Banana Cake With Banana Cream Filling

reviews & comments

1. nichan August 13, 2021

   If you will bear with reading this .. may it help. The problem with pastry cream is easily fixed once the basics are observed. It is an art requiring some little practice; especially without a double boiler when making custards or thick sauces. It’s simple enough to make: combine milk, sugar, eggs, starch, and a flavoring, then heat them together to harness the thickening power of eggs and starch. However, if made incorrectly, it may become too stiff, too runny, or maybe even too bland. In any case they become either lumpy, burnt or vaguely reminiscent of soup. Ratio is important for desired results since there are different types of custards. Same for choice of milk which affects a pastry cream's flavor, body, and texture. Basically pastry cream is a combination of milk, eggs, and starch that are cooked together. One batch of chilled pastry cream has many uses for cream puffs and éclairs, spread on layers of puff pastry for a mille-feuille, or used as the filling in fruit tarts, cakes, e.g Boston cream pie and even donuts. My favorite - a German bread I make often called Bienenstich requires great pastry cream. Furthermore, it serves as the base of several more advanced creams: lightening it with whipped cream makes crème légère, combining it with meringue yields crème chiboust, and mixing it with whipped butter results in crème mousseline. Many of us do not bother often with time-consuming pastries. But on a cold day, it is a great pleasure to just whip up a pot of warm custard to just eat, or even serve over an apple strudel or pastry. It is important to have ingredients ready beforehand but not too early to avoid having the egg, sugar starch mixture harden before the warmed cream is ready. It is helpful to moisten a tea towel or cloth and squeeze excess water out to set your bowl on the counter. This will prevent the bow from spinning or tipping over. Only beat the egg yolks with the sugar in the bowl when little bubbles start appearing at the edge of saucepan while stirring or whisking continually to avoid burning the cream or milk. Remove pot from heat. To the beaten egg yolks now add the sugar while whisking a little and then add 1+1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch and salt (have these premixed beforehand and set aside ). Whisk with appropriate size whisk if using small bowl. Now while whisking continuously, slowly pour milk into egg yolk mixture in a thin stream, until all of it has been added. This whole process from start should take about a minute or 2 at most. Note: The ratio of starch is critical. Flour is great for sauces but for smooth custards, cornstarch is better - the bonus if you can get non-GMO cornstarch. Now return the while pot to the heat and don't go away or do something else. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until pastry cream begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Once it thickens, continue to whisk, pausing every few seconds to check for bubbles, about 1 minute. When it begins to bubble, set a timer and continue whisking for 1 minute. This step is important to neutralize a starch-dissolving protein found in egg yolks. Finishing with butter adds shine and flavor. I always just drop in a Tablespoon of butter or two after the custard is cooked before tipping all into a storage container. Spread a piece of waxed or parchment paper over the top of custard to avoid a 'skin' forming while it cools. To speed up cooling have a bowl with ice water for container to sit in. If not, wait till it is cool and then cover with lid and chill it before using for this cake. Note : If time is limited, maybe have cake made before and refrigerated and make the pastry creme early to assemble cake later in the day.

2. Leeza REVIEW:
   February 17, 2017

   filling too runny didn't use threw away but tasted very good.

3. ILIKEITHOT REVIEW:
   September 21, 2016

   Taste was ok. First of all, we needed 2-9 inch pans 1-1/2 inches deep, 1 pan would have not worked, too much batter for 1 pan, unless you had a super deep pan. With 2 pans you did not have to split it. Baked for 25 to 30 minutes for 2 pans. Now, the cream filling, it NEVER did get thick! Next, we had to temper the egg yolks so they did not end up scrambled. Picture looked good for a store bought cake!

4. RisingSun REVIEW:
   August 25, 2016

   Cake and filling were easy to make and the outcome taste's great. I love recipes like these. Thanks for sharing I will definitely use this recipe again.

5. Rianne REVIEW:
   June 10, 2014

   Lovely recipe! I only made the banana cream filling for my own birthday cake, but it tastes delicious! Thank you

6. amberwall REVIEW:
   April 4, 2014

   Ok. The cake turned out great! The cream? I may need help guys. I did exactly as the instructions said, but it NEVER thickened up! It's still the consistency of milk! What did I do wrong? Please help!

7. Mexico Kathy REVIEW:
   March 23, 2014

   Just made this, turned out wonderful, very moist (substituted cocoanut oil for the butter and only 1cup sugar). Added 1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut.

8. Paige REVIEW:
   March 17, 2014

   I just made this at work, but instead of a large cake I made mini cakes in mini bundt pans, put the filling in the center and let it overflow downwards, topped with whipped cream and ghram cracker crums, it was very good a big hit! My only complaint is the filling didn't have any noticeable vanilla taste to it, I even doubled the amount of extract and it was just overpowered by banana. It just tasted like mashed banana instead of a creamy filling, still very good though.

9. randomchef REVIEW:
   October 26, 2013

   The cake is very moist and has a good crumb to it. Subtle banana flavor, it's more yellow cake tasting. The cream filling is amazing. Very smooth and creamy and the banana flavor stands out more. I added a layer of sliced bananas in the middle of the layers (on top of the filling).

10. NAT REVIEW:
    July 7, 2013

    This is a great banana cake. Both the cake and the filling are perfect.