Monday, July 10, 2006

Awfully Chocolate Banana Cake





Chocolate Sponge cake:

3 nos. Extra Large egg yolks of about 90 gm. each (or use 4 medium eggs of about 60 gm. each)
100 gm. castor sugar
120 gm. Self Raising flour
1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
50 gm. Corn oil
1 teasp. vanilla essence

3 1/2 X.Large egg white (or use 4 1/2 medium eggs)
1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
60 gm. castor sugar

30 gm. cocoa powder + 120 gm. of hot water - stir till smooth

Method:

(1) Mix egg yolks, sugar, oil, SR flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and vanilla essence into a mixing bowl and stir with a wooden spoon.
(2) Add in cocoa mixture and stir together till smooth.
(3) Beat egg white with cream of tartar for 2 mins, then pour in sugar gradually till egg white becomes fluffy but not too stiff.
(4) Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg white mixture. Do not overmix otherwise the egg white will be deflated and the cake will sink. If you feel that you are mixing too long and can still see traces of egg white it means that you have overbeat your egg white. Stop mixing anymore, don't worry about the egg white traces, just pour into a 9" round cake tin and bake.
(5) Bake at 175C for about 50 mins. or till cooked.
(6) Cool the cake on wire rack and then slice into 3 layers.

Chocolate mousse:

250 gm. Non-Dairy Whip Cream
150 gm. Dairy whip cream
1 tsp. Vanilla essence
1 level Tablespoon of Gelatine powder - mix together with- 4 Tbsp. water and microwave for 20 secs
50 gm. Cocoa powder ) mix together
80 gm. icing sugar )
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Nescafe )
1 1/2 Tablespoon of hot water ) mix together
1 Tablespoon "Kahlua" or "Tia Maria" coffee liquer

2 large ripe Del Monte Bananas - slice thickly

Coating for the cake: Put into a mixing bowl and double boil till mixture thickens.
Cool before pouring onto cake.

35 gm. cocoa powder
50 gm. sugar
150 gm. Dairy whipping cream
80 gm. chocolate - chopped
30 gm. Butter

Method for the mousse:

(1) Beat the two whip cream separately.
(2) Mix all the ingredients together.
(3) Spread 1/3 of the mousse on the first layer of sponge cake, lay the slice bananas on top and then top up with another layer or sponge, continue till the last layer of sponge is used up.
(4) Cover the whole cake with the balance mousse and keep in the refrigerator till the mousse sets.
(5) Pour the coating onto the cake and let the chocolate mixture flows down the side smoothly.
(6) Decorate the cake and put into the frige till coating sets.
(7) Slice with a warm knife and serve.

69 comments:

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi aunty lucy :)

Want to make your Awfully chocolate banana cake...

The Chocolate mousse requires some dairy whip cream to be whiped. I've a few bad experiences with Dairy whip cream before and they all landed in the dustbin ;(

Anyway, does it need to be chilled before whipping? Or can it be whip at room temperature? or better still, can it be omitted..will it makes any difference if i just use Non Dairy whip cream instead?


Thanks......

Roylazim

Aunty Yochana said...

Dear Roylazim,

I've moved your e-mail to my blog for others to share your experience.

Dairy whip cream is a very sensitive cream to handle. Chill your bowl before whipping if possible. When whipping the cream, pls do not move away from it. Stand by the cream and watch , as soon as it turns thick , off it and you can use already. Further beating will cause the cream into butter - separates into water and butter. If it happens, do not use for cake but you can use it for ganache.

Hope you are clear. Otherwise, let me know again.

rgds.

Anonymous said...

YES,YES, YES!!!!! Thats what happened !!, Thanks Lucy. Now i know what to do. So wish me luck this time......

Regards,
Roy

Anonymous said...

Thank you Lucy...I made this cake for my niece birthday last weekend and everyone loved it so much :) I was too busy serving it to everyone that i forget to take a pic to show u but nvm, i'm making another one just for myself this weekend and hopefully i'll be able to show a pic or two to you.
Thanks again ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy, I baked this cake 2 weeks ago for a family gathering. The cake was awesome and my nieces loved it. However, it did not turn out as pretty as yours. The shape didnt turn out well. I am also not very good with coating the cake and the deco. Did you use a cake ring when you do such cakes?
Christina

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy,

I noticed you have stopped posting in KC so I will come here to support you in future :) I´m really lost for words at your energy level to churn out so beautiful cakes & all everyday. I would love to give this choc cake recipe a try but I have a question on the non-dairy whip cream. The whip cream I can find over here (Germany) are all dairy whip cream & I don´t think I´ve seen any non-dairy ones. Can I use all dairy whip cream for this recipe instead? Thanks for your advice.

