, and crème fraiche are blended together like a smoothie, then mixed in last. Fluffy, moist, fat cake layers. Win!
In the center is a thick layer of banana crémeux, think lighter banana pudding. And the whole cake is frosted in a silky honey Swiss meringue buttercream. I love to use “smbc” on my layer cakes, it’s so easy to decorate with and not as heavy nor as sweet as American buttercream.
Why not cream cheese frosting? Well that’s what everyone does. Besides, with a robust cake crumb and banana pastry cream filling the frosting needed to be light to balance in both texture and flavor. Honey is the perfect compliment to banana without making the whole cake feel too heavy or too rich.
Give it a go and let me know what you think!
Happy Baking!
Jenn
Banana Layer Cake
Just need the frosting??
Honey Swiss Meringue Buttercream
If you’re baking a spring flavored cake with florals, citrus, or fruit, this light honey Swiss meringue buttercream is the perfect frosting. It’s silky, smooth, and has a not too sweet honey profile.
I’m in!🍌🌼
Wow! Thank you.