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Cream Puff Falls in Love!
Date: Jan. 23rd 2007
Category: Cookbooks, Chocolate, Cakes, Cheesecakes, Cupcakes and Muffins
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Not with a man.
Not with a Cream Puff.
With a book!
I am working on a review of the cookbook Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger. The review isn’t ready yet, but I just had to tell you about it and give you a sneak peek at one of the incredible recipes that this book holds within its beautiful pages. I know I’m always going on and on about cookbooks, but this one really is a winner.
I leave you with this unbelievable Banana Caramel Cake.
Ciao!
Banana Caramel Cake
Adapted from Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate by Robert Steinberg and John Scharffenberger.
This recipe takes banana cake to a whole new level. While I initially thought it might be too sweet with the sugar, chocolate, bananas and caramel, the cake is instead balanced and spicy with a lovely sweet note. A classic!
For the cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. cloves
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 3 large eggs
- 1-1/4 cups vegetable oil (or canola oil as in the original recipe)
- 1-3/4 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 3 oz. chocolate (I used a 65% chocolate), broken into small pieces (size of chips)
- 3 ripe bananas, diced
For the caramel:
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 tbsp. whole milk
- 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- Butter and flour a tube pan or a bundt pan that can hold 12 cups.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda).
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the eggs, oil and sugar. With the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that the sugar has been incorporated.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix for another 30 seconds.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients a bit at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl every now and then to ensure everything is incorporated.
- Once the dry ingredients have been added, remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the pecans, chocolate and bananas. Gently fold them in with a spatula or a wooden spoon. Don’t over mix.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes and then test the cake to see if it’s done by poking a toothpick or cake tester into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, bake the cake for another 5 to 10 minutes. In my oven, this cake took 55 minutes.
- About 5 to 10 minutes before the cake is done, make the caramel by combining all the ingredients in a small pan. Bring to the boil and stir occasionally to ensure that it doesn’t burn. Let it boil for about 5 minutes and then turn off the heat.
- Once the cake is out of the oven, poke holes all over the cake with a skewer. Immediately pour the caramel over the cake, stopping every now and then to let the caramel sink in. If the caramel pools in spots, poke more holes to allow it to sink in.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack. Once it’s cool, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan and then unmold it onto a plate.
- Enjoy!
Note: This cake will easily serve 10 to 12. Because I let the cake cool, I had no problems unmolding it. If you unmold it while it’s warm, be careful as it may stick.
Technorati tags: banana, banana cake, chocolate
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February 2010
Valvona & Crolla: A Year at an Italian Table by Mary Contini.

Have you ever read a cookbook that brings tears to your eyes? Tears of joy for all the beautiful food in the world that can be made. That would be this book. Love it.
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01/23/07 at 9:26 pm
Isn’t a fabulous book! I’ve already bookmarked so many recipes to try! I love the mold you used!
01/23/07 at 10:30 pm
Oh, goodness this looks unbelievable.
01/23/07 at 10:30 pm
As in really good, good!!!
01/23/07 at 11:03 pm
I got that book for Christmas, but I’ve not had the time to get into it yet. Soon, hopefully! That bread looks delicious, and I love the pan!
01/23/07 at 11:12 pm
This looks SO good. The banana and caramel together sound good.
01/23/07 at 11:17 pm
Oh my. That looks absolutely amazing! If it’s possible to gain 5 lbs by looking at a picture, I just did
01/23/07 at 11:21 pm
A great combination and so very perfect!
01/24/07 at 12:48 am
banana and caramel, the biggest winner!
01/24/07 at 12:50 am
Ooh, bananas and caramel, very nice combination!
01/24/07 at 6:16 am
bellissimo sito,peccato che non ci sia la versione in italiano.il mio inglese non basta per capire le ricette:(
ciao
01/24/07 at 7:42 am
Oh dear I think I might fall in love with a book like that - the title is enough!
01/24/07 at 8:24 am
Wow mgnificent thanks for the recipe and I cant wait for your review with recipes like this it will be at the top of my list to buy.
01/24/07 at 8:49 am
Ivonne,
This cake is a vision!
I should try it… I still have banana in my freezer begging to be used.
Caramel and chocolate and bananas… What a wonderful combo!
01/24/07 at 9:31 am
that book just came in the mail the other day. now i really can’t wait to dive in!
01/24/07 at 10:01 am
Wow, this sounds delectable! I’m a lover of banana bread in it’s most basic form, so anything beyond that would definitely be, well, icing on the cake… so to speak.
01/24/07 at 11:12 am
And you’ve got the perfect pan for it and everything! It sounds delicious.
01/24/07 at 11:27 am
Sooo beautiful, I have some ripe bananas here… hum… what a neat idea!!! Maybe for the weekend!
01/24/07 at 12:02 pm
I’m not a fan of “banana flavour” but I must admit this recipe is inviting…thanks for sharing, as usual!
01/24/07 at 12:21 pm
Looks like all I need is the pan, a fork, and the couch! No need to get down with fancy plating with this one. Looks fantastic!
