Milk Bar Banana Layer Cake - Hummingbird High

Instructions

Day 1: Make the Fudge Sauce, Hazelnut Brittle, and Hazelnut Crunch

Make the Fudge Sauce. Combine the chocolate, cocoa powder, and salt for the fudge sauce in a medium bowl.
Combine the corn syrup, sugar, and heavy cream in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan and stir intermittently while bringing to a boil over high heat. The moment it boils, pour it into the bowl with the chocolate. Let sit, undisturbed, for 1 full minute.
Slowly begin to whisk the mixture. Continue whisking, increasing the speed of your whisking every 30 seconds, until the mixture is glossy and silky-smooth. This will take 2 to 4 minutes, depending on your speed and strength.
Use immediately or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks; do not freeze.
Make the Hazelnut Brittle. Line a quarter sheet pan with a silicone baking mat (parchment will NOT work).
Heat the sugar for the brittle in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. As soon as the sugar starts to melt, use a heatproof spatula to move it constantly around the pan—you want it all to melt and caramelize evenly. Cook and stir until the caramel is a deep, dark amber, 2 to 3 minutes.
Once the caramel has reached the target color, remove from the pan from the heat and, with the heatproof spatula, stir in the hazelnuts. Make sure the nuts are coated in caramel, then dump the contents of the pan out onto the sheet pan. Spread out as thin and evenly as possible. The caramel will set into a hard-to-move-around brittle mass in less than a minute, so work quickly. Let the brittle cool completely.
Once cool, use a food processor to break the brittle up into pieces the size of short-grain rice. Store in an airtight container and use within a month.
Make the Hazelnut Crunch. Combine the hazelnut paste for the crunch, hazelnut brittle, feuilletine, confectioners' sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-low speed for about 1 minute, until homogenous. The crunch can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Day 2: Make The Banana Cake and Banana Cream Pudding

Make the Banana Cake. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously spray a quarter sheet pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the pan's two long sides. Spray the parchment, too.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt for the banana cake.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar for the banana cake. Beat on medium until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 2 to 3 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
Reduce the mixer to low and add the egg, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after the addition. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the buttermilk, followed by the oil and banana extract.
Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 5 to 6 minutes until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. You're basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn't want to make room for it, so if it doesn't look right after 6 minutes, keep mixing. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
On very low speed, add the bananas and mix for 45 to 60 seconds to ensure all the bananas are broken apart.
Still on very low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, and beat on low for an additional 30 seconds.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to smooth its top if necessary. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. When done, the top of the cake should bounce back when gently pressed and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake should come out with a few crumbs attached.
Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before storing or using for assembly. To store for later, turn the cake out onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap to tightly wrap the entire cake (you may need an additional sheet or two of plastic wrap to cover it completely). The cake will keep, at room temperature, for up to 1 day before you need to use it for assembly. The cake will also keep in the freezer, wrapped in an additional layer of aluminum foil, for up to 3 months.
Make the Banana Cream Pudding. Combine the bananas, cream, and milk for the banana cream pudding in a blender and puree until smooth. Add the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and yolks and continue to blend until homogenous. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan.
Pour the cold water for the banana cream pudding into a small cup. Sprinkle the gelatin over the surface of the water, covering it completely. Set aside for no longer than 5 minutes while you cook the banana cream pudding.
Place the saucepan with the banana cream on medium-low heat. Bring to a boil, whisking continuously, until the mixture is thick and gray.
Pour the banana cream back into the blender. Add the bloomed gelatin, butter, and yellow food coloring and blend until completely smooth.
Transfer the banana mixture to a heatsafe container, and refrigerate until completely cold.
Once cold, combine the cream and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium-high until soft peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cold banana mixture to the whipped cream and slowly whisk until evenly colored and homogenous.
Use immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Day 3: Make the Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache, Hazelnut Frosting, and Assemble The Entire Cake!

