Healthy Chocolate Banana Marble Cake

Healthy Chocolate Banana Marble Cake, a reduced sugar moist whirl cake. For breakfast, brunch or teatime with a fudgy dark chocolate ganache.

Lucie squealed when she saw this Chocolate Banana Marble Cake peeking out from the aluminium foil in the kitchen for breakfast. I squealed since that bottom layer wasn’t very marbled and the top was a bit too browned – but hey, nobody’s perfect.

To see the marble effect, of course, someone had already cut a few slices before the ‘official opening’. By the opening, you’ll understand what I mean if you want to photograph a whole cake for a blog or book before it’s attacked.

Really, the girls think I’m some kind of expert French police detective but it doesn’t take much to notice when a squirrel has sneaked off with the hidden edibles in the kitchen, does it?

How to Make a Marble or Swirl Cake

To create a marble or swirl effect like a tiger (hence its other names), divide up the batter towards the end, layer each of the batter in turn, then make zig-zags with a fork from one end to the other – or swirl a couple of times in a figure 8 with a skewer.

Although, in this case, you could say it’s a chocolate banana cake that’s a bit ‘lost its marble!’

Normally we enjoy this for breakfast with a typical large French bowl of coffee to accompany it and take our time. However, this chocolate banana marble cake is also delicious coated in a fudgy dark chocolate glaze for teatime.

Chocolate Cake Glaze Festive Decor

If you have any chocolate macaron shells handy, then stick them on top for a soft yet almond crunch. To create an instant holiday decor, sprinkle on some edible glitter (I use edible metallic lustre powder to brush on macarons from DecoRelief in Paris – see stockists on the FAQ page) for a quick golden effect.

Have you made any of the recipes from le blog or fancy making this Chocolate Banana Marble Cake?  Please leave a comment below – I love it when you make and share the recipes here.

Healthy Chocolate Banana Marble Cake

5 from 2 votes

Chocolate Banana Marble Cake

Author: Jill Colonna

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time50 mins

Total Time1 hr 5 mins

Course : Breakfast, teatime, Brunch

Cuisine : French, British

Keyword : Chocolate Marble,, Chocolate Banana,, Marble Cake,, chocolate banana swirl, bananabread

Servings : 8 people

Calories : 330kcal

Print Recipe

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Description

A reduced sugar chocolate banana marble cake (or banana bread) perfect for breakfast or brunch, either topped with roasted banana or served at teatime with a fudgy dark chocolate ganache.

Ingredients

• 100 g (3.5oz) butter (unsalted) softened
• 75 g (2.75oz) cane sugar
• 3 eggs (organic) at room temperature
• 170 g (6oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 (approx.225g/8oz) very ripe bananas + 1 for decor (optional)
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 100 g (3.5oz) dark chocolate chips good quality (bittersweet)

Teatime Chocolate Glaze (optional):

• 50 g (2oz) dark (bittersweet) cooking chocolate good quality (64-74% cacao)
• 50 g (2oz) icing (confectioner's) sugar sifted
• 50 g (2oz) butter (unsalted)
• 50 g (2oz) single or whipping cream at least 30% fat

Instructions

• Grease and flour a loaf tin, otherwise if you’re using a silicone mould there’s no need. Preheat the oven to 180°C/360°F/Mark 4/160°C fan.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until soft, light and creamy (this is even easier if you beat together in a stand mixer). Gradually add the eggs, one by one until well mixed. Incorporate the flour and baking powder until the batter is smooth.
• In another bowl, mash the banana with a fork and transfer half of it to the other bowl. In one of them, add the chocolate powder and chocolate chips and mix well.
• Pour the chocolate mix into the bottom of the tin, then pour in the banana batter, then the chocolate again then banana.
• Marble the cake by making zig-zags with a fork from one end to the other - or swirl a couple of times in a figure 8 with a skewer. If making this without the teatime glaze, cut the extra banana horizontally (if using) and place on top of the batter. Transfer to the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. 

  The cake is ready when a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. If not, bake for another 5 minutes. Leave the cake to cool then remove from the mould to a wire rack to cool.
  

For the Teatime Glaze (optional):

• Melt the chocolate, icing sugar and butter in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water (bain-marie). When melted, stir in the cream until the glaze is well blended.  Leave to cool for about 5 minutes then pour over the cake, evening the glaze with a knife and decorate whatever takes your fancy. I added some mini macaron shells and finally dusted it with gold food powder, just tapping it over with a couple of fingers.

Notes

Please resist temptation to eat this straight away, as the marble cake tastes even better the next day.  Can keep for 3 days in a cool place stored in an airtight tin or in aluminium foil (although not in the fridge) - if you're lucky not to have tigers around!