Stracciatella Banana Cake, Gluten Free

This stracciatella banana cake is a delicious grownup take on a childhood favorite pairing: chocolate, caramel, and bananas! Made entirely with oat flour, the cake is also gluten free. This banana cake is great to make for the holidays, even if there are guests who do’t like bananas. That is because there are no bananas in the cake itself, only in the caramel mixture topping.

The bananas and pecans are added at the end, after you have made the caramel. If there are guests who don’t like bananas, simply prepare two bowls. One with bananas and pecans, and one without. Add freshly made caramel to each bowl, then gently fold in the ingredients. You can place one caramel mixture on one half of the cake and the second mixture on the other half of the cake. Likewise you can place the caramel mixtures aside and each guest can add as much as they want to their slice of the cake.

If you or your guests have a sweeter than average tooth, you can substitute milk chocolate for bittersweet chocolate. Likewise, you can also add some spices, like cinnamon, to the batter to make it extra flavorful.

Since this is a one pan cake, it only takes 1-1.5 hours to make it from start to finish. This includes making the batter, baking the cake, as well as making the caramel topping and whipped cream.

Speaking of baking, I used an 8 inch Nordic Ware cake pan to bake this cake. Baking time will differ if you use a different size pan. Using a wider pan will take shorter to bake and using a narrower pan will take longer to bake. You will know the cake is ready when it looks golden-brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Note: Oats are naturally gluten free, however, sometimes they can get contaminated during processing or packaging. If you cannot tolerate gluten, I recommend you buy oats and oat flour that are certified gluten free.

See more cake recipes here.

And lastly, this is how to make the gluten free stracciatella banana cake:

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Stracciatella Banana Cake, Gluten Free

Servings 6 servings

Author spicyoats.com

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1 ½ cups (150 g/ 5 ¼ oz.) oat flour
• ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 1⁄4 sticks (140 g/ 5 oz.) unsalted butter
• 100 g (3 ½ oz.) bitter-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1⁄4 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter for greasing the baking pan
• 2-3 tbsp. oat flour, for dusting the baking pan

For the caramelized bananas:

• 2 medium firm bananas, sliced
• 60 g (2 oz.) pecans, coarsely chopped
• ½ cup (100 g/ 3 ½ oz.) granulated sugar
• ⅓ stick (40 g/ 1 ½ oz.) unsalted butter
• 1⁄4 cup (60 ml/ 2 fl. oz.) cream (35% fat content), warm

For the whipped cream:

• 1 cup (240 ml/ 8 ½ fl. oz.) whipping cream (35% fat content), cold
• 20 g (¾ oz.) bitter-sweet chocolate shavings
• 2 tbsp. icing sugar

Instructions

For the cake:

• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
• Sift the flour and set aside.
• Gently melt the butter over low heat. Set it aside to cool to room temperature.
• Separate the eggs, placing the whites into a large bowl and the yolks into a medium bowl. Beat the whites to a medium peak. Add 2 tbsp. granulated sugar and beat to a stiff peak. Add the remainder of the sugar, the salt, and the vanilla extract to the yolks. Whisk them well, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Using a spatula, gently fold the yolk mixture into the whites. Add half the flour and gently fold it in, until well incorporated. Repeat with the other half. Gently pour the melted butter, while folding it in with a spatula in the other hand. Add the chocolate and fold it in.
• Grease the cake pan with the butter, and dust it very well with flour. Tap the pan to remove the excess flour. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Once baked, remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Remove cake from the pan and set it on a rack to cool to room temperature.

For the caramelized bananas:

• In a large skillet pan, evenly distribute the sugar. Place over medium heat until the sugar begins to brown (do not disturb the sugar during this step). Gently shake the pan, add the butter and stir with a spatula. Add the warm cream and stir well. Take the pan off the heat and add the bananas and pecans. Mix them with the caramel and let the caramel mixture cool to room temperature.

For the whipped cream:

• In a large bowl beat the cold cream to a soft peak. Add the icing sugar and beat to a stiff peak. Gently fold in the chocolate shavings with a spatula. Store in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

For the cake assembly:

• Place the banana caramel mixture on top of the stracciatella cake. Pipe whipped cream around the banana caramel mixture. Slice and enjoy. Serve the cake with more whipped cream (optional).