Banana Cake With Mocha Frosting And Salted Candied Pecans

Have some over riped bananas and been looking for recipes that is different from the normal banana cakes. Came across this recipes from Bisous A Toi

Ingredients for the cake:

• 350g plain flour
• 11/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 11/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 230g unsalted, softened
• 280g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp instant espresso
• 2 large eggs
• 90ml yoghurt
• 2 cups banana puree

Candied Pecans:

• 150g pecan nuts
• 100g sugar
• 3 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Frosting:

• 280g bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 125ml strong brewed coffee
• 140g unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175C or 150C for fan oven. Butter the bottom of two 9" round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

To make the cake, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, tbaking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on a medium speed until light and fluffy- about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and instant expresso powder, then beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing until completely incorporated. Mix in half of the flour mixture, followed by the youghurt and banana puree. Stir in the remaining flour mixture. Don't overmix.

Divide the batter evenly among the 2 prepare pans. Bake until golden brown and the skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

To prepare the pecan nuts, in a medium heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat, combine the pecan nuts, sugar and the water. When the sugar begins to liquefy, begin stirring. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the sugar crystallizes. Decrease the heat to medium low and continue to cook, stirring, letting the crystallized sugar on the bottom melt and brown slightly. The use a heatproof spatula to scrape up the liquified sugar and continuously coat the pecan nuts with it, tilting the pan to help the sugar coat the nuts evenly.

Once the nuts are a bit glossy and coated with syrup (there will be some sugary crystals on them still, which is normal), sprinkle the sea salt and cinnamon over them. Stir the nuts a couple of times, then scrape the candied nuts onto a baking sheet and let cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the chocolate and coffee in a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the butter until combined. Let cool completely, until thick and spreadable.

To assemble the cake, run the knife around the sides of the cakes to help them loosen from the pans. Invert one cake onto a serving plate and peel off the parchment paper. Spread 3/4 cup of the mocha frosting over the surface of the cake. Invert the second cake layer out of the pan, peel off the parchment paper and place it over the frosted cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the top and sides of the cake.

Coarsely chop the candies nuts and sprinkle them over the top of the cake.