Banana Cake with Praline Filling and White Chocolate Ganache

This luscious Banana Cake with Praline Filling and White Chocolate Ganache is one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted. Ever. The cake is rich and buttery and you just cannot go wrong with pecan praline filling, am I right? Oh, and then there’s the white chocolate ganache…sigh. This is one spectacular cake!

I did make a few slight amendments to the original recipe. I didn’t deep fry my pecans. I don’t deep fry. Not because of health reasons, I can assure you. I’m deathly afraid of burning my house down. Instead I made my tried and true recipe for candied nuts, I added more banana to the cake batter in place of some of the butter, and stabilized the white chocolate whipped cream with a little gelatin. The truth is, it didn’t set up very well because it wasn’t cold enough. Just make sure your mixture is cold enough and I’m sure you’ll be fine. (See my recipe for Black Forest Cake on how to stabilize whipped cream.)

Holy Banana. This cake is really good. My kids went nuts for it. Next time–because there will be a next time–I will also add a bit more white chocolate to the ganache. I heart white chocolate. (As long as there’s really cocoa butter in it.)

Banana Cake with Praline Filling and White Chocolate Ganache

Makes a 9-inch triple layer cake (or halve for a 6-inch cake)
Recipe from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman
Note: See this recipe for How To Candy Nuts. I used them in place of the deep-fried pecans. You could also toss the nuts with a little oil and powdered sugar and bake them in a single layer on a baking sheet at 350 degrees until brown – about 10-15 minutes.


Ingredients:

For Banana Cake:

3 cups of cake flour
3 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of ripe mashed bananas (I used 1 cup)
2 sticks (8 ounces) of softened unsalted butter (I used 1 1/2 sticks)
2 cups of sugar
7 egg whites

For Praline Filling:

1 cup sugared pecans, cooled
1 1/2 cups white chocolate ganache

For Sugared Pecans:

1 1/2 cups pecan halves
3 cups vegetable oil
1 cup confectioners sugar

For White Chocolate Ganache:

8 ounces of white chocolate chopped
2 1/2 cups of heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter three 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper or wax paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside dry ingredients. In a food processor or blender, process the milk and banana into a smooth light puree. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. On medium high speed, beat in egg whites 2-3 at a time until smooth. Scraping down the sides of the bowl between egg additions.

With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and banana puree alternately in 2-3 additions, beating until just blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on medium-high speed for 1-minute. Divide the batter among the cake pans.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of each cake. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then turn out onto a wired rack and remove the paper liners. Then cool completely one hour.

For the Praline Filling:

With a large chef’s knife chop the pecans. Or pulse in a food processor being careful not to turn into paste. Add the sugared pecans to the white chocolate ganache and stir to mix well.

For the Sugared Pecans:

Place the pecans in a medium sauce pan, add water to cover, and heat to a boiling. Boil the pecans slowly until they are swollen and soft 5-8 minutes. Drain the nuts well in a sieve for about 5 minutes. (Do not pat dry; the nuts must remain damp.)

While the nuts are draining, heat the oil in a large heavy saucepan or deep fat fryer t0 350F degrees.

Set half of the nuts aside. Dust the remaining nuts in the sieve with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Shake the sieve to coat the nuts evenly, letting any excess sugar fall away. Immediately add the coated nuts to the hot oil. Fry until golden brown about 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon scoop the nuts out and drain them on several thickness of paper towels. Repeat the process with the remaining nuts.

For the White Chocolate Ganache:

Put the white chocolate in a medium heat proof bowl. In a small sauce bring 1/2 cup of the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand for 1-minute, then whisk until smooth. Let the white chocolate cream stand until cooled to room temperature.

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters beat the remaining 2 cups of heavy cream and vanilla until softly whipped. Stir in the white chocolate cream and beat until fairly stiff. taking care not over beat, which would cause the ganache to separate.

To assemble cake:

Put one layer, flat side up, on a cake stand or serving plate. Cover the top evenly with half of the praline filling, leaving a 1/4″-inch margin around the edges. place the second layer on top, again flat side up, cover it with remaining filling. Finally add the third layer and frost the sides and top with the white chocolate ganache. Garnish with sugared pecans.

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9 Comments

  1. I’ve not been reading your blog for a long time so perhaps I’ve missed your post that had your tried & true candies pecans? If not will you be posting the recipe?
    Your cake looks great and I can see why every one LOVED it!
    ~ingrid

  2. Lindsey! you’ve been cookin’ up a storm here! everything looks delicious as usual. This cake is gorgeous, and I have a huge craving for it now-seriously!! :-)

    jenny from KY!

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