Silly as it seems, my favorite dessert at this Seattle chocolate cafe is their banana coconut cake. My first time there I ordered a hot chocolate and got their banana coconut cake so I wouldn’t overdose on chocolate. (Is there even such a thing as overdosing on chocolate?) Every visit thereafter, this cake would scream out to me from the menu, “Pick me! Pick me!” And I always obeyed. Try as I might, I could not resist the dreamy layers of genoise cake, filled with airy chantilly cream and sliced bananas, and draped with more chantilly cream and flaked coconut.
Since I had the opportunity to create a celebration cake last week (a birthday!), it did not take long for me to choose a cake to bake. I found a recipe for a soft, light cake by baking guru, Dorie Greenspan, on this blog (I am in awe of this blogger — she has gone through a crazy number of Dorie Greenspan’s recipes and more), and I pounced on it. It isn’t quite a genoise, but is something closer to angel food cake. Something that would go very well with chantilly cream, I thought.
The cake is baked in two round pans. After they cool, they are split in half horizontally to make four layers of cake. The heck is beaten out of the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla to form the chantilly cream. A layer of cake is then topped with chantilly cream, sliced bananas (I used about three ripe bananas in all), some more chantilly cream, and a drizzle of flaked, sweetened coconut, before another layer of cake is plopped on. This is repeated until the top layer is set into place, and then the whole cake is covered in chantilly cream. Because the cake will be covered in flaked coconut, the final assembly of this cake is very forgiving, in terms of presentation. You do not have to achieve a perfect, smooth coat of chantilly cream before packing coconut onto the top and sides of the cake. It will look beautiful no matter what. Coconut is wonderful like that.
Nom nom nom.
Perfect Party Cake (from here)
From Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”
Makes 12 to 14 servings
For the Cake
* 2 1/4 cups cake flour
* 1 tablespoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk
* 4 large egg whites
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
* 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9-x-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.
To Make The Cake: Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and, working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the tough – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean. Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unmold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up. (The cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to 2 months.)
Vanilla Chantilly Cream (from here)
2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a large mixing bowl, beat the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract together on high speed until soft peaks form in the mixture. Chill any unused Chantilly cream.
Makes enough cream for one average-size cake or pastry recipe.
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