Cannoli Cakes and Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Banana Cake

In my opinion Fall is the most glorious time of year. I look forward to the change in weather. The heat and humidity of summer are replaced by a cool crispness in the air that revitalizes you. The Fall gives us trees filled with leaves of amber, gold and browns that are a magnificent sight to see. Every season has its beauty and Fall certainly shines in hers. Along with the cooler weather comes the urge to bake. Cyndy and I want to motivate you with two excellent recipes. Cannoli Cakes and Nigella Lawon's Chocolate Banana Cake. Whether you dive right into that urge to bake or work your way into it, enjoy it......it's a Fall thing.















I got this one from Carol. I haven't tried making anything sweet with Ricotta, I've always just used it in my lasagna. Well, good news here. LOVE the stuff!
The cakes are dense yet buttery. At first I thought way too dense, but then after making the frosting? They need to be hearty since they need to hold up all that goodness in the frosting! I know I have pistachio's somewhere here, just couldn't find them. I used macadamia pieces. To give it more color I not only used the mini chips, I used some dried cherries that I chopped up as well. We had one each for dessert and I wasn't sharing this time! LOL Carol's right, I'll find those pistachio's when I'm not looking for them............
Wanna print just the recipe, click here!

Cannoli Cakes
Adapted from KingArthur.com

3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup orange liqueur (such as Triple Sec) for brushing {I used Cointreau}

Ricotta Topping
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup whipping cream, whipped and chilled
1 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup finely chopped salted pistachios{ used macadamia pieces}
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped {my addition}

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Arrange 12 mini paper brioche pans on a parchment lined baking sheet, and spritz the pans with cooking spray. If you are not using paper brioche pans, you may use a 12 cup muffin tin.
Beat the eggs, sugar and salt on medium high speed for 5 minutes until thick. Gently fold in the melted, cooled butter and flour until no lumps remain. Divide the batter evenly among the pans.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until lightly golden brown on the edges and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, cool completely. If using a muffin tin, remove the cakes to a wire rack to cool, don't leave them in the pan as they will steam and get soggy.
Gently brush each cake with some of the orange liqueur and repeat until all liqueur is used up. Set the cakes aside while you prepare the filling.

Combine the ricotta, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium mixing bowl until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream, mini chocolate chips and chopped pistachios until evenly incorporated.
Using a cookie or muffin scoop or large spoon, evenly divide the ricotta filling over the 12 cakes. Place on a tray and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.


12 small cannoli cakes

Tips from our bakers(King Arthur)
◦Not a fan of orange liqueur? Use simple syrup (plain or flavored with orange) instead. Brushing the cakes helps keep them moist.
◦Try a bit of candied lemon peel as a topping, it adds a bright flavor and touch of sparkle.
◦Should you by chance have some ricotta topping left over, it's great on graham crackers!









Oh this is an amazing cake! You're not going to believe how moist this is. It was very easy to put together, that's a plus in my book. Especially since I had my granddaughters over night and still here for the day, then I had our family dinner to put together. This is very impressive, if you make this for company, they will adore it! This is very light, it doesn't look like it but it is. The banana and chocolate flavors are wonderful in this cake.


I made this in a grease 9 inch spring form pan, I lined the bottom with a piece of parchment paper and greases that as well.. I melted the butter and oil, I used vegetable oil, in a sauce pan and set aside. I combined all the dry ingredients except the salt in one bowl and mixed till combined. I put the melted butter into my KA, ( you can use a saucepan if you have one big enough, I didn't. I slowly added the dry ingredients to the melted butter. Mix well. I then added the mashed bananas and sour cream, mixing only till combined. I whisked together the eggs, vanilla and salt and added it to the mixing bowl, whisking until the batter was smooth. I poured the batter into the pan and baked for about 50 minutes.




The cake had some cracks in the top of it, but the ganache was very forgiving and you couldn't tell after it was frosted. After the cake was completely cooled I started the ganache. I chopped the semi sweet chocolate up, measured out 1/2 cup of heavy cream into a small saucepan and added the corn syrup. The chocolate went in next, I stirred this on low heat very gently until it was melted. I slowly filled the top of the cake with ganache and gently smoothed it working from the center outward to the sides with an off set spatula. It worked beautifully! About 15 minutes before I was ready to serve this I put it into the fridge to harden up the ganache slightly to cut it.



Wanna print just the recipe, click here!

Chocolate Banana Cake
New York Times
Nigella Lawson
Time: 1 hour plus cooling

For the cake:
Vegetable oil or nonstick cooking spray, for cake pan
3/4cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 tablespoon olive oil 1 3/4cups flour
2 1/2teaspoons baking powder
1/2teaspoon baking soda
1/4cup best-quality cocoa
1 cup sugar
2/3cup sour cream
1 1/2cups mashed banana (about 4 whole bananas)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
Pinch of salt

For the icing:
1/2cup heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Yellow sprinkles, optional.

1.For cake: heat oven to 325 degrees. Oil or spray a 9-inch springform cake pan and set aside. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt butter with olive oil. Remove pan from heat.
2.Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and sugar. Mix well. Add sour cream and mashed banana, and whisk to combine. In a small bowl or pitcher, whisk together vanilla extract, eggs and salt. Add to saucepan and whisk until smooth. Pour into cake pan.
3.Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Allow cake to cool on a rack for about 15 minutes, then remove springform and allow cake to cool completely before icing.
4.For icing: In a medium saucepan, combine cream, chocolate and corn syrup. Place over low heat, stirring gently with a spatula to avoid creating air bubbles, until mixture is very smooth. Place cake on a stand or a plate and spread icing over it with spatula. Garnish immediately with yellow sprinkles, if using. Yield:One 9-inch cake, 10 to 12 servings.