Choc Chip Banana Sheet Cake with Caramel Pecans
All the gooey goodness of banana cake, studded with dark chocolate, then topped with the fluffiest of cream cheese frostings and finished off with crunchy candied pecans
Servings: 24 squares
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 125 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 360 g caster sugar
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed should make around 1½ cups
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g plain cake flour regular plain flour is fine too
- 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- pinch salt
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 150 g dark chocolate chips
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 125 g cream cheese room temp
- 55 g unsalted butter room temp
- 250 g pure icing sugar
- 1 tbsp cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Caramel Pecans
- 50 g brown sugar
- pinch salt
- ⅛ tsp cinnamon
- 55 g pecan halves
Instructions
Banana Cake
- Pre heat oven to 180° celsius
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy
- Add the eggs, banana and vanilla and mix until well combined
- Sift the dry ingredients together
- With the mixer on low, add the sifted ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, until just combined.
- Remove the bowl and gently stir through the chocolate chips
- Pour the mixture into a prepared rectangular cake pan. I used a 23cm x 33cm pan and sprayed it with cooking oil, then lined with baking paper.
- Bake for 25-30 mins, until a cake tester comes out clean
- Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a cooling rack, to cool completely
- Top the cooled cake with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with caramel pecans. You can also sprinkle over some extra cinnamon, if desired.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and, using either a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat on low until combined, then increase to speed to high and beat until light and fluffy
- Spread over the cooled cake
Caramel Pecans
- In a small skillet, combine the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon and stir until it starts bubbling
- Add the pecans and continue to stir constantly, ensuring the pecans are all coated, for around 4 minutes
- Turn the coated pecans onto a sheet of baking paper and allow to cool completely, before breaking up and sprinkling over the banana cake.