Elvis Cake

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Incredibly moist banana cake with creamy peanut butter Swiss meringue butter cream – filled with fried bananas and topped with candied bacon. Oh, and did I mention there’s a lot of bourbon thrown in too? A cake fit for the king! 

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Elvis Cake

It’s my birthday! As I said before, I’m not big on birthdays, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want an awesome birthday cake! That’s the best part about birthdays any, a great reason to eat as much cake as you like! I’m eating a slice right now in fact, I only got up 30 minutes ago but it’s my birthday so I’m allowed! 

Elvis Cake

 

I love Elvis Presley, and although his dietary habits definitely contributed towards his death, you can’t deny his good taste! There’s a place I love to eat in Atlanta called The Vortex and they do this burger called The Fat Elvis – it’s a beef burger topped with peanut butter, fried bananas and bacon, most people think it sounds disgusting but it’s honestly amazing. I’m definitely not the first person to put this combination in a cake, it already has a name after all, but I thought these flavours would be just delicious in a cake and perhaps a little more appealing to those turned off by the burger! 

Elvis Cake

In this cake we have an incredibly moist banana sponge, which also has bourbon in it. I adapted the sponge recipe from My Baking Addictionn and it has an unusual baking method, you bake it on a low heat and then when it’s done you immediately stick it in the freezer. Sounded weird to me, but it’s apparently what makes the cake so moist and I can’t argue with the results! I guess sticking it in the freezer stops it baking any further.  

Elvis Cake

We then have peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream, and lots of it! SMBC is my absolute favourite frosting, it’s creamy and delicious without being overly sweet like regular buttercream. It takes a bit longer to put together, but it’s worth it, and as long as you have a stand mixer it’s pretty easy. I have made SMBC with a hand mixer before with good results, but boy will it give you arm ache! 

Elvis Cake

Right there in the middle we also have fried bananas, amazing! They’re fried in brown sugar, bourbon and a little bacon grease and honey. But it’s bananas, so it’s health right? ;). Then right on top we have the bacon, candied in brown sugar, bourbon and honey – it’s just the right amount of salty sweet to push this cake over the delicious edge. I also have some roasted peanuts that are lightly glazed in bacon grease, bourbon and brown sugar – to add a little crunch! 

Elvis Cake

It all adds up to one over the top yummy cake! It’s not a diet you want to live on every day, but it’s perfect for a special occasion – like you’re 9th 21st birthday 😉 Unfortunately, I could not get the photos I wanted to show off how awesome this cake is – I don’t know if it was the lighting, my bad styling or just an extra off day, but in the end I just had to give up and work with what I had! I got a book on food photography for my birthday though, so hopefully my photos will see some more improvement over the coming weeks, watch this space!

Elvis Cake

 

Fun fact – I couldn’t find a lighter or matches, so I lit this candle using my blowtorch! It worked but I think I also almost melted the whole candle at once!! 

