Hello honeys :)
Hope you're having a wonderful day so far ๐ It's been a great day here. I've managed to do lots of laundry and now I'm having a cuppa and thought I'd share what happened yesterday afternoon. I found myself at a loose end with literally nothing to do, so I wandered off into the kitchen and this happened......
Ingredients:
For sponge cake:
225g butter or margarine
225g self raising flour
225g caster sugar
4 medium size eggs (less if eggs are large)
For Banana Whipped Cream Filling:
1 medium banana (use that banana that you were going to throw out because it's too ripe)
I small tub of double cream
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
50g butter or margarine
100g Philadelphia cream cheese
200g Icing sugar
Half a teaspoon of vanilla essence
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (160 for fan ovens) or 350 F or gas mark 4 and grease two round sandwich baking tins (I use silicone ones, I adore cooking with silicone, no fighting to get things out of the baking tins lol)
2. In a mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon (or electric hand mixer) to cream the butter & sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Add around half of your flour to your mixing bowl containing the butter & sugar, sieving to remove lumps & add "air",
4. In a small bowl beat your eggs together. Add around half of your egg mixture to your bowl and mix until smooth.
5. Sieve remaining flour into your bowl as well as the rest of your eggs, mix again until you have a smooth mixture. An electric hand mixer does this really well.
6. Pour your sponge mixture equally into the two baking tins, and lightly spread out with a flat knife or a spoon.
7. Place both baking tins into the oven (middle shelf) and bake for 12 -15 minutes until a light golden brown. NOTE: If like me you're using silicone sandwich "tins" place them onto a baking tray (maybe a cookie sheet or other flat baking tray) BEFORE filling with your sponge mixture, far easier to move into the oven.
8. To test that sponge is done, carefully insert a knife into the middle of each sponge (taking care not to burn yourself) if it is cooked the knife should come out clean. Leave cakes to cool on a cooling rack.
To make filling:
9. Pour your small tub of double (whipping) cream into a mixing bowl. I used a small tub of Elmlea which is far lower in fat than actual double cream but it's up to you honeys, use what you prefer.
10. whisk until your cream thickens (I have painful hands & wrists so I use a little electric hand mixer to do this)
11. In a small bowl, use a fork to "mash" your banana. This is such a great way to use up any overly ripe bananas you have and saves them from going to waste.
12. Add your mashed banana to the bowl with your whipped cream...
13. Continue to whisk until it thickens again...
Warning, this creamy filling is beyond delicious! This cake is supposed to be a real treat so be generous when slathering on that gorgeous creamy goodness ๐
15. Gather your ingredients for your cream cheese frosting. Into a mixing bowl, sieve 200g of icing sugar. Add your butter (or margarine) & cream cheese to the bowl. Gently, mix together being careful because that icing sugar likes to escape from the bowl ๐
Beat together until you have a smooth (and not runny) mixture. Add a few drops of vanilla essence to taste. Some people like a heavy vanilla flavour, others only a bare hint so flavour to suit yourself honeys. I use about half a cap from the tiny bottle.
16. Mix well to make sure your vanilla essence is thoroughly mixed through. Allow it to sit for a few minutes to let your icing "rest."
17. Assemble your cake by gently placing the other sponge on top of the whipped cream topped sponge. Using a spatula or a flat knife spread your cream cheese frosting over the top of your cake.
This frosting is seriously sweet & seriously delicious so feel free to drizzle down the sides if you want to or just smooth over the top like this....
19. In the photograph, as you can see honeys, I've added (just because I had them in my baking cupboard) some little pieces of candied strawberry apple, yum ๐
So that's it honeys, all that's left for you to do is to sit down with a lovely cup of tea or coffee, put your feet up and...
Honestly honeys, I have no words for how amazing the banana cream filling is in this cake ๐ The frosting is delicious too, but also very sweet. If you don't have a very sweet tooth, why not use a sieve and simply dust the top of your cake with caster sugar instead?
So, any thoughts honeys? Do you have any favourite sponge cake recipes? Favourite fillings or frostings? I'd love to hear about them, I love to bake and am always looking for new recipes to try. Do leave a comment, or links, below or even just say hello ๐
Whatever you're doing today dear ones, have a great day, smile lots and hug even more, sending heaps of huggles x
Looks yummy, I am obsessed with banana milkshake, banana sweets, banana ice cream ... so I bet I would love this icing, and something I have never ever thought of doing. Great Idea.
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Hi Emma :) To add some extra banana goodness to this cake, after adding your banana cream filling, slice an additional banana and add to the top of the cream filling before adding the top sponge layer, it's beyond amazing! I adore bananas too :) They're a great source of potassium, so extra healthy. Thank you so much for visiting again Emma, it's so sweet of you, hope you're having a fabulous weekend, sending hugs xx
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