Rgds

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi purplegirl,

I missed talking to you too. Yes you can use Dairy whip cream but stand by the machine when you are whipping. If you overwhip, it will separate into water and butter. It has 35% fat and it taste more delicious than the non dairy whip cream but the volume will not be as high as the non-dairy. Nonethess, perhaps you could increae a bit more on your diary whip cream to give the mousse it's volume.

Have a nice day and rgds..

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy,

Thanks for your speedy reply and advice. Really appreciate it a lot and yes, I missed talking to you too. Am glad that you have your own blog so I can still come & visit you here. I´ll tell you later how the cake turns out. You have a nice day too! :)

Akemi said...

thanks for sharing this, hopefully i have time to do this over the weekend and show you a pic too.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty lucy,

Just to check with you for the cornoil, how many ml is 50gm?

Does this conversion applies to the water to be mix with the cocoa powder as well. Thanks in adv.

rgds
gossiping

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi gossipping,

ml and gm is the same which means:

50 gm. = 50 ml.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana

MAy I use ganache to iced the cake? Do I need to add gelatin to it cos I afraid the ganache will run before I serve it =D

Have a great weekend!!

CheerS
saori

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Saori,


For ganache, no need to add in gelatine cos the large amount of chocolate to the cream is thick enough to set. chill it before slicing.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty, I'm no baking expert but when u convert liquid measurement from ml to grams, it is not always the same. Same rule only applies to water/milk/cream; but not for oil and egg white. I've been told this rule in a few baking classes I attended and also some other foodblogs. I find the following conversion website useful :
http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking
I am still going through your past entries to catch up ....

Aunty Yochana said...

Thanks Lilee for your info.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,
Would like to know whether the 150 gm diary whip cream in the chocolate mousse can be substitute with non-diary whip cream? Meaning that we use 400 gm non-diary whip cream instead of 250 n-dwc & 150 dwc. And also for the coating the 150gm diary whipping cream - can it be substitute with non-diary whip cream? I was thinking of making this cake for my hubby's birthday next week. Thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi delia,

yes your suggestion is acceptable.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty,
Made this cake last sunday. Everyone gives this cake thumbs up. There's also a chocolate banana cake recipe at IK by jadelotus/cete. I've tried that one also. Yours is better. Thanks for the recipe.

Aunty Yochana said...

Oh Thanks delia.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Yochana,
I made this Awfully Chocolate Banana Cake for my husband. Everything went smoothly until the part for the chocolate mousse - I only used heavy cream in replacement for the two whip cream (non dairy and dairy whip cream), so as a result my mousse had harden pieces of gelatine in it. May I know what I did wrong? Isn't supposed to be smooth chocolate mousse? Please let me know. Thank you so much - Seet Mei.

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,
I made this awfully chocolate banana cake for my husband. It was delicious. Everything went well, but as for the mousse part, I only use heavy cream in replacement for the dairy and non dairy whipping cream. I followed closely every step except for the heavy cream, and my question is how come the gelatine harden when I made it? Most of the mousse turned out okay but somehow I got little harden pellets of gelatine in the chocolate mousse. May I know what I did wrong. Please let me know. Thanks - Seet Mei

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Seet mei,

For the gelatine, mix it when it's hot. If you wait for it cool down and mix into the cold whip cream, it will set and harden into small pellets as you stir.
Take some cream to stir into the gelatine mixture first before folding into the rest.
rgds.

绫 ♥ said...

hi aunty lucy :)

i attempted e recipe for the cake last night, its nw sitting inside e fridge :P

however i encountered a prob~my ganache wasnt smooth~

was it a correct move to add all the ingredients into the pot @ one go? the bits appear to be the cocoa powder.

thanks alot :)&
have a nice day!

Aunty Yochana said...

hi maooam,

did you sieve your cocoa powder? You have to stir till smooth before double boiling it.

rgds. Pisces

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

thank you for this recipe. I tried baking last week and it was indeed tasty. :) I reduced the amount of sugar and replaced with more bananas. The only problem was the ganache. It wasn't smooth like yours. I shall try again another time.

Home Baker said...

Hi Aunty,
I made these cake over the weekend and it taste so yummy. However, I encounter some 'problem' and hope you help to enlighten me:

1) My banana became very mushy after taken out from fridge and a little "brown". Why is that so and anyway to solve this problem?

2) The mousse soften very fast after taken out from fridge. Any tips to prolong the effect?

Cyndi

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi cyndi,

Next time try to soak your bananas in lemon juice to prevent oxidation. Lemon juice helps ...

Your gelatine could have been overboiled and thus it doesn't set as much. You either increase a little more on your gelatine or just double boil till transparent will do. If no gelatine is needed, the chocolate must be of good quality in order to set the whipped cream.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Lucy,

I've tried the recipe and I used all dairy whipping cream for the mousse since I can't get the non-dairy one. I like the taste. I'm also happy that the mousse held its shape well too, and the cake was tall.

