Banana split layer cake recipe

Inspired by Neapolitan ice-cream this easy to follow banana split layer cake is layered with bananas and cream, and drizzled in chocolate sauce. This recipe has a modern and colourful twist on delicious banoffee flavours which make it perfect for an afternoon treat. For your first layer just spread banoffee spread on your chocolate cake layer and top with sliced bananas. Spread a healthy helping of jam on your raspberry layer, and dress with bananas before topping with the almond sponge. Don't forget to drizzle your chocolate sauce all over and sprinkle with cherries, nuts and banana sweets to finish everything off.

Ingredients

• 250g butter, at room temperature
• 450g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 400g self-raising flour, sieved
• ¼tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 450ml buttermilk
• 30g cocoa, sieved
• 60g ground almonds
• 100g raspberries, squashed
• 30g cornflour
• 2tsp pink gel food colour

For the chocolate fudge sauce:

• 100g each dark and milk chocolate, broken into squares
• 3tbsp golden syrup
• 200ml double cream

For the filling and decoration: 

• 600ml double cream
• 1tbsp icing sugar
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 3tbsp banoffee spread (we used Tiptree)
• 3 bananas, sliced tossed in 1tsp lemon juice
• 3tbsp raspberry jam
• 225g jar maraschino cherries, drained
• 8 banana sweets
• 1tbsp roasted chopped hazelnuts

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and cream together, until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time. Fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and buttermilk, to make a smooth mixture.
2. Divide this into 3 bowls. Add the cocoa to 1 bowl, and 30g (1oz) ground almonds to each of the others. Add the raspberries, cornflour and pink gel colour to 1 of the bowls with the ground almonds. Stir each mixture gently to combine.
3. Spoon the almond, chocolate and raspberry cake mixtures into the 3 different 7 inch cake tins. Smooth over the top and bake for 25 mins, until a a cocktail stick inserted into the centre of each cake comes out clean, and shrinks away from the sides. Cool your layers on a wire rack.
4. Melt the chocolates with the syrup in a bowl resting over a pan of simmering water. Heat the cream in a pan, until just steaming. Pour the chocolate into the cream and stir vigorously to make a smooth sauce. Cool and chill until needed.
5. For the filling, whisk the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla, until softly peaking.
6. Put the chocolate cake on to a cake stand. Spread over the banoffee spread. Top with half the sliced bananas and spoon over a ¼ of the cream to make your banana split.
7. Put the raspberry sponge on top and spread over the jam. Top with the remaining sliced bananas and almond sponge.
8. Spoon over the sauce, allowing it to drip down the sides. Spoon the remaining cream into the piping bag and pipe blobs of cream around the top edge of the cake. Decorate with the cherries and banana sweets, and sprinkle over nuts.