A recent trip to Germany has expanded my culinary horizons adding one more show-stopping cake recipe book to our library. This time, the challenge has been set even higher, embracing the hidden secrets shared by a renown German fine patisserie chef Noemie Strouk in her culinary book “Baking with a wow-effect“.

Wow-effect it is… Browsing through the tempting looking pages I leave my husband to make the final choice of what he might wish for me to prepare, as honestly speaking any single cake looks absolutely more then fine to me. His choice is a Banoffee cake and the challenge is on.

The original recipe requires first to bake a cookie base for the cake, but considering an alternative version we decide to make the base from speculoos cookies in a similar way as preparing a cheese cake. The flavour combination between the speculoos cookies the banana and the caramel with the light and fluffy mascarpone cream topping ends as being absolutely sublime. Simple, elegant, light and so easy and quick to prepare… fine dinning “wow” it really is.

Ingredients

• 200g Speculoos cookies
• 100g butter
• 50g salty butter
• 125g crystal sugar
• 190g cream
• pinch of salt
• 2 bananas
• 300g cream
• 50g mascarpone
• Vanilla sugar Dr. Oetker (8g)
• 30g powder sugar
• Chocolate curls
• Hazelnut bresilienne
• Dry cornflower petals
• 2tsp cacao powder

Method

1. Prepare the speculoos cake base: Blend the speculoos cookies into a fine dust. Melt 100g butter. Mix the butter and the cookie dust together into a sticky mess. Place baking paper on the base of a 22cm cake form. Press the cookie and butter mixture into a flat disk in the cake form and let it chill for half an hour in the refrigerator.

2. Prepare the caramel: Place 125g crystal sugar in a pot with a thick bottom. Place it over medium fire and let the sugar caramelize (do not touch). Once the caramel starts to get a golden colour and all the sugar has dissolved add a little bit from the cream (do not poor all the liquid at once as it will start to rise). Add 190g cream in three or four times stirring continuously. Cut the salty butter into pieces. Add the butter to the caramel one piece at time stirring continuously until the caramel start to thicken. Once all the butter has been added set aside and let it cool completely on room temperature. Once cooled add a pinch of salt and stir the caramel.

3. For the cream topping: In a cool glass bowl add together the cold 300g cream, 50g mascarpone and vanilla sugar. Mix together with a mixer initially on slow speed until the cream starts to thicken then on high speed. Add the powder sugar and mix until thick.

4. To assemble the cake: Take the cake form out of the fridge. Open the ring and let only the cookie base remain. Cut two bananas into rings and arrange them on top of the speculoos cookie cake base. Drizzle over caramel. Using a piping bag, pipe the mascarpone cream on top of the cake. Dust cacao powder on top and decorate with chocolate curls, hazelnut bresilienne and dried cornflower petals.