I will make it again soon but I thought of tweaking it a bit - to make the mousse a bit "lighter" in texture. I was thinking of maybe adding an egg white (beat into meringue first) then folding it into the whipped cream along with the other ingredients.

In your opinion would that work? Will the mousse still hold its shape well with the addition of the meringue?

Thank you for the recipe and your input.

Regards,
Sarah

Home Baker said...

Thanks Aunty for the tips. I will try out again.

Cyndi

Serendipity said...

Hi Aunty Yochana! Would like to try out this recipe during this school holidays but I am a little confused by the wordings under the "chocolate mousse" part of the recipe.

"50 gm. Cocoa powder ) mix together
80 gm. icing sugar )
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Nescafe )
1 1/2 Tablespoon of hot water ) mix together.
1 Tablespoon "Kahlua" or "Tia Maria" coffee liquer"

Does it mean I mix the cocoa powder with the icing sugar and then mix the nescafe with hot water by itself? In the end then I put together everything?

Thanks!

Regards,
Audrey

Aunty Yochana said...

Yes Audrey,

You're correct..

rgds

Serendipity said...

Dear Aunty Yochana,

Thanks for your earlier reply. I've one more query, is dairy whip cream the same as dairy whipping cream? If so, what brand do u usually go for?

Thanks!


Regards,
Audrey

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Audrey,

Non-dairy is different from Dairy whip cream.

Dairy contains 35% fat or more than Non-Dairy and it's more tasty.

Diary whip cream must not overbeat otherwise it will separate into milk and butter texture.

rgds

Serendipity said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

I've just baked the sponge cake and am in the midst of preparing the mousse and coating. The sponge cake seems very strange (though I haven't tasted it). It's out of shape at the top (1 side tilted)and of very light colour. In fact to get 90g x 3= 270g egg yolks, I used more than 10 eggs! Coz I can't find very large eggs at the provision shop or supermarket nearby. There seems to be a lot of egg while so the sponge cake looks abit like meringue (softer version). I wonder if there's anything I did wrong...

Thanks~!

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,
Your cake looks like Dino Chocolate Cake (: a bit of a jelly-ish texture for the coating of the cake! One quick question, how did you decorate your cake? Did you pipe the lines or use a toothpick? I just can't stop looking at all the bakes you've done!
Thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

hi bonnie,

I piped it.

Thanks for your compliments.

have fun browsing.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,
It's me again! When you say baking powder, or in general baking powder, is it single acting or double acting? Because I only can get double acting here, so would I still be able to do this cake? Thanks :)

Aunty Yochana said...

hi bonnie,

I didn't get single baking powder. All my bakes uses double-action baking powder even if the recipe requires single bk powder.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi AUnty Yochana,
I'm going to make this tomorrow for a friend party. But for the 80g of chocolate you stated, is it ok to use cooking chocolate?? Thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Julia,

yes it's indeed cooking chocolate.

rgds

Doodle lil-thing said...

Hi Aunty Yo,

I've tried out this recipe over the weekend for my hubby's birthday. Everyone loved it! From the children to the adults. Thanks so much for ur wonderful recipes! Love u Aunty Yo!.

Cheers

Marrie

Aunty Yochana said...

Thumbs up Marrie.

love u too..take care.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yo,

if i don't have self raising flour, what other flour can i used? Cake flour or all purpose? Because i noticed in Singapore our self raising flour is all the same. WHereas in overseas, they have self raising cake flour and normal self raising flour.

What difference does this make?

thanks

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Phoebe,

Oh I only know the singapore sr flour. It has baking powder added into it.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

I have made this cake over the weekend. It taste good but I didnt manage to get a nice & smooth top layer of the ganache (like yours in the picture). Mine turn up to be lots of bubbles. Any advise on this?

Also, the chocolate cake seems to have quite a lot of lumps. Can i use the mixer (instead of a wooden spoon) to mix ingredient stated in step 1?

Many Thanks!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi anonymous,

if your cake has lumps, your mixing of the cake is no good. You have to practice to fold it correctly and quickly.

for the topping, stir the mixture till smooth and then double boil under medium heat to acieve a smooth consistency then slowly lower to low heat. Using high heat will cause the topping to be lumpy.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty

Thanks for the quick response to my queries on the topping and lumps.

I dont have strong hands to mix the ingredients; that's why couldnt get rid of the lumps while mixing. Is there any difference if I used the mixer instead of wooden spoon to stir the mixture in Step 1? What's the purpose of using the wooden spoon?

Thanks!

Regards

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Anonymous,

you don't need strong hands to do it. A wooden spoon is good so that you won't overbeat it ..

rgds

Broken Cone said...

