Chocolate Covered Banana Turtle Torte Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease or spray two 9-inch round cake pans.
• Make and bake cake as directed on box for 9-inch rounds. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pans to loosen cakes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate layers about 45 minutes for easier handling. Trim off rounded top of one layer. Slice each cake in half horizontally to make a total of 4 layers. Reserve untrimmed cake layer top.
• In chilled medium bowl, beat whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. Place 1 cake layer bottom, cut side up, on serving plate. Spread 2/3 cup whipped cream over layer to within 1/4 inch of edge. Slice 1 banana; arrange on whipped cream, overlapping slices if necessary. Drizzle 1/4 cup butterscotch caramel topping over banana, spreading to coat slices. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons pecans.
• Repeat with second and third layers. Top with reserved cake layer, rounded side up. Frost top of cake with remaining whipped cream. Spoon remaining butterscotch caramel topping over whipped cream. Swirl caramel into whipped cream with tip of knife.
• Cover; refrigerate about 2 hours or until ready to serve. For best results, serve cake the same day. Store covered in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter the bottom and side of a 9-inch springform pan. Combine the chocolate and 1 1/2 sticks butter in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let the bowl touch the water) and stir until melted and combined. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and let cool slightly.
• Combine the eggs, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and thick, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Gently fold half of the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until just combined, then gently fold in the rest. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the top is no longer shiny and barely jiggles and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely in the pan. Remove the springform ring and transfer to a platter; dust with cocoa powder.

Steps:

• Peel and cut the bananas in half crosswise, so that you have 8 pieces. Place peeled bananas on sticks. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place bananas on the cookie sheet in the freezer, keep them in there as long as possible, at least 10 minutes. Heat chocolate bits with butter in a double boiler over low heat until the chocolate melts and butter is incorporated. Dip the chilled bananas in chocolate and roll with your favorite topping. Chill or freeze until ready to serve.

Steps:

