Happy Birthday Melissa

For Melissa's birthday, I asked her what kind of cake she wanted. She said banana....

Here's what I came up with:

I took my old banana bar recipe, and divided it into two 9" round cake pans, rather than the 10 x 15 jello roll pan that I've always used. I cut the two layers in half to make four. Then, on top of the first layer, I put a generous layer of ganache. I added a layer of cake, and topped that layer with cream cheese frosting. I repeated these steps again, topping with cream cheese frosting and drizzling with ganache. Here's the recipe and a peek at the inside.

Frosted Banana Bars
Preheat oven to 350
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups bananas, very ripe
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt

Mix
Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs bananas and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture; mix well. Pour into greased 10 x 15 jello roll pan. Bake @ 350 for 25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
For the layer cakes, this took 30 minutes.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 pound confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Combine with an electric mixer until fluffy.

Ganache
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Cook over medium low heat until the chocolate is almost melted, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, and continue stirring until smooth.

Here's the inside





I hope you enjoyed your cake Melissa! And I hope you know how much we love and appreciate you!!