Chocolate Banoffee Celebration Cake

Twelve years ago today I became a Mum for the first time. Over those very fast twelve years my baby boy has gone from this

to this.

A birthday wouldn't be a birthday without a cake so today I've been making one for Sam, he specifically asked for caramel crunch chocolate fingers and no vegetables! Here's what I made

Chocolate Banoffee Celebration Cake

3 small bananas, mashed (approx 250g)
150g butter, softened
225g soft brown sugar
4 eggs
225g Self Raising flour
40g Cocoa powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

• Beat the banana, butter & sugar together
• Add the eggs, one at a time with a little of the flour with each egg
• Sift in the remaining flour with the cocoa powder & bicarbonate of soda
• Divide mixture between two 8" sandwich tins & bake in a 180 C oven for approx 25 minutes
• Remove from tins & cool on a wire rack

Filling, Topping & Decoration

100g Toffees
1 tbsp boiling water
400g Full Fat Cream cheese
220g Dark chocolate spread
1 small banana, thinly sliced
3 boxes of Cadbury's Caramel Crunch chocolate fingers
8 Cadbury's Caramel miniatures

• Melt the toffees & water in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water
• When melted, beat until smooth & remove from the heat
• Beat in the 100g of the cream cheese & set aside
• Beat the remaining cream cheese with the chocolate spread
• Spread half of the caramel over the base of one of the cooled sponges & lay slices of banana on top
• Spread the other half of the caramel over the base of the other sponge and sandwich them together
• Cover completely with the chocolate topping & arrange fingers around the sides
• Decorate with the remaining fingers and halved chocolate caramels

(I've just double checked & I definitely put 12 candles on the cake...one of them must have been hiding!)