Individual Crunch Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Special equipment: two 12-by-18-inch jelly roll sheet pans, an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, half-sheet-size silicone mat, pastry bag, revolving cake stand and small offset spatula.
• For the cake:.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 12-by-18-inch jelly roll sheet pan with parchment and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Line a tray or baking sheet with parchment.
• Heat the butter in a medium saucepan until browned. You will see tiny rust-colored specks float to the top and the butter may become foamy when it is ready. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
• Whisk together the pastry flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside. Add the brown sugar and eggs to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Whisk the brown butter, bananas, sour cream and vanilla together in a medium bowl, then add to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared jelly roll sheet. Bake, rotating the pan 180 degrees halfway during cooking, until the cake is light golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 15 to 18 minutes.
• Cool the cake completely and freeze for 1 to 2 hours. Turn out the frozen cake onto a flat surface and use a 2 1/2-inch round cookie cutter to cut out 24 even circles. Place the rounds on the prepared tray and cover until ready to assemble and frost.
• For the milk chocolate frosting:.
• Add the butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and cream on slow speed until smooth, glossy and free of lumps (do not fluff).
• Add the milk and vanilla and mix to incorporate.
• Add half of the confectioners' sugar and mix to incorporate. Add the rest of the sugar and mix on low speed until smooth.
• Add the milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the bowl as you go.
• For the toffee:.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place a clean silicone mat on another 12-by-18-inch sheet pan. Combine the sugar, corn syrup and cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat without stirring. Add the butter and begin to stir until the caramel turns the color of peanut butter.
• Pour immediately onto the prepared baking sheet and bake until the toffee turns a deep amber color and spreads thinly on the pan, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool, then chop into tiny pieces that will be easy to chew.
• To assemble:.
• Fill a pastry bag with some of the milk chocolate frosting.
• Top 2 mini cake rounds with frosting and about 2 teaspoons of chopped toffee. Stack these on top of each other and top with an unfrosted round of cake. Wrap the small cylinder in plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining cake rounds. Freeze until the frosting has set, about 30 minutes.
• Place a small cake on a revolving cake stand and pipe on the frosting to cover completely. With a small offset spatula, even out the surfaces of the little cake and swirl the frosting in a pretty, decorative pattern of your choice.
• Top each mini cake with crushed toffee and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 8- by 2-inch cake pans.
• For crunch topping:
• In a small bowl combine crunch topping ingredients, stirring until combined. Divide topping among pans and press evenly onto bottom.
• For ginger cake:
• In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Add remaining ginger cake ingredients and with an electric mixer beat on high speed 2 minutes. Carefully spread batter over crunch topping in pans and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of pans in oven halfway through baking, 20 minutes, or until a tester inserted in center of each layer comes out clean.
• Immediately invert cake layers onto racks lined with wax paper and cool completely. Cake layers may be made 2 weeks ahead and frozen, wrapped separately in plastic wrap. Thaw layers in refrigerator before proceeding with recipe.
• In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters of an electric mixer beat 2 cups cream with vanilla and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar until it just holds stiff peaks.
• Cake Assembly:
• Arrange 1 cake layer, crunch side up, on a cake plate and spread with a heaping cup whipped cream. Repeat with another cake layer and another heaping cup whipped cream and top with third cake layer, crunch side up. Leaving top plain, spread remaining whipped cream on side of cake to coat (a final coating will be added later). Chill cake, covered loosely with plastic wrap, at least 4 hours (to facilitate slicing) and up to 24.
• Hull strawberries and slice half of them. In a bowl with a potato masher mash sliced berries with lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. In a food processor purée remaining berries and strain through a fine sieve into bowl with mashed berry mixture. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
• In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters of an electric mixer, beat remaining cup cream until it just holds stiff peaks and spread decoratively on side of cake. Arrange some whole strawberries on top of cake and garnish plate with additional whole strawberries.
• Serve cake with strawberry sauce.