Soft banana cake, liquid caramel and light chocolate mousse. A complex chocolate petit gateaux with a stunning flowing caramel centre.
Chocolate!! Another take on a classic flavour combination of chocolate, caramel and banana, this may not be the easiest to make, but it is worth the effort. The combination of a soft banana cake, liquid salted caramel and light chocolate mousse is amazing…
But, to be honest this dessert was just an excuse for me to try out my new chocolate spray gun. I’ve always wanted one, but they are pretty expensive, and as an aspiring baker it was a pretty big amount to spend on something I would probably use only a handful of times. BUT, now that I’m investing more and more time on creating cakes and desserts I figured it was time to treat myself and buy one… and I don’t regret it at all. The finish that I am able to achieve is better than I imagined and I can’t wait to try it out on more desserts, stay tuned!
I know most people won’t have a chocolate spray gun handy at home to whip out some of these desserts, but with or without the spray this dessert is equally as delicious. The chocolate spray does however give the whole dessert a new and more elegant finish.
On the other hand, with Valentines coming up next week this would be the perfect dessert to show off your pastry skills and impress your significant other. Valentines day = chocolate! If you’re single, even better, you can make it and eat it yourself 😀
I understand that this dessert can be difficult for those that are not yet experienced bakers, but if you do try making it I will be here to help 🙂 Just comment below or message/email me and I will get back to you as soon as possible. HAPPY BAKING!
Print📖 Recipe
Chocolate, Caramel and Banana Cube
Soft banana cake, liquid caramel and light chocolate mousse. A complex chocolate petit gateaux with a stunning flowing caramel centre.
- Prep Time: 180 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 225 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 57 g Unsalted butter
- 65 g Brown sugar
- 69 g Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 125 g Plain flour
- 5 g Vanilla
- Pinch of salt
- 125 g Milk
- 10 g Lemon juice
- 1 Mashed banana
- ½ tsp Baking soda
Chocolate Mousse
- 202 g Thickened/Heavy cream
- 31 g Glucose
- 281 g Dark chocolate (I used callebaut 54.5%)
- 1 ¼ tsp Gelatin powder
- 10 g Water
- 275 g Whipped cream
Soft Set Caramel
- 83 g Thickened cream
- 21 g Milk
- 12 g Sugar (I)
- 12 g Glucose (I)
- Pinch of salt
- Vanilla extract
- 38 g Sugar (II)
- 50 g Glucose (II)
- 29 g Buuter
- 1 tbsp Milk
Cocoa Butter Spray
- 100 g Cocoa butter
- 100 g Dark chocolate
Almond Base
- 50 g Almond meal
- 50 g Unsalted butter, softened
- 50 g Plain flour
- 50 g Brown sugar
Instructions
Banana Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C
- Combine milk and lemon juice and set aside
- Beat butter and sugars until pale and fluffy
- Add eggs, salt, vanilla, baking soda
- Add flour and milk alternating, starting and ending with flour
- Fold the mashed banana through the batter until combined
- Pour into a 23 x 10cm rectangular cake tin/ring
- Bake for 30 mins, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean
- Once cool cut into 4 x 4cm squares
Chocolate Mousse
- Bloom gelatin with water
- Heat cream and glucose until steaming
- Pour over dark chocolate, add bloomed gelatin
- Cool to 25 °C before folding in whipped cream
- Fill 5 x 5 x 5 cube silicon moulds to halfway, reserve the rest of the mousse at room temperature
- Freeze for 1 hour
Soft Set Caramel
- Heat thickened cream, milk, sugar (I), glucose (I), salt and vanilla in a pan over medium heat
- In another small pan heat sugar (II) and glucose (II) until golden brown
- Add the cream mixture to the sugar and whisk quickly until smooth (be careful as it splatters)
- Remove from heat and cool to 70 °C
- Add butter and milk, blend with an immersion blender
- Allow to cool completely
Cocoa Butter Spray*
- Melt the cocoa butter and chocolate together
- Cool to 35 °C before use
Almond Base
- Preheat oven to 180°C
- Combine almond meal, butter, flour and sugar together in a bowl with your fingertips
- Roll out to 2mm thick and cut out 5 x 5 cm squares
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown
- Cool
- Using a microplane straighten the edges
Assembly
- Remove the half-filled silicon moulds from the freezer, using a teaspoon, scoop out a hemisphere from the centre of each (approx. 1cm deep)
- Fill the hemisphere with the cooled soft set caramel
- Top with the reserved chocolate mousse making sure to spread mousse up the walls of the mould
- Insert the 4 x 4cm square of banana cake
- Fill gaps with remaining chocolate mousse and set in freezer overnight, or at least 4 hours
- Remove mould from freezer and unmould the cubes
- Fill a chocolate spray gun with the cocoa butter spray mixture and spray an even coating on the cubes
- Place the sprayed cube on top of the almond base
- Decorate as desired**
Notes
*Of course not everybody has a chocolate spray gun, this step is optional and it will look amazing with or without it!
**To decorate I tempered some dark chocolate, poured it between 2 guitar sheets and cut them to 3.5cm squares, I also topped with some gold leaf
Eliana
Hi Katherine, thank you so much for this recipe, it looks a big challenge for people like me who are learning. I have a question, what kind of cream is the one of the mouse recipe? And gelatin power is unflavor e gelatin?
Catherine Zhang
HI Eliana, it's thickened cream for the mousse and yes the gelatin powder should be unflavoured 🙂
Cami
omg, this looks heavenly!
Ben
Hi Katherine,
I know you mentioned that there’s no need for a spray if not available. But would a dark chocolate mirror glaze or maybe white chocolate mirror glaze be too much as the decoration ?
Catherine Zhang
Not at all, I think it'll look stunning!
Cami
Where can you buy glucose?
Catherine Zhang
You can usually buy glucose in the baking section of your grocery store
Carlos
Hi Catherine,
When making the caramel I ended up with two pans, one with the first group of ingredients (cream, milk, sugar, glucose, salt and vanilla), and another one with the rest (sugar, glucose, butter and milk).
I can't figure out when I have to mix them all!!
Thanks for you help!!!
Catherine Zhang
Hi Carlos,
Sorry I was missing a step!
Yes you have two pans, one to heat up the cream and one to heat up the sugar. Then pour the cream into the sugar when it reaches the right temperature and mix.
(I've fixed it in the recipe so you should be good now!)
Carlos
Thanks for the reply.
BTW, there is a replacement for the thickened cream?, I'm not sure if I can get it here in Colombia 🙁
Catherine Zhang
Thickened cream is the same as heavy cream, or you can just use pure cream 🙂
Mari Adam Parra
Hola Catherine me encantas tu y tu fabulosos postres las recetas no están en español es una lastima xq tienen una pinta deliciosa enhorabuena
Silas
Hi Catherine, you forgot to mention when the Banana is added in the recipe.
Thanks a lot
Catherine Zhang
Hi Silas,
Whoops! Sorry about that, just add it after the flour when making the cake. I've fixed the recipe up. Thank you for letting me know! 🙂
Alice Zhao
Hi Catherine I was wondering what kind of vanilla you were referring to in the recipe, thank you!
becky
Hi Ctherine,
what would be the approximate weight of the banana ? since we get bananas in different sizes where im from. Thanks.
Catherine Zhang
Hi Becky, any medium-sized banana will do!