Chocolate Banana Stud Cake

This cake is a complete surprise!  Light, moist with delicate banana undertones and dark chocolate ganache garnished with chocolate chips. The name conjures up a muscle cake; dense, heavy, in your face. Instead it is light as a feather.

Red bananas have taunted me for quite some time in the grocery store.  Too exotic looking for Cheerios, I impulsively bought a bunch for this cake.  They are milder, creamier in taste compared to the regular bananas we have grown up on.  There are more than 500 varieties of bananas in the world, yet all my local grocery stores carry only three.  I can't help but think we in the U.S. are missing out on something.

The cake itself was easy to mix up, now that I've finally figured out I was doing the whole scale thing backwards.  Curiosity struck with the cocoa powder.  I first did the scoop and level, then weighed it on the scale.  There were more than two extra tablespoons by weight.  This makes me wonder if extra cocoa powder contributes to a dry cake?  If I knew how to do cocoa to water ratio, I would.  Nicola, spread sheet wizard, are you back from Greece?  

I halved the ganache recipe; pouring half the warm mixture over the top like a glaze, let it set awhile, then poured on the rest.  The thin layer of ganache let the cake shine through.  The dark chocolate and white chocolate chips are fun and I tried to make a rose with them, but alas, no artistic talent.  Next time, I'll melt the white chocolate and drizzle it over the ganache.  This really is a lovely cake.