SepOct Issue – Recipe: Caramel Banana Crème Napoleon

Looking for a fall dessert to impress dinner guests? Look no further.

Shannon Mayes, of SweetArt Cake Company, shared this luscious recipe with us for our September/October issue. Enjoy!

Caramel Banana Crème Napoleon

Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients:
¾ Cup Butter
¾ Cup White Sugar
¾ Cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
3 Very Ripe Bananas, Mashed
8 oz Sour Cream
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
¼ teaspoon Salt
1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
2 ¼ Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Topping:
½ Cup Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture
½ Cup Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Walnuts, finely chopped
4 Tablespoons butter cut into 12 pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray two loaf pans with non-stick baking spray. Combine Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture and Brown Sugar for topping. Sprinkle sprayed pans with some of the mixture until the bottom and sides of the pans are well coated, set the remaining sugar mixture aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Incorporate 1 cup chopped walnuts if desired. Divide batter into prepared pans. Divide and sprinkle remaining sugar topping mixture evenly onto the batter. Sprinkle ¼ cup finely chopped nuts on top of the sugar mixture. Place pieces of butter, 6 for each loaf, on top of the sugar mixture and nuts spread apart evenly.

Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans for 15-20 minutes before placing on wire racks to cool completely.

Banana Pastry Crème Recipe
Yields: 2 Cups

Ingredients:
2 Cups Whole Milk
¾ Cup Sugar
1 Pinch of Salt
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Banana Extract
¼ Cup Corn Starch
4 Large Egg Yolks, Lightly Beaten
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 Bananas, Pureed

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 ½ cups milk, ½ cup sugar, salt, vanilla and banana extract and bring to a boil.

While the liquid is heating, in a medium bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup milk, ¼ cup sugar, and the corn starch and stir until the corn starch is completely dissolved. Whisk in the egg yolks.
Temper the egg mixture by slowly pouring in 1/3 of the hot milk mixture whisking constantly.

Add the remaining milk mixture and whisk to combine. Return the mixture to the pan and continue cooking over medium heat whisking vigorously until the cream comes to a boil and thickens, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. The whisk should leave a trail in the cream when pulled through. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter. Transfer the cream to an ice bath and stir occasionally until cool.

While the cream is cooling puree 2 bananas. Once cream is fully cooled, incorporated the pureed bananas into the cream.

Note: This makes for a thinner cream than traditional pastry cream, if you prefer a thicker cream, omit the pureed bananas.

Place a piece of parchment or wax paper directly onto the cream in an airtight container for refrigeration.

Orange Caramel Sauce Recipe
Yields: 3 Cups

Ingredients:
2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) Salted Butter, cut into pieces
½ Cup Heavy Cream
Pinch of Sea Salt
3 teaspoons Orange Liqueur such as Grand Marnier
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

Directions:
Add brown sugar, heavy cream, salt and Grand Marnier Orange Liqueur to a medium saucepan. and combine with a silicone spatula over medium low heat. Add butter. Allow butter to melt completely and mixture to reach a rolling boil, cook until the caramel sauce thickens, around 5 to 7 minutes. Do not stir the caramel during this time as it can cause crystallization. If some caramel is sticking to the side you may use a clean pastry brush dipped in water to carefully remove the caramel from the sides. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla bean paste. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to an airtight container. Store in refrigerator.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream Recipe
Yields: 2 ½ Cups

Ingredients:
1 ½ Cups Heavy Cream, Well Chilled
½ Cup Confectioner’s Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and beat on high with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Store in airtight container in the refrigerator.

Napoleon Procedure
Slice banana bread into ½” thick slices. Slice each slice in half and place one half onto a plate. Put some banana pastry cream in a pastry bag and snip ½” off the tip of the bag. Pipe a layer of banana pastry cream on top of the half slice of banana bread just inside the outer edge. Top with another half slice of banana bread, another layer of pastry cream and one more layer of banana bread. Place cinnamon whipped cream in a pastry bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe a swirl on top of the final piece of banana bread. Drizzle trifle with Orange Caramel Sauce.

Enjoy!

Shannon Mayes is an award-winning cake decorator and the owner of SweetArt Cake Company. She has been featured in several magazines including on the cover of Cake Masters. Shannon is a teacher, UNSA administrator and a contributor as well as the blog writer for The Sugar Geek Show. She has been decorating cakes professionally for around 5 years and specializes in coming up with unique and creative cake designs. With a background in art and graphic design, she loves using many different mediums and styles of decorating to create edible works of art.

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