Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Stovetop Caramel Buttercream ((Birthday Cake time!!))
Whew!! What a cake this is! But before I tell you all about this cake, let me tell you a little about the birthday boy. He was born 11 years ago today at 4:06 am. I am so proud of the fact that he was born in the middle of the night mostly because all of my other babies came around lunchtime with “planned” deliveries ((none were textbook and ho-hum but those are stories for another day)).
I was 37 weeks along and we decided not to learn the baby’s gender. Kade was 17 months old and we were loving life. About 8 pm, Monday evening, I knew “things” were serious. The doctors, nurses and hubby didn’t see things the same way.
I called the nurse’s station & explained my contractions. The nurse gave me instructions to drink 96 oz of water & take a warm bath. If I wasn’t in labor, that would stop my very regular and intense contractions. IF I was indeed in labor ((as I was claiming urgently)) nothing would stop labor and I would need to head to the hospital.
I followed every instruction down to the very last ounce of water and 5 hours later, I was holding a brand new baby boy! ((insert I was right, a momma knows!!))
Brody came into the world on his terms and grabbed our attention immediately ((I love this photo – it shows Brody’s 3 front teeth perfectly — extra tooth = extra brains and dental bills)). He carries those same traits to this day & oh how we love him.
Zephaniah 3:17:
“The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Brody gave me several suggestions for his birthday cake. I was planning another cheesecake twist until I remembered this banana cake with caramel buttercream.
In the past, I have used a yellow cake mix and added banana & chocolate chips. BUT, now that I have my very own bulk homemade cake mix, I was super excited to see how this cake would compare to the cake of the past.
To the 4½ cups of pre-mixed homemade cake mix, I added:
- 2 cups of milk
- 2/3 c melted, cooled butter
- 1 small pkg of instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 t vanilla
- 1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 ripe bananas
A quick mix by hand,
add in the chips,
one more stir
and into the bundt pan it went.
350° for 55 to 60 minutes and out it came looking like this:
Isn’t it gorgeous??
While the cake was baking, I prepared the stovetop caramel buttercream. This is such a delicious and simple buttercream — which is D.A.N.G.E.R.O.U.S!!!
- 1 stick of salted butter
- 1 packed cup of dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 hefty teaspoon of vanilla
- 2 c powdered sugar
Bring the brown sugar and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan, boil for 2 minutes.
Add milk and return to boil.
Turn off flame and add salt, vanilla & powdered sugar.
Stir vigorously, removing any clumps.
Pour over cake once it has been released from the bundt pan.
Keep pouring ((you may need to re-heat the buttercream over a low flame to help keep it pourable)).
Allow to cool 1 hour before serving.
Oh, and make a wish!! ((I wished for seconds!!))
Moist, full of flavor — and that buttercream, oh my. The aroma, if pants would tighten just by smelling — I would be in trouble.
- 4 1/2 c pre-made cake mix ((link in the body of this post))
- 1 small box of instant vanilla pudding
- 2 c milk
- 2/3 c melted butter, cooled
- 2 t vanilla
- 2 ripened bananas, mashed
- 1 c chocolate chips (optional)
- 1 stick of butter, salted
- 1 c packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 c whole milk
- 1 ((hefty)) t vanilla
- 2 c sifted powdered sugar
- Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare bundt pan by spraying with a non-stick baking spray or coating with butter and dusting with flour.
- In a large mixing bowl combine mix, pudding, milk, butter and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add mashed bananas and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
- Pour batter into bundt pan and bake 55-60 checking for doneness at 55 minutes using the toothpick test.
- Once toothpick comes out clean, allow cake to rest 5 minutes before inverting on a cooling rack. It may be necessary to help release the cake using a plastic knife around the edges of the pan prior to inverting. Once the cake is released, carefully transfer to the serving platter.
- With about 20 minutes left in baking time, add butter and brown sugar to a medium saucepan and bring to boil over a medium high flame. Boil for 2 minutes. Add milk and return to boil, then remove from flame. Add salt, vanilla and powdered sugar. Stir vigorously till smooth. Pour warm buttercream over released cake ((that has been set on its serving platter)).
- Variation: substitute pecans for chocolate chips.