Banana Coconut Cake filled with whipped chocolate rum ganache and frosted with honey vanilla cream cheese frosting!Cake and cream cheese frosting recipes adapted from Sugary and Buttery (link here). Chocolate rum ganache by me. :)
Preheat oven to 335° F. Grease two 6" cake pans (see note) and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg). Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk to combine. Add the mashed bananas and coconut and use a spatula to incorporate.
Add the dry ingredients to the banana/coconut mixture, folding the dry ingredients in until just incorporated. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
Bake cakes for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool for about 10 minutes in the pans before turning the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For Whipped Ganache:
In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and cream. Microwave on 30-second bursts, stirring after each burst, until the mixture is smooth. Add the rum and mix to combine.
Cool ganache in the refrigerator until firm but not hard, about one hour.
Once the ganache is cooled, scrape it into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat the ganache until it is light and fluffy.
For Frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add honey (see note) and vanilla bean paste (see note). Mix to combine.
Add sifted powdered sugar and beat until incorporated and smooth.
For Assembly:
Split the cakes so that you have four layers (skip this step if you made 8" cakes). Alternate cake layers with the whipped ganache and the cream cheese frosting (see photos to see how I alternated). If desired, reserve some of the whipped ganache to pipe on top of the cake. Once the cakes are stacked, coat with a thin coating of the cream cheese frosting, then chill the cake until fairly firm.
Once the cake has firmed in the refrigerator, complete frosting the cake with the cream cheese frosting, reserving some of the frosting to pipe on top of the cake, if desired.
Decorate the top of the cake as desired. I piped cream cheese frosting rosettes, added some tiny ganache drop flowers, and tucked in some toasted coconut chips. It's entirely up to you!Enjoy!
Notes
Note on rum: I used a dark rum to pair better with the dark chocolate. You can really use whatever kind of chocolate/rum that you prefer.Note on raw honey: I used raw honey because of it's thick and creamy consistency (not to mention that it is yuuuuummy). While I'm comfortable using raw honey at my house, you or someone you know may have health concerns where the raw honey could pose a risk. If you use a conventional honey, you might want to add a little less than the recipe calls for, since it's runnier consistency could lead to runnier frosting.Note on vanilla bean paste: I love the flavor of the vanilla bean paste and the beautiful black flecks that it leaves in the frosting! If you're looking for vanilla bean paste, you can find it [here]. If you prefer to substitute, you can use one whole vanilla bean, or a teaspoon of vanilla extract.Note on cake pans: I used two 6" cake pans (like these [here]) for this recipe because I wanted a taller, 4-layer cake. If you'd like, you can use 8" pans to make a two-layer cake. The bake time on the 8" cakes would be shorter.