Chocolate Chip Banana Cake (Edit recipe)

Make the Ganache

1. Place the chocolate chips in a heat safe bowl. Place heavy cream in a pan on the stove over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the edges begin to simmer.
2. Immediately pour on top of chips and do NOT mix! Let sit 1-2 min then whisk until fully combined and smooth.
3. Let ganache sit on the counter for 15 min, whisking every 5 min. Then transfer the bowl of ganache to the fridge and whisk every 5 min for about 35-45 min until it has a nice thick consistency.

For the Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease two 8 inch cake pans with vegetable oil, line with parchment paper and lightly grease again. Set aside.
2. Peel and mash your bananas in a medium bowl. You want them to be nice and liquidy. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. Measure out ½ cup milk of choice. Add in ½ tablespoon white vinegar to the milk and stir with a spoon to combine. Set aside.
5. In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the cornstarch and water until it is thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first. Set aside.
6. In another large bowl that’s microwave safe, heat the butter or vegan baking stick in 20 second increments until fully melted. Set aside.
7. Stir the milk vinegar mixture. At this point it should be chunky and that’s normal.
8. Whisk the mashed bananas into the melted butter until combined. Then whisk in the cornstarch water mixture, the milk mixture, the oil, the vanilla and the cinnamon until well combined.
9. Add in the sugar and whisk again until combined.
10. Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry. Once it gets thick, use a spatula to combine.
11. Fold in the mini chocolate chips until mixed throughout.
12. Evenly scoop the batter into the two lined cake pans and make sure to use a butter knife to smooth the tops.
13. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 35 min. Take out and let cool in cake pans. Once cool, remove from pans and place cakes on cooling racks.

Make the Frosting

1. Beat the butter or vegan baking stick and the brown sugar until smooth and creamy. About 2-3 minutes.
2. Slowly beat in the confectioners’ sugar, water and vanilla until fully combined. Separate into 5 equal servings.

Assemble the Cake

1. Cut the two 8 inch layers in half horizontally so you have 4 thin layers of cake.
2. Place one layer on the bottom of the cake plate. Place one serving of frosting in a piping bag or a zip top bag with the corner cut off. Frost the top and then pipe a ridge around the top when done.
3. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the thick ganache into the middle of the ring of frosting.
4. Place another layer of cake on top and repeat this same process. Do this with 3 layers of cake.
5. Once you get to the top layer, use an icing spatula to frost the top and a thin layer on the sides. This will be a semi naked cake. Use a cake scraper or a large icing spatula to scrape the icing off the sides so it’s a super thin layer. You should have hardly any frosting left. Pop the entire cake in the fridge uncovered for 15 min so it is more stable to work with.
6. Take your remaining ganache and heat it in the microwave in 5 second increments until it is very melted and pourable.
7. Spoon about 9 tablespoons of the liquid ganache on top of the cake. Take an icing spatula and push the ganache around to the edges of the cake so it drips down the sides.
8. If desired, cut about 3-4 bananas into slices and place in a mound in the top center of the cake while the ganache is wet. Drizzle some extra ganache on top of the banana slices and sprinkle a handful of the mini chocolate chips on top of the bananas. Let cake harden again in the fridge, uncovered for 15 minutes.