Okay most of the recipes I share on here are super easy. This one is something I would make way back before I lost my vision. I usually can do most of my cooking on my own but I made brandon help on this one. We got a bunch of bananas from Bountiful Baskets and I was worried I wouldn't get them all used up so we had to bake with them. When I was living at home in High School I would make this and my family loved it. It is a little tricky to make with your eyes closed just because of splitting the cake in half to layer it. That is the part Brandon had to engineer for me. This is a recipe that is found in a Mrs. Fields cookbook that I have had for years. By the way I am sorry about the picture it was messy. But trust me it is so good you won't care about the mess. There are three parts to prepare so here goes....
Cake
2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups mashed bananas plus 2 whole bananas (7 big bananas)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Milk Chocolate chips
Ganache Filling
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sour cream
9 oz milk chocolate chips
Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
6 oz milk chocolate chips
Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 12 x 17" jelly roll pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, then butter and flour the paper.
In small bowl, whisk together the flour baking soda and salt.
In large bowl with electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the mashed bananas and the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture and the chocolate chips until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
Loosen the cake with a spatula and carefully invert onto a large piece of foil. Cut the cake lengthwise into 2 pieces 5 x 15", trimming off the outside edges of the cake.
For filling, in a heavy saucepan, bring the cream to simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream. Pour the mixture over the chocolate in a medium bowl, then stir until smooth. Refrigerate until the filling firms up but is still spreadable. Spread the filling over one cake layer. Slice the 2 whole banana into 1/4" slices and arrange evenly over the ganache. Place the second cake layer on top.
For glaze, In heavy medium saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and chocolate. Stir until smooth. Pour the warm glaze over the cake and smooth, allowing it to run down the sides. Place the cake in the freezer to firm to 30 to 40 minutes. Cut the cake crosswise into 8 slices and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
