You know how it is when you have leftover bananas – you need to do something with them before they turn to total mush. Waste not, want not – right? So with several overripe bananas staring me in the face I turned to my cookbooks, reading several different recipes and combining a couple to come up with the ultimate finished product. I knew I wanted chocolate in the mix because chocolate and banana go so well together like in the chocolate banana cookies I made. I didn’t want to just toss in some chips so I ended up with a marbled cake.
And it was good.
I am sure I will make it again. Unless I want something fancier then I will go with my Banana Split Bundt Cake.
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Marbled Banana Cake
Makes 2 loaf cakes
2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 very ripe bananas peeled
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 TBS rum
6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 325°
Butter and flour two 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75″ loaf pans.
Mash the bananas. Mix in the lemon juice and then add the rum. Stir and set aside.
Melt the bittersweet chocolate with 4 TBS of butter over low heat. Set aside.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about two minutes.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
Mix in the bananas. The batter will look quite curdled. Don’t worry.
Mix the heavy cream and water together.
Add the flour and cream/water in alternating additions – beginning and ending with the flour.
Take 1/3rd of the batter and add it to a separate bowl. Mix in the melted chocolate mixture until well combined.
Add the batter to the prepared pans: drop dollops of plain batter and chocolate batter in alternating layers next to each other. Continue the second layer in the opposite.
When all of the batter has been distributed between the two pans run a knife through the batter to swirl the two batters together.
Bake in the preheated over f or 1 hour and 20 – 30 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
Cook on a rack for 15 minutes and remove from the pans.
Cool completely
How Was the Marbled Banana Cake?
This cake is really wonderful and it is a cake, not a bread. There is a definite difference from a banana bread recipe. This is much richer, denser and not quite as sweet. The bittersweet chocolate adds a very strong flavor to this moist cake.
The banana flavor is not overpowered by the chocolate but rather complemented. It’s even better the second day. I can see adding a touch of orange the next time I make it. Mmmmm.
PrintMarbled Banana Cake
a rich moist cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 2 loaves 1x
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 3 very ripe bananas peeled
- 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 TBS rum
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 8 large eggs
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°
- Butter and flour two 8 x 4 x 2″ loaf pans.
- Mash the bananas. Mix in the lemon juice and then add the rum. Stir and set aside.
- Melt the bittersweet chocolate with 4 TBS of butter over low heat. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attached cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about two minutes.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla.
- Mix in the bananas. The batter will look quite curdled. Don’t worry.
- Mix the heavy cream and water together.
- Add the flour and cream/water in alternating additions – beginning and ending with the flour.
- Take 1/3rd of the batter and add it to a separate bowl. Mix in the melted chocolate mixture until well combined.
- Add the batter to the prepared pans: drop dollops of plain batter and chocolate batter in alternating layers next to each other. Continue the second layer in the opposite. When all of the batter has been distributed between the two pans run a knife through the batter to swirl the two batters together.
- Bake in the preheated over f or 1 hour and 20 – 30 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
- Cook on a rack for 15 minutes and remove from the pans.
- Cool completely
Keywords: banana, banana cake, marble cake, banana and chocolate
