Chunky Monkey Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line a 12-cup muffin tin with liners.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.
• Mash bananas with milk and vanilla extract until smooth.
• Mix butter and sugar together with a spatula until creamy. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, then whisk in the banana mixture. Add walnuts, chocolate, and the flour mixture. Mix batter with a spatula until no dry spots remain.
• Fill muffin cups to the top with batter, then distribute excess batter as needed. Tap pan against the counter to expel any air bubbles.
• Bake in the preheated oven until tops are lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool to room temperature, at least 20 minutes.
• Pour hot cream over chocolate chips in a bowl. Let sit for a few minutes, then whisk, increasing speed gradually, until color is uniform. Spread ganache over the cooled cupcakes and garnish with banana chips. Refrigerate to firm up the frosting, if desired.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Grease 9 inch square cake pan.
• Stir together flours, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and baking powder.
• Beat together oil, sugar, and eggs and vanilla until pale and fluffy.
• Beat in bananas, and yogurt (mixture will look curdled).
• With mixer at low spead add flour mixture until just mixed.
• Toss the chocolate chips and walnuts in a tablespoon of flour to coat and then add to bater and fold in gently, do not overmix.
• Spread batter evenly into pan and bakeuntil cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 40-45 minutes.
• Cool cake on rack for 30 minutes and then turn cake out onto rack and cool completely, right side up.
• Cake can be store for 2-3 days at room temperature.
• This cake goes great with a dark chocolate frosting!

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.
• Peel 2 bananas and mash them up in a bowl. Add cake mix, water, eggs and oil. Beat on low speed of mixer until well combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and beat until mixture is smooth, about 3 minutes.
• Chop remaining banana into 1/2-inch pieces. Using rubber spatula, fold bananas, chopped walnuts and chocolate chips into cake batter.
• Divide batter evenly between pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out clean.
• Cool in pans about 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.
• Frost cake with your favourite chocolate frosting, putting icing between layers.

Steps:

• For the tart crust: Pulse the walnuts and sugar in a food processor until they are finely ground, about 6 pulses. Add the cold butter and pulse until the walnuts and sugar come together with the butter, but the mixture is not homogenous. Add the flour and salt and pulse again until the butter is the size of small peas. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead until it just comes together. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Lightly flour the dough and roll it between 2 pieces of parchment or plastic wrap to about 1/4 inch thick. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, patching any holes. Use a fork to gently prick the crust, ensuring that steam can escape while it bakes. Freeze until hard, 6 to 8 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the tart crust until pale golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• For the pastry cream: While the tart crust dough is chilling, bring the milk, vanilla bean paste and salt to just under a boil in a medium pot over medium heat. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks in a medium bowl until smooth and combined. Whisking constantly, ladle half the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, one ladle at a time. Continue until all the hot milk has been whisked in and the egg mixture is now warm.
• Return the milk and egg yolks to the pot and cook over medium-low heat, whisking, until thickened to a pudding consistency, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately strain through a chinois or fine-mesh sieve into a large airtight container. Stir the butter cubes into the pastry cream until melted and combined. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream, and refrigerate until chilled through, about 2 hours.
• For the assembly: Spread the fudge sauce over the cooled tart shell and top with an even layer of thinly sliced bananas (using about half). Add a layer of pastry cream (about 1 cup) and smooth into an even layer; reserve the remaining cream for another use (see Cook's Note). Top with the remaining sliced bananas, shingling them slightly and arranging them in a concentric circle. Sprinkle the sugar over the bananas and brulee with a kitchen blow torch until golden brown. Garnish with some chopped walnuts.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners., Beat first five ingredients until well blended. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into banana mixture. Fold in chocolate chunks., Fill prepared cups three-fourths full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, beat cream cheese, peanut butter and butter until smooth. Gradually beat in enough confectioners' sugar to reach desired consistency. Spread over cupcakes. If desired, sprinkle with peanuts. Refrigerate leftovers.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Butter and flour an 8 1/2-inch-diameter 3-quart stainless-steel or oven proof bowl and 1 cup of a large (1-cup capacity) muffin tin; set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk together bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter and brown sugar; mix on medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes; mix in eggs.
• Reduce speed to medium; mix in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with banana mixture.
• Fill prepared muffin cup three-quarters full.
• Transfer remaining batter to prepared baking bowl.
• Transfer to oven, side by side.
• Bake cupcake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
• Let cool in tin on a wire rack.
• Continue baking large cake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes more (1 hour and 40 minutes total).
• Let cool in bowl on a wire rack 30 minutes.
• Invert bowl to remove cake; let cool completely.
• Trim flat side of cake to be level.
• Trim away top of cupcake to be level.
• Cut cupcake in half vertically for the two monkey ears.
• Cut bowl cake in half horizontally to make 2 layers.
• Spread 3/4 cup chocolate buttercream on top of flat layer.
• Top with domed layer.
• Transfer to a cake plate.
• Spread a thick layer of chocolate buttercream over entire monkey head.
• Spread icing over cupcake ears.
• Attach ears to sides of head, top of cupcake facing forward, securing with toothpicks.
• Fill a piping bag fitted with a large plain round tip with yellow icing.
• Pipe an oval near the front base of cake.
• Fill in with frosting, and smooth.
• Place 2 small pieces of licorice rope inside for nose.
• Add a long piece of rope for mouth.
• Place Junior Mints above oval for eyes.
• Pipe yellow half-circles in centers of ears; fill in with frosting, and smooth.
• Decorated cake can be refrigerated up to 3 hours.