Hi Aunty

I just read your recipe and am a bit confused. Is the gelatin for the coating or for the mousse? From the picture is looks like it's for the coating. But in your text it looks like its for the mousse.

Thanks, Ann.

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi Portia,

the gelatine is for the mousse.

rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Y,

I have been looking for this recipe ever since i tasted Secret Recipe's Choc Banana cake. At last i found my fav cake recipe, thank u for sharing.

My question is can i turn this recipe into a cupcake recipe? Pls advise.

have a nice day... CT

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi CT

Yes you can change to a cupcake version.

rgds

Anonymous said...

hi aunty!

Glad i found this recipe. Would be using this recipe for my hubby's coming bday. But I need to clarify something.

Your text indicate beat cream of tartar with egg for 2 mins and then add in the sugar. Just stir only or continue beating?

THANKS!

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Lucy,

Is there any special brand for this Dairy & Non-Dairy whipping cream you suggested?

Furthermore, if I want to make the Chocolate cake only, the only difference is not putting the banana? or the topping will be different?? (Sorry maybe this question is too stupid)

Thanks!

Unknown said...

Hi

Was wondering if I can substitute the gelatine for agar agar powder (baking kind, not the kind for jelly) as I'd like to make the cake vegetarian. Any advice on substitution quantities?

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty Lucy,

I tried baking the sponge cake. It looked great in e oven but it shrunk badly and went out of shape when left to cool. Did i overmix e batter or it wasn't baked long enough. I know when e sponge cake is baked it actually doesn't stick to e sides of the pan. Please advise me further.

Thank you

Angelina

Anita said...

Dear aunty

U didnt answer the following comment by another reader Serendipity for this cake. I'd also like to know the answer. Thanks!

Hi Aunty Yochana,

I've just baked the sponge cake and am in the midst of preparing the mousse and coating. The sponge cake seems very strange (though I haven't tasted it). It's out of shape at the top (1 side tilted)and of very light colour. In fact to get 90g x 3= 270g egg yolks, I used more than 10 eggs! Coz I can't find very large eggs at the provision shop or supermarket nearby. There seems to be a lot of egg while so the sponge cake looks abit like meringue (softer version). I wonder if there's anything I did wrong...

Thanks~!

Aunty Yochana said...

Hi anita

3 extra large egg yolks = 60 to 70 gm only. (90 gm. means the weight of the whole egg).

rgds

Indra said...

Thanks for clearing that up. Based on the wording in the recipe, that part about the egg yolks is confusing, and the directions for the mousse and coating are also not in the correct order. A bit hard to follow, Auntie, especially for newbies!

Anonymous said...

Hi! If I want to make this cake in a 11" cake pan, how much more ingredients should I use? Is there a formula? Thanks, Michelle.

myHappyBelly said...

Hi Aunt Yochana,

what sort of cocoa powder would you recommend to use for this recipe please?
1) Natural Cocoa Powder such as Nestle/ Hersheys
2) or Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder such as Valhorna?

Thank you vm
May

Olivia Agnes said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Love your Awfully Chocolate Banna Cake.. Looks yummy yummy...

Love to bake this but would like to bake in a 12" x 10" rectangle tin.. Your recipe is for 9" round tin. Is it possible to advise how much more portion of ingredients I would need to bake a rectangle cake.

Thanks....

Agnes

Olivia Agnes said...

Hi Aunty Yochana,

Love your Awfully Chocolate Banna Cake.. Looks yummy yummy...

Love to bake this but would like to bake in a 12" x 10" rectangle tin.. Your recipe is for 9" round tin. Is it possible to advise how much more portion of ingredients I would need to bake a rectangle cake.

Thanks....

Agnes

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yochana
Izzit possible to make it into log cake? thx!
Voi

Anonymous said...

Hi aunty yochana
Izzit possible to make it into a log cake?
Thx!
Voi :)

sammy25 said...

Hi aunty yochana,

Hopefully you can reply urgently as I'm trying to make a topsy turvy cake for my friend's birthday this week and I decided to use this recipe for the cake.

About the filling,do I have to chill it frequently?because I won't be able to chill after layering the fondant. I need your advice.

Unknown said...

HI, Aunty Yochana,

Do need to whisk eggs yolk with sugar until sugar dissolve first before mixing the rest?

Thanks

Kit

Unknown said...

Hi. Aunty yochana,

Do I need to whisk eggs yolk and sugar till dissolved first then only add in the rest?

A said...

Hi, this cake looks beautiful, but how do u measure 120 gm water in gms? I am in uk & we measure liquid in fl oz or ml or litre etc. I want to get the conversion right. Or have you literally weighed the water in a weighing scale? I have seen this in a lot of your recipes. Hp u can reply ASAP thank u.