Bananas Foster Layer Cake

Directions

Cake Layers

1Grease the sides of three 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment circles. Preheat oven to 350° F.

2In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3Add egg whites and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute.

4Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

5Add about ⅓ of the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix until incorporated.

6Add about half of the buttermilk and mix until incorporated.

7Continue adding dry and wet ingredients alternately and beating until incorporated after each addition. End with dry ingredients.

8Divide batter evenly into cake pans.

9Bake 25 - 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.

10Allow cakes to cool for 5 - 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Sauce

1Once the cake is cool, melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2 Add brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and heavy cream and stir until sugar is dissolved.

3Pour rum into the pan, then use a lighter (or something similar) to light the rum. Be careful, the flame can get somewhat high. Once lit, allow it to cook, swirling the pan a few times to disperse the rum and flames. It should burn out within a minute or two, but if not, swirl a little more to help it burn out.

4Continue cooking another 1 - 2 minutes to thicken the sauce.

5Remove from heat, whisk another minute, then pour into another bowl to cool for about 15 minutes. Set about a ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons of sauce aside in another bowl. The larger amount of sauce will go into the icing. The smaller amount will be used in the cake and on top.

Bananas

1While fosters sauce cools, combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

2Pour over sliced bananas and toss to coat.

Icing

1In a large bowl, beat butter and shortening until smooth.

2Add 4 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

3Add the fosters sauce made above and mix until combined. There should still be another ½ cup plus 3 tablespoons set aside for the rest of the cake.

4Add cinnamon and remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add water until you get a nice, smooth consistency.

Assembly

1Remove the domes of the cake layers with a large serrated knife. The cakes should be fairly flat, but flatten them out as needed.

2Place the first layer of cake on your cake stand or plate.

3Spread ¼ cup of fosters sauce over the cake layer and let it soak into the cake.

4Pipe an icing dam around the edge of the cake.

5Add a layer of sliced bananas within the cake dam. Fill in the space between the bananas and spread a thin layer of icing over the bananas. The bananas can poke through the icing, but it should be an even layer, so that the cake is flat.

6Repeat steps 2 - 5 with the second layer of cake.

7Place remaining layer of cake on top.

8Ice the outside of the cake. Start by filling in the spaces between the cake layers, then ice the full cake.

9Top cake with banana slices (fresh or dried) and drizzle remaining 3 tablespoons of fosters sauce around the edge.