It’s weekend time and that means bring it! Bring on the tons of sugar, and the truckloads of chocolate, and the vats of caramel, and the mountains of frosting….. Oh, and if it could all be in the form of a cake that would be awesome!

I’m getting very excited about traveling again soon and I have so many things to plan for and so many things I want to make, but I feel like I’m almost more unorganized at this moment then I’ve ever been. I made it a new years resolution back at the beginning of this year to get things together, but apparently I wasn’t very set about my resolution because it didn’t work.

Speaking of the weekend, can you guys believe that it’s already so far into April? I put in a request for the infamous "them" to stop time for a little while and let us all catch up, but clearly it didn’t make it to the right people. Better luck next time I guess.

That’s it, effective immediately I am going to get organized. No, I mean it this time. I’m always making lists and jotting down ideas or things I need to get done. Really, I’m a very talented list maker, got that part covered. My problem comes in when it’s time to actually refer to a list. Not only do I forget to do this, but I have so many lists that I usually forget which is which and I sometimes even forget why I wrote it down in the first place. The cycle of scribbling and noting repeats over and over and is always followed by me getting so fed up with the stacks of lists that no longer mean anything to me that I throw them all away and start the vicious circle over.

So I might be exaggerating a little bit but still, I need to get it together. Anyway though, this cake is what happens when you make too much caramel for trials of your latest recipe, you have a bunch of overripe bananas, and you live in a household that has a very high minimum requirement of daily chocolate necessary to keep the peace. The banoffee cake. It can best be described as a banana bread on steroids!

Chocolate, Caramel, & Banana "Banoffee" Cake

Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 12 - 18

Ingredients

Cake:

3 large or 4 smaller overripe bananas,mashed
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/3 cup dulce de leche or caramel sauce (I used this bourbon caramel)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup black coffee
4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, slightly softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons dulce de leche or caramel sauce (I used this bourbon caramel)
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ganache:

50g semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 ripe banana, sliced
2-3 tablespoons more caramel for drizzling

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180C) and grease 3 8 or 9 inch round cake pans with oil. Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add bananas and oil; stir until combined. Beat in eggs one at a time until well mixed. Add all remaining ingredients up to the chocolate chips and mix until smooth then stir in chips and pour batter into prepared pans.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean and cakes are firm. Remove from oven and cool for about 15 minutes, then use a knife to loosen sides of cake from pans and invert cake pans onto large plates and lift off the pans. Place on a cooling rack and cool completely before assembling cake. You can wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge or freezer for an hour or two to speed this up.
Frosting:
Beat butter and 1 cup of powdered sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until creamed. Gradually add remaining sugar and continue mixing in. Add remaining ingredients for frosting and slowly increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy.
Assemble:
Place one of the cake layers on a serving platter and spread a moderate layer of frosting on top. Add second layer and repeat with frosting then cake then frosting again.
Melt the chocolate and cream for the ganache in a double boiler over medium heat.Stir until well mixed then slowly pour over cake and allow a bit to run off the edges. Top cake with banana slices and drizzle with caramel. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

For more great food ideas and inspiration, please do not forget to look at my other recent posts

1. Avocado Chicken Green Enchilada Bake
2. White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
3. Monster Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
4. Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto & Havarti Grilled Cheese
5. Caramel Milkshakes + Celebrating 15,000 Followers!
6. Easy Cinnamon Sweet Potato Quick Bread
7. Sweet Hot Sesame Mustard Chicken Pizza
8. Blueberry Almond Streusel Crumb Muffins (Gluten Free)
9. Hummus Crusted Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
10. https://steemit.com/photography/@gringalicious/5-ingredient-s-mores-puff-pastry-pop-tarts-food-photo-shoot

ALL CONTENT IS MINE AND ORIGINAL! All of these food photos were taken with my Nikon D750 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G. You can find out more in my INTRO POST.

And, by the way, to all the minnows out there, my intro post did a huge $0.21. The key to success on Steemit is to be consistent and persistent. Click on the link below for some great tutorials on how you can also succeed on the steem blockchain:

Master Toolkit: Steemit Resource Guide Illustrated by @sndbox

Also, a huge shoutout to @rigaronib for designing my logo!

Do you want to learn more about me? Click here to see a recent @wadepaterson interview with me - 20 questions with @gringalicious