Banana Bread Cake with Caramel Icing

This is a wonderful little cake. It has the moisture and 'bounce' of a banana bread, but is sufficiently cakey  to be classified as such. The original recipe calls for peanut butter- I used nutella and it worked really well- I would recommend using nutella (or equivalent), cookie butter or almond butter, though peanut butter would be lovely too- just a slightly stronger flavour.
I found that the icing was pretty thick, and since the cake is pretty sweet, I think I would make only 2/3 or 1/2 of the icing next time.

Recipe found and adapted slightly from Smitten Kitchen

Banana Bread Cake with Caramel Icing

Ingredients:
For the cake:
113g (½ cup) unsalted butter
2tbsp nutella or peanut butter
150g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
53g (¼ cup) light brown soft sugar
1 egg
120ml (½ cup) sour cream or Greek yogurt
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
360ml (1 ½ cups, about 2 large/3 small) bananas, mashed
156g (1 cup) plain flour, sifted
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp salt
For the caramel icing (½ – ⅔ of the following may be used):
57g (¼ cup) unsalted butter
53g (¼ cup) light brown soft sugar
2tbsp milk
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
113-170g (1-1 ½ cups) icing sugar, sifted

20g dark chocolate, melted, to decorate

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180◦C/350F/mark 4 and line a 9x9 inch pan with foil.

2. Melt the butter in a large heatproof bowl. Add the peanut butter, heat for a further 20 seconds and stir the mixture until smooth and combined.

3. Add the sugars to the butter mixture and whisk to combine. Beat in the egg, sour cream/yogurt and vanilla, then add the bananas and stir to combine. Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and mix until just combined and no more streaks remain.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, until the cake is golden on top and set in the middle, with a toothpick inserted into the middle coming away clean. Leave in the pan for 20 minutes before removing from the pan and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

5. For the caramel icing, melt the butter in a small pan, add the brown sugar and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Allow the mixture to boil rapidly for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.

6. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream and vanilla, whisking to combine. Mix in the icing sugar, ½ cup at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.

7. Pour the glaze over the cake and spread to the edges with a knife/spatula dipped in hot water. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top.

Espresso Ice Cream

Recipe from David Lebovitz

Espresso Ice Cream

Ingredients:

150g (¾ cup) caster sugar360ml (1 ½ cups) whole milk1 ½ cups coffee beanspinch sal
t360ml (1 ½ cups) double cream5 egg yolks¼ tsp vanilla extract¼ tsp finely ground coffee
optional- small handful chocolate coated coffee beans


Method:
1. Heat the milk, sugar, coffee beans, salt and one third of the cream in a medium saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Cover, remove from the heat and let steep for an hour.

2. Return the mixture to the heat and heat again until steaming but not boiling. In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks together and gradually whisk in the hot mixture. Return to the saucepan and heat until the mixture thickens so that it will coat the back of a spoon and the coating will not run after running your finger across the coating.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks and remaining sugar in a large bowl and whisk in the mixture from the saucepan. Pour everything back into the saucepan and heat gently, to thicken, for about 10 minutes.

4. Pour the remaining cream into a heatproof bowl. Pour the custard through a sieve into the cream, pressing on the coffee beans; discard the beans. Mix in the vanilla and coffee, leave to cool and then cover and refrigerate before freezing in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions. Just before placing in the freezer, mix in the chocolate coated coffee beans, if using.

White Chocolate Espresso Cake

I'm not one for sweeping statements, but this may well be the best coffee cake I've ever had. So make it- now. Oh, and don't forget to make a batch of this gorgeous ice cream (it's a marriage made in heaven).

Recipe from Pastry Affair

White Chocolate Espresso Cake

Ingredients:

For the Cake

85g (6tbsp) unsalted butter

280g (1 ¼ cups) granulated sugar

3 eggs

120g (½ cup) sour cream or yogurt

75g (1/3 cup) vegetable oil

1tsp vanilla extract

300g (2 2/3 cups) cake flour

2tsp espresso powder

2tsp baking powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

¾ tsp salt

2tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

240ml (1 cup) cold or lukewarm espresso

For the frosting

115g (½ cup) unsalted butter

85g white chocolate, melted and cooled

1tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp salt

250g (2 cups) icing sugar

To decorate

coffee beans

1 tbsp cocoa powder

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/mark 4 and butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans or three 5 or 6 inch pans.

2. Sift together the flour, espresso powder, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3. Lightly whisk together the sour cream, vegetable oil and vanilla extract and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Mix in the wet ingredients and once combined, gradually incorporate the dry ingredients. Add the espresso and mix well to combine.

5. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes away clean. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cook for 10 minutes before removing from the pans to cool completely.

6. For the frosting, beat the butter until smooth, then add the chocolate, vanilla extract and salt. Sift in the sugar and beat until smooth, adding a dash of milk or more sugar as required.

7. To assemble, sandwich the cake layers together with the frosting. Spread a thin layer of the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, then sprinkle with coffee beans and cocoa powder.