This gluten free almond cake is such a great treat for everyone who likes bananas and chocolate. It’s made of a soft, golden almond cake that’s is marshmallow-y in texture, filled with caramelized banana, chocolate ganache and whipped cream on top for decoration.
If you want to make something that is a little fancy and will make everyone say WOW – this almond cake dessert is just what you need. Beautiful and so delicious!
Photo: Natalie Levin
Almond Cake with Banana, Chocolate and Whipped Cream
For almond dacquoise:
- 4 large egg whites
- Pinch of salt
- 40 grams (4 tbsp.) sugar
- 125 grams (1 1/4 cups) almond meal
- 100 grams (10 tbsp.) sugar powder
- 20-30 grams (2-3 tbsp.) crushed cocoa beans
- A little powdered sugar for dusting
For chocolate cream:
- 150 grams dark chocolate
- 250 ml. (1 cup) whipping cream
For caramelized bananas:
- 2 large bananas
- 40 grams (4 tbsp.) sugar
- 10 grams (2 tsp.) butter
- Juice of 1/4 lemon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
For vanilla Chantilly cream:
- 375 ml. (1 1/2 cups) cold whipping cream
- 2 tbsp. sugar powder
- 1 tsp. instant vanilla pudding powder
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Decoration:
- Chocolate sheets
- Cocoa powder
Almond dacquoise:
- Preheat oven to 170c degrees.
- Arrange the baking rings (7 cm in diameter) on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Do not grease it in any way.
- In a bowl of a mixer whip egg whites and salt until pale foam begins to form.
- Gradually add the sugar while whipping, and continue beating at high speed until a stable meringue forms.
- Add in almond meal and sugar powder and fold in gently but firmly with a spatula until smooth.
- Transfer the mixture into a pastry bag with 1 cm round piping tip and pipe inside each ring spiral shape on the base, and small dense droplets on the sides.
- Sprinkle a little powdered sugar and crushed cocoa beans on top and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden and set.
- Cool slightly at room temperature, then transfer to the freezer.
- Using a sharp small knife, go through and around the sides of the baking rings to extract the base of the molds.
Chocolate cream:
- Chop the chocolate and place in a bowl.
- Heat the cream almost to a boil, pour over the chocolate. Wait a minute and beat well until the mixture is shiny and smooth ganache is obtained.
- Cool the ganache in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until it is completely cold.
- Whip the ganache in until stable and creamy.
- With a spoon fill the center of the baked dacquoise bases and flatten the top.
Caramelized bananas:
- Cut the bananas into slices about 1 cm thick.
- In a medium pan put sugar and form caramel.
- Add bananas, butter, juice, salt and vanilla and stir gently.
- Reduce the flame to medium-low and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until banana are slightly soft and coated in caramel.
- Cool completely at room temperature.
- Put about 2-3 slices of banana over chocolate cream in each cake.
Vanilla Chantilly cream:
- In a bowl of a mixer whip cream, sugar powder, stabilizer and vanilla until you get very stable cream is formed.
- Transfer the whipped cream into a piping bag with a serrated 2-3 cm piping tip. Drizzle generous mound of cream over each cake.
- Decorate with chocolate sheets and garnish with cocoa powder.
- Keep the cakes in a closed container in the refrigerator up to 3-4 days.
- Instead of almonds you can use other types of nuts.