BANANA CRUSH RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 8-inch round pans with baking spray.
• Blend cake mix, 1 cup milk, eggs, melted butter and 3 tablespoons pudding mix in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened, about 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes.
• Divide batter evenly into pans. Bake 26 to 30 minutes, until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.
• PUDDING FILLING: Pour remaining pudding mix into a small bowl. Whisk in 1 cup cold milk and let stand for about a minute, until it is very thick.
• FROSTING: In a medium bowl, whip heavy cream using handheld mixer on high speed for 3 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Add buttercream frosting and mix on low speed an additional 10 seconds or until fully combined.
• Place one cooled cake layer on serving plate. Spread pudding filling evenly over cake. Top with 12 slices of banana. Crush 6 vanilla wafer cookies and sprinkle over bananas and pudding.
• Top with second cake layer and press gently to secure. Frost entire cake with whipped cream frosting. Decorate the top of the cake with additional frosting, banana slices and vanilla wafer cookies. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Slice your banana pudding cake and serve!

Steps:

• Line a baking tray with baking paper. Peel and slice the bananas into 1cm/½in pieces. Place in a single layer on the tray and freeze for 4–6 hours until solid, or overnight. (If not using immediately, transfer to a lidded container and return to the freezer for up to a month before using.)
• To make the ice cream, tip the frozen bananas into a sturdy food processor. Blend on the pulse setting until the bananas become finely chopped, then whizz into a very thick, creamy purée. The ice cream should form a soft ball.
• Spoon into dessert dishes and eat just as it is, or top with berries, chocolate drops or anything you fancy, such as the chocolate sauce in the tips.
• If not serving all the ice cream at once, transfer the leftover ice cream as quickly as possible into a lidded container and freeze for up to 2 weeks. When frozen like this you can use an icecream scoop to spoon into bowls.