Banana Cakes with a Sticky Caramel Coconut Topping and Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze

Over the weekend, I had an indulgent slice of one of my most favourite cakes ever "lumberjack cake" which consists of a moist date base and a caramely gooey broiled coconut topping. The cakes that I made are a twist on the classic, so I used a banana base (as I did not have any dates on hand) and made a cream cheese glaze/drizzle along with some chopped pistachios to finish. How ever, if you want to keep it simple and just have the base and coconut topping, it still tastes great with out the glaze. This recipe is very flexible so if you just want to have one large cake, simply pour the banan batter into a 26cm greased and lined cake tin and bake for around 30 minutes, spread on the coconut topping and return to the oven for a further 20 - 25 minutes (the top should be a dark golden colour). 

Banana Cakes with a Sticky Caramel Coconut Topping and Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze

Topping

2/3 cup brown sugar

60g butter

1 cup coconut threads

3 1/2 tablespoons of milk

n a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until well combined. set aside. 

Banana Cake Base

1 ¼ C   self-raising flour

½  t      baking soda

½ C      caster sugar

2          eggs

1 ¼  C  mashed ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)

½  C     canola or vegetable oil

1/2 t      vanilla essence

Pre heat oven to 180deg. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.

Sift flour & baking soda into a bowl. Make well in the centre & stir in the sugar, eggs, banana, vanilla & oil. Mix gently into a smooth batter.

divide the batter between the tins and bake for 8 minutes or until the tops of the cakes are set. Spoon a tablespoon of the coconut topping mixture onto each cake and spread out slightly, not to the very edges though so make sure there is about a 1 cm gap between the edge of the cupcake and the coconut topping. return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until the topping is a dark golden colour and there is not to much moisture in the center of the cakes. 

Cream Cheese and Vanilla glaze

60g cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/2 tsp. vanilla bean paste

1 tsp honey

2 - 2 1/2 tbsp. Milk

Chopped pistachios

Beat all the ingredients together until smooth (it will be quite runny). If it looks to thick to drizzle over the cupcakes, add more cream or if it is too runny, add a little icing sugar until it is the right consistency. 

Drizzle the glaze over the cakes and sprinkles over some chopped pistachios.