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Tahini Chocolate Banana Cake
5 from 1 vote

Tahini Chocolate Banana Cake

Four layers of banana cake filled with tahini buttercream and enrobed in dark chocolate.
Yield: 6-inch cake
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10
Calories: 635kcal

Ingredients

Banana Cake:

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter , softened, room temp
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup light brown sugar , packed
  • 2 large eggs , room temp
  • 2 ripe medium sized bananas , mashed
  • cup milk , room temp

Tahini Buttercream:

  • ½ cup unsalted butter , softened, room temp
  • ½ cup tahini
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch fine sea salt
  • ½ cup roughly chopped chocolate chunks

Chocolate Coating:

  • 4 oz dark chocolate , melted, slightly cooled
  • white sesame seeds, to decorate

Instructions

Banana Cake:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 6-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. baking. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter. Add sugar and brown sugar and mix until combined. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing.
  • Add eggs one at a time. Follow with the mashed bananas. Continue to mix until incorporated.
  • Alternate adding the flour mixing and milk. Start and end with the flour in three additions. Scrape down bowl as needed. Mix until just combined.
  • Divide batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-45 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a few minutes before unmolding and transferring to wire rack. Allow to cool to room temperature before slicing layers.

Tahini Buttercream:

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream together butter and tahini. Scrape down bowl as needed to ensure thorough mixing. Add confectioners' sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. Mix until buttercream is thick and smooth.*

Assembly:

  • Split each banana cake into two equal layers. You should end up with four layers total.
  • Place one layer of cake on cake board or serving plate. With an offset spatula slather a layer of tahini buttercream. Sprinkle chocolate chunks over buttercream. Top with second cake layer. Repeat adding buttercream and chocolate chunks. Continue to repeat until last layer of cake is on top.
  • Coat the top and sides of the cake with remaining tahini buttercream. Allow cake to chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set up buttercream.
  • Remove from fridge and coat cake with cooled melted chocolate. Garnish the top of the cake with sesame seeds.

Notes

If consistency of buttercream is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time until desired consistency is achieved. If buttercream is too thin, add confectioners' sugar 2 tablespoons at a time. 
Serving Suggestions: Cake is much easter to slice when cold. This will result in clean slices. However, cold cake doesn’t taste as good.
  • Allow cake slices to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes (30-45 minutes is best) before serving. The cake and buttercream will soften during this tim
Storage: Assembled frosted cake may be stored in the fridge for up 24 hours before serving. Use an airtight container to store sliced cake (or cake slices) in the fridge for up to three days.

Nutrition

Calories: 635kcal, Carbohydrates: 78g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 18g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 88mg, Sodium: 245mg, Potassium: 338mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugar: 53g, Vitamin A: 668IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 93mg, Iron: 4mg