01/24/07 at 12:42 pm
I think that I could also fall in love with this book.
01/24/07 at 1:31 pm
Wow….can’t wait to see what else is up your sleeve!
01/24/07 at 2:08 pm
The SharffenBerger
Chocolate factory is near us and gives an icredible tour. They also have a cool virtual tour on their website.
01/24/07 at 2:16 pm
For a second there I was getting pretty jealous!
01/24/07 at 3:12 pm
This lovely cake could be on a heart shape only !
01/24/07 at 5:58 pm
Beautiful cake! And I love the heart pan.
01/24/07 at 7:10 pm
Well that looks like something I could eat a few pounds worth.
01/24/07 at 7:52 pm
It looks unbelievably good!
I think I can fall in love with a cookbook, too.
Paz
01/24/07 at 8:43 pm
I want the pan and the cake. And yes, I understand cookbook love.
01/24/07 at 10:09 pm
Mmmmm, delicious sugar coma! This sounds incredibly good! I love the idea of letting the caramel soak into the cake, nut just sitting on top as a glaze. I have to try this!
01/24/07 at 10:35 pm
That cake looks incredible! I love banana cake, but this one looks to be off the charts!
And I love your pan too…so adorable 
01/25/07 at 12:14 am
That is definitely a Yum Yum! Thanks for sharing the recipe.
01/25/07 at 12:44 am
Sooo delicious and what great photos and writing, as always.
Yes, love can happen with almost anything, including cookbooks.
01/25/07 at 10:21 am
I just love the book, and I’ve made a couple of recipes from it already like the cupcakes and the baked hot chocolate. The pictures are simply out of this world too!
01/25/07 at 3:17 pm
Hello my dear!
Good for you for falling in love with *this* book–shows you have impeccable taste…
j
01/25/07 at 7:16 pm
What a beautiful crust- that alone could sell the book! And I have 3 ripe bananas on the shelf, who knows by the end of tomorrow, I may be in love too!
01/25/07 at 9:34 pm
Puff, you’re incorrigible!
Is it really as good as it looks! Oh my.
01/26/07 at 6:46 am
You had me going there…as your post loaded onto my newsreader, I thought to myself, “Yeah! I’ll be seeing a pic of Ivonne’s new hunk!” Ok, Russell Crowe this is not, but me loves banana cake anyway!
01/26/07 at 1:57 pm
Wow. Pure decadence….and I don’t even like bananas! Great to see such an awesome bloggin’ Canuck!
01/26/07 at 8:56 pm
It looks like it’s unanimous! Everyone loves that cake. And I would love to see that cookbook-sounds fabulous.
01/26/07 at 9:50 pm
I know - this book is awesome! It’s all I can do not to bake from it every weekend (which, of course, would make my other baking books jealous.)
Beautiful photo, you could put it on a postcard.
01/27/07 at 3:40 am
It’s been one of “those cold, winter weeks” where I’m seeking comfort food, cozy bed covers and mugs of steaming coffee, a thick novel and this, a comfort-me-baking recipe. Well, if you need me, you know where to find me… in the kitchen baking this or under the covers eating it… alone! (I’m not sharing) I can smell the spices baking right now. Yum.
01/27/07 at 10:03 am
Just beautiful!
Melissa
01/27/07 at 12:58 pm
Ivonne, I’m curious as to how you approach a book review. How many of the recipes do you try? What, in addition to the recipes, stands out? And so on…
01/27/07 at 7:24 pm
I just checked that book out from the library and all I have to say is Oh…..My……
I am seriously considering buying it.
01/28/07 at 2:36 pm
ilike your heart cake pan. where you did get if from?
we would like to see more recipes from this book.
Thnaks
01/29/07 at 6:00 am
I happened to have three over-ripe bananas, so off to the kitchen I went this weekend - fabulous cake, even if I did replace the pecans by cashews (which were also hanging around)! This will definitely go down in my - hand-written - book of tried and approved recipes! Thank you for sharing it!
01/29/07 at 2:33 pm
Oooh, I know what I’m baking today.
Thanks!
01/30/07 at 8:05 am
i tried this recipe with walnuts instead of pecans. the cake was moist, but i didn’t really like it as i thought there was too much going on with the nuts, banana, chocolate and caramel.
02/17/07 at 5:07 am
This is making my mouth water just looking at it
Have to try it out myself, can I be a pain and ask if anyone would know how to convert the cup measurements to English weights and measures?? Ta very much in advance 
03/12/07 at 3:23 pm
Here’s how to make delicious chocolate covered strawberries. First of all ensure that the strawberries you are intending
to use are dry, then allow them to be room temperature warm prior to making them. After the strawberries have been
covered in chocolate, put them in your refrigerator to cool, but do not store them in the fridge. Consume within 1-2
days.
06/20/09 at 5:57 am
Looks incredible. I have three very rupe bananas sitting on my counter that are begging to be used. I think I found the recipe! I’ll let you know how it goes.