Make the Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache. Bring the cream for the ganache to a boil in a small heavy-bottomed suacepan over medium-high heat.
Meanwhile, combine the melted gianduja, hazelnut paste, fudge sauce, and salt in a medium bowl.
Pour the cream into the bowl and let sit undisturbed for 1 minute. With a hand blender or a whisk, slowly whisk the contents of the bowl until the mixture is glossy and silky-smooth. This will take 2 to 4 minutes, depending on your speed and strength.
Use immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Make the Hazelnut Frosting. Use a handheld electric mixer to beat the butter for the frosting in a medium bowl until completely smooth. Add the hazelnut paste, confectioners' sugar, and salt. Continue mixing on medium-high speed until the frosting is fluffy and has no lumps in it, around 3-4 minutes, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.
Use immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
Assemble the Milk Bar Banana Layer Cake. Put a piece of parchment or a silicone mat on the counter. Invert the Banana Cake onto it and peel off the parchment from the bottom of the cake. Use a 6-inch cake ring to stamp out 2 full circles and 2 half circles from the cake. The whole circles are your top 2 cake layers. The 2 half circles and remaining cake "scrap" will come together to make the bottom layer of the cake.
Clean the cake ring and place it in the center of a sheet pan lined with clean parchment paper. Line the inside of the cake ring with the acetate paper (if using two strips of acetate paper, just use one strip).
Nestle the two half circles in the cake ring, pressing their round sides against the cake ring. There will be a gap in the middle of the circles—this is totally okay, I promise! Fill the gap between the two half circles with the remaining cake scraps. Use the back of your hand to press the scraps together to fit into the space. Head's up that you're going to have more scraps than can fit in the gap. Simply take the excess scraps and press them down evenly on top of the rest of the cake layer, using the back of your hand to create a flat and even layer. At this point, the acetate collar will start to wrinkle from the pressure of the cake. Don't worry about it too much! It will even back out when you add the middle and top layer.
Use a pastry brush to brush half of the milk for assembly over the layer. If using a digital scale to weigh out the soak, you'll need approximately 1 ounce (30 grams) of milk for this layer.
Use the back of a spoon or a small rubber spatula to spread ½ of the Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache as evenly as possible over the soaked cake. If using a digital scale to weigh out the frosting, you'll need approximately 3.75 ounces (106 grams) of ganache for this layer.
Sprinkle ⅓ of the Hazelnut Crunch evenly over the ganache. If using a digital scale to weigh out the crunch, you'll need approximately 1.7 ounces (48 grams) of crunch for this layer.
Use the back of a spoon or a small rubber spatula to spread ½ of the Banana Cream Pudding as evenly as possible over the crunch. If using a digital scale to weigh out the cream, you'll need approximately 6.5 ounces (284 grams) of banana cream for this layer.
If you're using two acetate cake collars, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top ¼ inch of the first strip of acetate. Doing so creates a ring of acetate that is 5 to 6 inches tall, combined—this will be high enough to support the height of the finished cake.
Set a cake round on top of the banana cream. If one of your cake rounds is jankier than the other, use it in the middle and save the pretty one for the top!
Use a pastry brush to brush the remaining half of the milk over this cake. Use the back of a spoon or a small rubber spatula to spread the remaining ½ of the Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache (3.75 ounces or 106 grams) as evenly as possible over the soaked cake. Sprinkle ⅓ of the Hazelnut Crunch (1.7 ounces or 48 grams) evenly over the ganache. Use the back of a spoon or a small rubber spatula to spread the remaining ½ of the Banana Cream Pudding (6.5 ounces or 284 grams) as evenly as possible over the crunch.
Set the final cake round on top of the banana cream. Cover the top of the cake with all the hazelnut frosting. Garnish the frosting with the remaining clusters of Hazelnut Crunch (there should be around 1.7 ounces or 48 grams left).
Freeze the cake. Transfer the sheet pan with the cake to the freezer. Freeze, uncovered and fully assembled, for a minimum of 12 hours to set the cake and all its fillings. The cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

Day 4: Serve and Store

Thaw the cake, then serve. At least 3 hours before you are ready to serve the cake, pull the sheet pan out of the freezer and use your fingers and thumbs to gently pop the cake out of the cake ring.
Transfer the cake to a serving plate or cake stand. Gently peel off the acetate. Defrost in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours (or 1 hour at room temperature) before serving.
Store the cake. The assembled cake will keep, uncovered in the refrigerator, for up to 1 day. After that, tightly wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an additional 3 days. Leftover slices can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge.

Get the Recipe: Milk Bar Banana Layer Cake

Ingredients

For The Fudge Sauce (Needed for the Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache)

For The Hazelnut Brittle (Needed for the Hazelnut Crunch)

For The Hazelnut Crunch

For The Banana Cake

For The Banana Cream Pudding

For The Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache

For the Hazelnut Frosting

Assembly

Equipment

Instructions

Day 1: Make the Fudge Sauce, Hazelnut Brittle, and Hazelnut Crunch

Day 2: Make The Banana Cake and Banana Cream Pudding

Day 3: Make the Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache, Hazelnut Frosting, and Assemble The Entire Cake!

Day 4: Serve and Store