Banoffee Cream Cake (Gluten Free)
I wanted to experiment with another fruit for my gluten-free cake sponge, and bananas seemed like the perfect choice—they’re always sitting around in my kitchen. While banana bread is the go-to for leftover bananas, this cake is a lighter, fresher alternative. The sponge is incredibly light, and the cream, flavoured with homemade salted caramel, adds a wonderful toffee flavor that complements the bananas beautifully. I’ve tried drizzling caramel over the cake, but I find it unbalances the flavours—unless you have a serious sweet tooth, I’d stick with the cream filling.
Serves 10-12
Hands-on Time 35 minutes (plus cooling)
Baking Time 1 hour 5 minutes (35 minutes for the cake)
Ingredients
Oil for greasing (flavourless, e.g., sunflower or vegetable)
130g plus 2 tbsp light brown sugar
5 large eggs
5-6 medium-large ripe bananas
100g caster sugar
250g ground almonds
30g cornflour
¼ plus ⅛ tsp fine salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
200ml double cream
Equipment
Scissors
Baking parchment
2 x 20cm fixed or push-bottom cake tins
Knife
2 mixing bowls
Electric whisk
Spatula
Wire rack
Method
1. Preheat the Oven
Preheat the oven to 170°C/150°C (fan)/325°F/Gas Mark 3.
Line the cake tins with parchment and grease with oil. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of light brown sugar over the bottom of each tin.
2. Prepare the Bananas
Peel and halve 2 bananas. Place them cut-side down on the sugar in each tin.
3. Make the Cake Batter
Separate the eggs, placing the whites in one bowl and the yolks in another.
Peel and mash 200g of bananas. Add them to the egg yolks along with 130g of light brown sugar. Beat on high speed for 1 minute.
Clean the beaters. Whisk the egg whites until foamy, then gradually add the caster sugar until stiff peaks form.
Add the ground almonds, cornflour, and ⅛ tsp of salt to the egg yolk mixture. Mix with a spatula.
Add the vanilla extract and stir again.
Fold in the egg whites in two batches until no streaks remain.
4. Bake the Cakes
Divide the batter between the prepared tins and smooth the tops. Tap the tins gently to remove air bubbles.
Bake on the middle shelf for 35 minutes. Let the cakes cool in the tins for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Prepare the Caramel Cream
Whip the double cream until stiff. Fold in the salted caramel gently.
6. Assemble the Cake
Slice any remaining bananas.
Place one cake layer banana-side up. Spread half the caramel cream on top and add banana slices.
Top with the second cake layer and decorate with the remaining caramel cream and banana slices.
Enjoy!