Elvis Cake

Elvis Cake
Moist banana cake with peanut butter swiss meringue buttercream, filled with fried bananas and topped with candied bacon. Plus lots of bourbon every step of the way!
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For the banana cake
  1. 4 very ripe bananas
  2. 100ml bourbon whiskey
  3. 375g plain flour (all purpose)
  4. 1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  5. 1/2 tsp baking powder
  6. 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  7. 1/4 tsp salt
  8. 170g unsalted butter, room temperature
  9. 200g caster sugar (super fine granulated sugar)
  10. 200g brown sugar
  11. 3 large eggs
  12. 2 tsp vanilla extract
  13. 350ml buttermilk
For the candied bacon
  1. 6 rashers streaky bacon
  2. 3 tbsp brown sugar
  3. 3 tbsp bourbon whiskey
  4. 1 tbsp honey
For the fried bananas
  1. 4 bananas, ripe but firm still
  2. Reserved liquid from candied bacon
  3. 1 tbsp bourbon whiskey
  4. 25g unsalted butter
  5. 2 tsp caster sugar
For the peanuts
  1. 100g roasted peanuts
  2. Reserved liquid from fried bananas
  3. 1 tsp bourbon whiskey
For the Peanut Butter SMBC
  1. 6 large egg whites
  2. 250g caster sugar
  3. 50g brown sugar
  4. 400g unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small cubes
  5. 550g creamy peanut butter
To make the cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F. Grease an 8" round cake tin, line the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. Put the bananas in a blender with the bourbon and blend until smooth. Set aside.
  3. Whisk together the flour, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, set aside.
  4. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined between each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
  5. Alternate gently beating in the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour.
  6. Add the banana mixture and stir to evenly disperse.
  7. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
  8. Remove from the oven and immediately place in the freeze for 45 minutes. Then remove from tin, and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the candied bacon
  1. Fry the bacon in a frying pan until done, but not crispy. Remove from pan and pat dry with paper towel to remove excess grease.
  2. Keep the grease in the pan and add the brown sugar and bourbon, return to a medium low heat and when mixture starts to bubble add the bacon back in. Spoon mixture over bacon to make sure all is coated. Drizzle the honey over the top. Cook until bacon has a shine to it, about 5 minutes.
  3. Remove from pan and place on a chopping board to cool. Reserve all the liquid in the pan.
To make the fried bananas
  1. Slice the bananas evenly.
  2. Add the reserved bacon liquid to your frying pan with the butter and whiskey, heat on medium low until it starts to bubble.
  3. Add bananas in one layer and sprinkle with caster sugar. Cook both sides, about 2 minutes each side, until they're a deep caramel colour and softened. Remove from pan and leave to cool. Reserve any liquid in the pan.
To make the peanuts
  1. Place the peanuts in a food processor and blitz 1-2 times to roughly chop. Add the chopped peanuts to your frying pan with the reserved banana/bacon liquid and 1tsp of bourbon. Stir to coat all the peanuts and cook for 3 minutes. Spread out on a piece of parchment paper and leave to cool.
To make the peanut butter SMBC
  1. Wait until the cake is cooled before you start on the buttercream.
  2. Add the egg whites and sugars to the mixing bowl of your mixer and whisk together. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat eggs to 70C/160F, whisking all the time. If you don't have a candy thermometer, test the eggs by taking a little between your fingers - they're done when they're hot (but not too hot to touch) and you can't feel any sugar when you rub them between your fingers.
  3. Attach bowl to your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip the egg whites on a high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and the outside of the bowl is cool to touch. The egg whites may be ready before they've cooled down, if that's the case just turn the mixer down to low and let it run until the outside of the bowl is cool to touch (the sugar will stabilize the whites so you don't have to worry about over whipping here).
  4. Turn the mixer down to low and add the butter one piece at a time (leave about 3 seconds between each addition), until all is added.
  5. Turn the mixer up to medium and whip until smooth, the mixture may curdle at one point but keep whipping and it'll come back together. Once smooth, beat on high for 1 minute.
  6. Add the peanut butter and beat on medium high speed until evenly combined.
  7. Use buttercream immediately.
To assemble the cake
  1. Cut the banana cake in half and place the bottom half on your serving plate. Spread generously with the buttercream, then place fried bananas in one layer over the top. Sprinkle a few of the peanuts over too. Spread over more buttercream.
  2. Place the top layer of cake over the top, then cover the top and sides with a crumb coat (a thin layer of buttercream all over). Leave in the fridge or cold place at least 30 minutes.
  3. Spread the rest of the buttercream all over the cake, saving some for piping if you wish.
  4. Chop up the candied bacon into small pieces and sprinkle over the top, along with the peanuts.
  5. Store in fridge.
Notes
  1. You can omit the bourbon if you'd like to make the cake alcohol free. Add an extra 50ml buttermilk to the cake, and replace the bourbon with water and double the honey for the bacon, bananas and peanuts.
  2. Some people say you can store SMBC in the fridge for a few days, but I find the consistency is never as good. I like to use it the same day it's made.
  3. If you're working in a warm kitchen and the buttercream becomes too soft to work with, just chill in the fridge for 30 minutes and rewhip for a couple seconds when you take it out.
A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/
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Elvis Cake

The clocks went forward last night here in the UK, which means I lost an hour of my birthday, so rude! It also means it’s officially British Summer Time – and in true British summer fashion, it’s pouring down with rain and windy as hell! I personally think it’s time to be done with daylight savings time, I don’t think it’s needed anymore and it just throws me way off! 

Elvis Cake

I hope you’re all having a lovely weekend anyway, do come chat and hang out on social media! And if you like this post, don’t forget to subscribe above to get free recipes straight to your inbox!

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Mango Banana Bread

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 Sharing with…

Fiesta Friday, Motivation Monday, Sweet and Savoury Sunday, Frugal Crafty Home, Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Create It Thursday, Foodie FriDIY

 

 

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37 comments

  2. Loretta says:

    Oh me oh my!!! Remind me to pay you a visit when I come to England later this summer :)). Your cakes are drop dead gorgeous Michelle. Look at all the detail that went into it, and those ingredients, wow!!! I’m going to Memphis this summer, so naturally I’ll be visiting Graceland – I’m a huge Elvis lover too 🙂

    Reply
  4. Ginger says:

    Happy Birthday!!! Bet you’ll need to do quite a lot of rocking and rolling to not end up looking like the mature Elvis by the time you’ve finished eating …

    Reply
  5. Dini @ Giramuk's Kitchen says:

    Happy Birthday Michelle! 😀 I hope you had a fantastic day eventhough you lost an hour!
    This cake is a legend! Seriously all those flavours sound amazing!! 😀 Definitely can contribute to making a very happy birthday (Or a very happy any other day too!)

    Reply
  7. Winnie says:

    This is an A M A Z I N G cake!!
    It looks absolutely fantastic!!
    Unfortunately I cannot eat it (bacon if forbidden for us, religious-reason), but WOWWWWWWWWW

    Reply
  11. tentimestea says:

    Happy birthday! I hope it was just as spectacular as your spectacular cake 🙂 What a lovely reinvention of the Elvis flavour combination!
    Oh and that banana sponge looks really impressive and moist 🙂 that freezer trick must work well.

    Reply
  15. Angie says:

    Happy Belated Birthday, Michelle! And what a way to celebrate! This cake sounds so special! Perfect for the 9th 21st birthday!! I’m reserving this recipe for my son’s 1st 21st birthday! 😀 But of course I’ll have to give it a trial run first!

    Reply
  16. Pingback: Fiesta Friday #63 - Fiesta Friday
  18. Tracey says:

    Go big, or go home. This is probably the most over the top beautiful cake that I’ve ever seen. Wow. I eat it for breakfast too. Happy Birthday Michelle.
    Be well,
    Tracey

    Reply

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