Step 1

For the Banana CakePreheat the oven to 350 degrees, Grease/spray & flour three 8 inch pans and line with parchment circles

Step 3

In the mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients, sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, & salt. Turn on the mixer and blend for 30 seconds to incorporate ingredients

Step 5

Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Mix until it begins to look like coarse sand Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl

Step 7

In a separate bowl, slice and mash the bananas, add lemon juice, eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla and buttermilk. Lightly mix these ingredients with a fork to blend

Step 9

It is important to SLOWLY add the first 1/2 cup banana/buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients beating on low/medium speed for 1 minute, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl then beat 1 minute more.

Step 11

Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.

Step 13

Cool the cakes 5 to 10 minutes on the rack and then turn out.

Step 15

NOTE: Substitution for cake flour: Measure out 3 cups of all purpose (plain in the UK) flour. You will be removing 2 Tablespoons flour per cup so for this recipe, Remove 6 Tablespoons of the flour and replace it with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch (corn flour in the UK) Whisk to blend .

Step 17

For the Whipped Cream Cheese FrostingFreeze your mixing bowl and beaters 15 minutes before whipping the cream (30 minutes if chilling in the refrigerator.  Use the whisk attachment for a stand mixer, beaters on your hand mixer.

Step 19

Beat the cream until stiff peaks form.  This can happen very quickly so don't walk away from the mixer.  You are at the stiff peak stage when you lift the beater and the cream stands straight up forming a peak. Keep in the refrigerator while completing the next step.

Step 21

In another bowl combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla.  Beat until very smooth.  Fold this into the whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate.  If you are piping this frosting and it becomes too soft, just refrigerate the filled piping bag for a short while.

Step 23

It is best to use this on your cake the same day it is made.

Step 25

For the Ganache Filling and DripPlace your chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.

Step 27

Pour heavy cream over the chocolate and place in the microwave for 1 minute. (Times may vary, see our note below).

Step 29

Remove and stir. Microwave for 30 seconds more and when the chocolate has melted almost completely, allow it to sit for 1 minute more before stirring. Stir until you've reached a silky smooth consistency.

Step 31

*Microwave times may vary. If you are making a smaller amount of ganache, you will reduce the microwave time. If your chocolate hasn't melted after the 1 1/2 minutes recommended in the instructions, simply microwave in small 10-15 second increments until it has nearly completely melted. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth.

Step 33

Allow finished ganache to cool until it is a good consistency for dripping. (You can test this on the inside of your bowl. If it moves too quickly down, let it thicken a little more.

Step 35

Assembly of CakePlace first cake layer on the pedestal or cake base.

Step 37

Spread with a layer of whipped cream cheese frosting. Top with a layer of sliced strawberries and crushed pineapple- I like to keep the fruit filling about 1/4 inch from the edge of the cake. I piped a dam of frosting to help keep everything contained. Drizzle the filling with ganache (I piped mine through a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away).

Step 39

Repeat the above steps for the next layer of cake, and then top with the final cake layer.

Step 41

Fill in any gaps between the assembled layers with the whipped cream cheese frosting (I fill a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away for this step). Then, frost as usual.

Step 43

This frosting doesn't smooth in quite the same way as buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting due to the whipped consistency, but a bench scraper is helpful in smoothing the frosting as you rotate it. For an even smoother look, you can chill the frosted cake in the freezer for 15 minutes or so and then fine tune with a heated spatula.

Step 45

When you're ready to apply the ganache (I did this on a chilled cake), spoon it into a disposable piping bag and snip the tip away. Pipe drips around the top edge of the cake, and then spoon additional ganache on top of the cake and spread with a spatula (to meet up with the drips that you've piped).

Step 47

Finally, I piped french tip stars with an 8B tip, placed cherries in each one, and added a small shell border around the base.