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.

Chocolate, caramel and banana petit gateaux

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!

Chocolate, Caramel and Banana Cube

Print Recipe

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

Scale

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

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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

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.