eight in oh-eight

“To be honest, I didn’t think we would be eight.”

Eight years. Of clutching at our stomachs from laughing incessantly, and waking up all puffy-eyed from yesternight’s crying. Of irritating the world with our thousand-and-two inside jokes, and standing strong on each other’s side should the world turn their backs on either of us. Of experimenting with and thereafter embracing makeup in slowly-but-surely stages, and still having the quintessential rock-hand-sign pose with each camera session.

We’re a walking contradiction. At best.

The fact that we are still holding strong eight years on, after all the mind boggling equations You + I bring about, proves that there is a certain faith in our friendship that the world need not comprehend. From singing rock ballads in the back alley-ed benches in school, to studying for the big A’s twice over on the freezing seats of Burger King/Macdonald’s, and now to being loud-music-blasting roommates at the workplace, we’ve gone through huge milestones together, and I’m glad that I’ve had the beshtest alongside me for eight long years.

In celebration of our eighth year of friendship, I tried my hand at baking my first ever frosted cake. And no better cake comes to mind than one signifying us both; the juxtaposition of two different worlds moulded into one perfect combination, i.e. a chocolate banana cake layered with chocolate ganache and filled with sliced bananas, and fully frosted with a thick chocolate ganache layer.

I’m a huge chocoholic, while the best friend is fondly referred to as the ‘banana monger’, and this cake proved to be the perfect match to satisfy both our palates. While I was satiated by the layers of chocolate ganache, she was delighted by the three-plus-two bananas that went into the making of the cake.

I divided the recipe to make two small cakes, with the other left unfrosted for the household’s consumption. The cake itself was moist, and it was relatively difficult to decipher between the chocolate and the banana. A chocoholic like myself would be pleased with the texture, yet be distracted by the banana bits (I chopped them coarsely) and the banana aroma permeating through each bite. Whereas a fan of the fruit would be satisfied with the generous serving of bananas, with every bite promising a unison of the bursting sweetness of the banana alongside the mature bittersweet chocolate of the cake. And with the layering of banana slices, and even more chocolate ganache all over, all I can say is what was a good chocolate banana cake recipe turned out to be a great chocolate banana cake.

Maybe it’s a beginner’s luck!

Chocanana Cake

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups cake flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3 medium bananas (mashed)
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Whisk cake flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, whisk eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil and vanilla.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined.
5. Bake at 180C for 35-40mins.
6. Cool the cake completely and cut into two layers. Place both layers cut-side up and spread whipped chocolate ganache filling over the layers. On one layer, arrange rings of banana slices onto the layer (I used two medium-sized bananas). Sandwich the layers together and frost the whole cake with a chocolate ganache coating.
7. Forget the diet, and don’t limit yourself to eating one slice.

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