Chocolate cake filled with bananas and a generous mound of banana-flavoured whipped cream, flecked with grated dark chocolate and covered in chocolate cake crumbs.

Kopiec Kreta means “molehill”, and this cake looks just like one! The secret is a little banana essence in the cream: it brings back that nostalgic boxed-mix flavour I remember from childhood.

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake

• 300g plain flour
• 100g dark brown sugar
• 125g caster sugar
• 300ml buttermilk
• 200ml vegetable oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 50g cocoa powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• A pinch of salt

For the bananas

• 4–5 bananas
• Juice of ½ lemon

For the cream

• 600ml whipping cream, chilled
• 2 leaves of gelatine
• Cold water, for soaking the gelatine
• 6 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• ¼ tsp banana essence or flavouring, plus a little more if needed depending on the brand
• 100g dark chocolate, coarsely grated

Banana essence: ¼ tsp was perfect with my brand. Strength varies, so start with this amount, taste the cream and add a little more if needed.

Method

1. Bake the chocolate cake

Heat the oven to 160°C fan. Grease a 23cm round cake tin and line its base with baking paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, then stir in the salt and both sugars, breaking up any lumps. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until combined. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 50–55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely.

2. Make the hollow

Trim off any domed top, then carefully scoop out the centre, leaving approximately 2cm of cake at the base and around the sides. Crumble the removed cake and trimmed top into fine crumbs and set aside.

3. Add the bananas

Peel the bananas and halve them lengthways. Coat with the lemon juice and arrange snugly inside the hollow, trimming them to fit.

4. Prepare the gelatine

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water until soft, following the packet instructions. Reserve 3 tbsp of the measured cream and gently warm it. Remove from the heat, squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and stir it into the warm cream until fully dissolved. Let it cool until lukewarm but still liquid.

5. Make the banana cream

Whip the remaining cream with the icing sugar, vanilla and ¼ tsp banana essence to soft peaks. Taste and add a little more banana essence if your brand needs it. Stir a spoonful of whipped cream into the liquid gelatine mixture, then gradually whisk this back into the remaining cream on low speed until it holds its shape. Fold in the coarsely grated chocolate.

6. Build your molehill

Spoon the cream over the bananas, shaping it into a dome. Cover with the reserved cake crumbs, pressing them gently onto the cream.

7. Chill

Refrigerate for several hours, until the filling is set and the cake slices neatly. Keep refrigerated until serving.