• Generously butter 2 baking sheets.
• On the baking sheets, arrange the pecan halves in snowflake-shaped clusters of 5 pecans each, overlapping the nuts in the center, leaving 2 inches of space between each.
• In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the evaporated milk, the corn syrup, and sugar and bring to a boil. Add the remaining 1/2 cup evaporated milk and the 4 tablespoons butter, and cook, stirring constantly, until it reaches the soft ball stage, 240 degrees F. Stir in the vanilla and remove from the heat. Let cool to 200 degrees F.
• Using a tablespoon, spoon caramel on top of each nut cluster and let harden. (If the caramel becomes too stiff to pour, return to low heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until it returns to the proper consistency.)
• To make the chocolate coating, in the top of a double boiler or in a metal bowl set over barely simmering water, combine 6 ounces of the chocolate and the shortening. Melt over low heat, stirring, until it reaches 116 to 118 degrees F, or feels fairly warm but not hot to the touch.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 ounces of chocolate. Continue stirring until the chocolate reaches 80 degrees F or feels cool to the touch. Return to low heat and cook, stirring, until the temperature rises to 85 to 87 degrees F, or feels barely cool. Remove from the heat.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon of tempered chocolate over each cluster. Set aside in a cool place to harden. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, with waxed paper separating the layers to prevent sticking.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease or spray bottom of 13x9-inch pan.
• Make cake batter as directed on box. Pour half of the batter into pan. Bake 22 minutes. Refrigerate remaining batter.
• Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat caramels and evaporated milk over medium heat, stirring frequently, until caramels are melted. Stir in pecans. Pour caramel mixture over warm cake in pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Spread with remaining batter. Bake 25 to 28 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen cake. Cool at least 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream, drizzle with toppings and sprinkle with pecans. Store loosely covered.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F (350°F for dark or nonstick pans). Line bottoms only of two 13x9-inch pans with foil or waxed paper; spray with baking spray with flour.
• In large bowl, beat eggs with electric mixer on high speed about 5 minutes or until thick and lemon colored. Add cake mix, water and oil; beat on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Place half the batter (about 2 1/2 cups) in each pan. Spread batter slightly higher in corners than at the center.
• Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center. Run knife around edges of pans to loosen cakes if necessary. Turn each cake upside down onto clean kitchen towel each sprinkled with 1 tablespoon powdered sugar; carefully remove foil. Cool completely, about 45 minutes.
• In medium bowl, beat 3/4 cup of the whipping cream on high speed until stiff peaks form; set aside. In another medium bowl, beat cream cheese and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar on medium speed until smooth; set aside.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave baking chips and 2 tablespoons whipping cream on High 30 seconds; stir. Microwave 15 to 30 seconds longer; stir until chips are melted. Stir melted chips into cream cheese mixture. Add whipped cream and toffee candy to mixture; stir until well blended. Cover; refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Trim edges of cakes to make even. Cut each cake in half lengthwise. If necessary, trim top of layers to make flat surface. Place 1 cake piece on serving platter; spread with one-third of the filling (about 3/4 cup). Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining cake piece. Gently press in sides to straighten; if necessary, trim sides until even. Cover; refrigerate 30 minutes.
• In medium microwavable bowl, beat butter on medium speed until smooth. On low speed, beat in remaining glaze ingredients until well blended. Reserve 3/4 cup of the glaze for garnish; cover and let stand at room temperature about 30 minutes or until thick enough to pipe. Meanwhile, microwave remaining glaze on High about 10 seconds or until slightly warm and spreading consistency. Spread over top of torte, letting some drip down sides. Refrigerate torte about 30 minutes or until glaze is set.
• Spoon reserved 3/4 cup glaze into decorating bag fitted with small star tip. Pipe decorative border around top edges of torte. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Torte can be made 2 days ahead; wrap sides tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.) Let cake stand at room temperature 20 minutes before serving. Store covered in refrigerator.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast nuts on a baking pan for 10 minutes; remove from oven. Generously butter 5 baking pans. Arrange 5 pecan halves in a snowflake-shaped cluster, overlapping nuts in center. Repeat with remaining nuts, spacing clusters 2 inches apart.
• In a heavy saucepan, combine corn syrup, whole milk, and sugar. Place over medium-high heat; cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until syrup mixture comes to a boil, about 6 minutes. Stir in baking soda. Clip a candy thermometer to pan; add butter, stirring constantly until melted, keeping mixture at full boil. Slowly pour in evaporated milk; cook at a boil, stirring constantly, until temperature reaches 240 degrees (soft-ball stage), about 45 minutes. If pan starts to overflow, turn down heat for a few minutes; return to a boil.
• Remove caramel from heat; transfer to a medium metal bowl. Cool to 200 degrees. Caramel will have the consistency of thick honey.
• Using a spoon, gently mound 1 tablespoon caramel on top of each cluster. Allow caramel to harden. If caramel becomes too stiff, place bowl over low heat; stir constantly for several minutes until returned to proper consistency.
• To temper chocolate, cover a heating pad with a kitchen towel, and set pad to lowest setting. Line two baking pans with parchment paper, and set aside. Using a sharp knife, shave chocolate.
• In a medium glass bowl, heat two-thirds of the chocolate in microwave at 30 percent power for 1 minute. Stir chocolate, and continue heating at 30 percent power in 10-second intervals until an instant-read thermometer registers 120 degrees. Remove from microwave.
• Stir in remaining shaved chocolate with rubber spatula. Stir constantly, bringing chocolate up sides and back down into bowl until temperature reaches between 86 degrees and 89 degrees. To determine if tempered, drizzle a thin line onto a cool stainless-steel surface. The chocolate should dry to a matte finish in about 5 minutes. Place bowl on covered heating pad; stir occasionally to maintain temperature between 86 degrees and 89 degrees adjusting setting if necessary.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon of tempered chocolate over each cluster; set aside in a cool place to harden.

Steps:

• Arrange 24 wafers, flat-sides down, on bottom of parchment-lined 9-inch springform pan.
• Reserve 1/2 oz. chocolate. Microwave remaining chocolate, 1 cup marshmallows and 1/2 cup milk in microwaveable bowl on HIGH 2 min.; stir until smooth. Pour over wafers in pan.
• Stand remaining wafers, rounded-sides out, around edge of pan, pressing slightly into chocolate to secure; top with bananas.
• Beat pudding mix and remaining milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1 cup whipped topping and remaining marshmallows; spread over bananas. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.
• Run knife under warm running water; use to loosen dessert from rim of pan. Remove rim. Cut reserved chocolate piece into shavings. Top torte with remaining whipped topping, chocolate shavings and strawberry.

Steps:

• Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pan of gently simmering water. Stir just until melted.
• Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Insert a popsicle stick in one end of each banana piece. Dip banana, one piece at a time, in chocolate, spooning on additional chocolate to cover.
• Sprinkle each banana with peanuts, and set on prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm, 20 minutes, or up to 3 days.

Steps:

• Line 8-inch round pan with plastic wrap; set aside. Beat cream cheese and ice cream topping in large bowl with mixer until blended. Stir in 2 cups COOL WHIP.
• Spoon 3/4 cup cream cheese mixture into prepared pan; spread to within 1 inch of edge. Cover with 10 cookies, top sides down and overlapping cookies as necessary to form even layer. Repeat layers 4 times. Refrigerate 2 hours.
• Invert dessert onto serving plate just before serving. Remove plastic wrap. Spoon remaining COOL WHIP into medium microwaveable bowl; stir in semi-sweet chocolate. Microwave on HIGH 1 min.; stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Spread over dessert.
• Slice banana. Use to garnish dessert along with the nuts.