this little piggy went to market...

as i was writing about last night, little cami turned 1 this past saturday! part of me can't believe it's already been a year since she was born. i mean, golly, it feels like only last year that her parents were dating, never mind married. oh wait, no, what i mean is it WAS only last year that all of their friends found out they were dating secretly for over 3 years. ...but that's a long story for another time. moving on.

like i was saying, little cutie cami turned 1 this past saturday. i asked if i could bake the cake, because i have a huge soft spot for her. (yes, shocking, i know) of course, how can i help myself? not only is she extremely cute, she also seems to enjoy my company... frankly, this pleases me about as much as it worries yi-fang. which is to say: immensely.

anyway, for those of you who don't know, 2007 is the year of the pig (don't worry, i didn't know either). cami's parents are both chinese (although yif will take pains to point out that HE is not a canton like p), so p thought it would be fitting - not to mention funny - to have a piggy birthday cake.

now, for those of you who don't know her, p does what she can to, ah, influence dinner and dessert menus in order to maximize her eating pleasure. in my baking repertoire, her favorite dessert is banana whipped cream chocolate cake. you can guess what it was she first requested. only problem is, p had been holding off on giving cami any sugar until she turned one, so she had no idea if cami would react well to chocolate. now p is many things (and i like to tease and give her a hard time on about half of them;), but when it comes to cami - oooog, it pains me to pay her any compliments - she's a great mother to that cutie pie. i say this with certainty because p actually sacrificed an opportunity to have *HER* favorite cake and asked that i make a toddler friendly flavor: banana.

this suited me just fine, because banana cake is ridiculously easy to make, and is universally loved (except, um, by matt sweenlinghouse and byron... both hate bananas. weirdos, the both of them!). the cake had to serve about 35 people, so i decided to make a 2-tiered cake (6" and 10" cakes), with a banana caramel cream filling and cream-cheese icing. i used all organic / pastured / sustainable ingredients... well, except for the jelly beans; yes, even i have to make compromises with high-fructose corn syrup sometimes. i used white (coconut) jelly beans on the snout and brown (root-beer) ones for the toes. check out the photo yif took of it and let me know what you think. i think it came out pretty cute, if i do say so myself! recipe is below. enjoy!!!



Banana Layer Cake with Caramel Cream and Cream Cheese Icing

Banana Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs

Banana-Caramel Cream Filling
3/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
1 small ripe banana, peeled, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 tbsps unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups powdered sugar

Cake
Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and then dust with flour 2 9" round cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Sift dry ingredients together in medium bowl. Combine bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, on high speed cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating to blend after each addition. Add dry ingredients alternately with banana mixture in 3 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients and beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter equally among cake pans.

Bake cakes until tops are just beginning to color and tester inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool cakes in pans on rack for 10 minutes, then turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely.

Filling
Combine brown sugar, banana, and butter in processor; blend until smooth. Add 3/4 cups whipping cream; blend. Transfer to heavy medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture boils. Cook without stirring pan until mixture reaches 218°F. Pour caramel into bowl. Cool to room temperature, whisking occasionally.

Whisk remaining whipping cream in large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually fold in cooled caramel mixture. Chill until cream is firm enough to spread, about 3 hours.

Frosting
Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and then gradually beat in powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate frosting until firm enough to spread, about 15 minutes.

Cake assembly
Place 1 cake layer on cake platter. Spread banana caramel cream evenly, then top with 2nd layer. Frost cake with cream cheese frosting. Cake be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand 1 hour at room temperature before serving. Serves 8-10.