Hazelnut Chocolate Banana Cake

A soft and delicious hazelnut chocolate cake with cherries and bananas and topped with sour cream or crème fraiche.

The last post of 2016, wow, where did this year go? I hope you had a good year, mine was pretty good, a few ups and downs along the way, but generally I really cannot complain.

To finish this year on a sweet note, I chose this chocolate hazelnut cherry banana sour cream/ crème fraiche cake. It might sound like a lot of ingredients, but don’t worry about it, despite the long list, the cake is very quick and easy to make. So, if you are still looking for something sweet to bake for today, this might be a very good option, a cake sure to please everyone, especially the kids or those mother-in-laws with a serious sweet tooth, like my own, she must have devoured 3 large pieces in one go, and she is a very little woman… :).

You can either use sour cream or crème fraiche for the topping. I used the German Schmand, which is a kind of stiffer and lower fat (20 % fat) crème fraiche. Don’t over mix the topping or it might get too runny. I recommend using a deeper baking tray or to use a square baking frame. The mixture will not run off the baking tray if you don’t use a baking frame or a deeper tray, but it will look better, more even if you do.

I will be short today, as I still have lots to clean and to prepare for this evening.

I wish you all a Happy New Year, all the best for 2017, especially good health and happiness!

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Hazelnut Chocolate Banana Cake

Prep time:  30 mins

Cook time:  40 mins

Total time:  1 hour 10 mins

Serves: 20 pieces

A soft and delicious hazelnut chocolate cake with cherries and bananas and topped with sour cream or crème fraiche.

Ingredients

• 200 g/ 7.1 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate
• 250 g/ 8.8 oz/ 2 sticks butter, very soft
• 250 g/ 8.8 oz/ 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs (medium Germany, large US)
• 150 ml/ ⅔ cup milk
• 200 g/ 7.1 oz/ 2 cups ground hazelnuts
• 180 g/ 6.3 oz/ 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons Dr. Oetker baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 jar of cherries, about 300 g/ 10.5 oz when drained
• 3 large bananas
• 400 ml/ 13.5 fl.oz/ ¾ cups double cream
• 2 packets cream stabilizer for whipping cream (enough for 400 ml double cream, read the packet's instructions to know exactly how much you need)
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
• 400 g/ 14 oz or crème fraiche or sour cream, a stiffer kind
• 100 g/ 3.5 oz banana chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking tray with baking paper. I recommend using a deeper baking tray or to use a square baking frame. The mixture will not run off the baking tray if you don't use a baking frame or a deeper tray, but it will look better, more even if you do.
2. Chop the chocolate and melt it in a double boiler/ bain marie. Let it cool slightly until you prepare the rest.
3. In a large mixing bowl cream the soft butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one after another, mixing well in between. Pour in the milk and the melted chocolate and stir in as well.
4. In another bowl mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Sift the mixture over the wet ingredients, add the ground hazelnuts as well and fold in carefully. Pour the mixture onto the baking tray.
5. Drain the cherries and slice the bananas into 2 cm/ 0.8 inch slices. Spread the cherries and the bananas all over the cake batter on the tray. Bake for 40 minutes. Leave to cool completely.
6. Beat the double cream with the stabilizer and the vanilla sugar according to the packet's instructions until stiff. Stir the sour cream or crème fraiche briefly with a spoon and fold it into the whipped cream. Don't use the mixer to mix the two ingredients or the mixture might get too soft and runny. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar, if you feel necessary.
7. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Cut into squares and decorate with banana chips just before serving.

3.5.3226

Others you might like:

Chocolate Cheesecake

Gooseberry Cherry Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake