from our cocoa kitchen · SURFSTR
Maulwurfkuchen with SURFSTR Cocoa
A cocoa cake shell holds bananas and a dome of vanilla cream flecked with dark chocolate. The scooped-out cake becomes the crumb coating, giving this German mole cake its familiar shape.
- Active preparation
- 45 min
- Cooking / baking
- 30 min
- Resting / chilling
- 270 min
- Total time
- 345 min
12 slices from one 26 cm cake
Editorial recipe adaptation. Not yet kitchen-tested. Check ingredient labels for allergens.
02 / bring it together
let’s make it.
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Cream the butter and eggs
Line the base of a 26 cm springform tin with baking paper. Heat the oven to 180 °C conventional or 160 °C fan. Beat butter, sugar, 5 g vanilla and salt for 3–5 minutes until pale. Beat in the 3 eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl.
-
Mix the cocoa batter
Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder together. Mix briefly into the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk. Scrape the bowl and stop once the batter is smooth and evenly dark brown. Spread in the prepared tin.
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Bake and cool completely
Bake for 25–35 minutes, checking from 25 minutes. A skewer should come out without wet batter. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then loosen, unmould and cool on a rack for about 80 minutes. Remove the paper and transfer to a flat serving plate.
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Hollow the cake
Mark a circle about 1.5 cm inside the outer edge. Use a spoon to scoop the centre out gently, leaving the outer rim intact and a base about 1 cm thick. Do not dig through to the plate. Collect every removed piece in a bowl.
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Make the crumb coating
Break the removed cold cake into small, fairly even crumbs with your fingers. Avoid compressing it into a paste or grinding it into powder. Set the crumbs aside; they will cover the cream dome later.
-
Add the bananas
Peel the 3 bananas and cut each lengthwise into two halves. Arrange the 6 halves flat-side down in a single layer inside the hollow. Trim lengths to fit and use the offcuts to fill small gaps. Keep all banana below or level with the cake rim.
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Whip the chocolate-flecked cream
Mix icing sugar and stabilizer, choosing a product dosed for 600 g cream. Whip cold cream briefly, then gradually add the sugar mixture and 5 g vanilla. Beat to firm, smooth peaks. Fold in the finely chopped chocolate with a spatula; stop before the cream turns grainy.
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Build a rounded dome
Spread some cream over the bananas to fill gaps. Add the rest in the centre and shape into a broad rounded dome, highest in the middle and sloping gently to the cake rim. Cover the bananas completely. Keep the whole cake on the same plate.
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Cover with cake crumbs
Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the cream dome, working from top to sides. Press very lightly with clean hands so they adhere without flattening the cream. Cover all visible cream with cake crumbs, not raw cocoa powder. Keep the cake whole.
-
Chill and slice
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours until the cream is firm. Cut into 12 wedges with a clean, sharp knife, wiping it between cuts. Keep the cake chilled until serving and return leftovers to the fridge promptly.
The recipe in pictures
03 / the numbers
nutrition, clearly.
Calculated estimates, not laboratory measurements. Any per-100-g values use the stated estimated finished weight.
| Nutrition estimates | Per portion |
|---|---|
| Energy | 2026 kJ / 487 kcal |
| Fat | 32.5 g |
| of which saturates | 20.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 41.3 g |
| of which sugars | 24.8 g |
| Fibre | 2.5 g |
| Protein | 5.9 g |
| Salt | 0.37 g |
Per portion, calculated from ingredients. Product labels and portion sizes vary.
Tips and storage
A base that stays intact
Cool the cake fully before scooping. Leave a 1 cm floor and a firm outer rim; a deep or uneven cavity is more likely to break when sliced.
A stable dome
Use chilled cream and firm ripe bananas. Cut the bananas lengthwise and fit them in one layer so the cream has an even support beneath it.
Fine chocolate flecks
Chop the chocolate finely rather than adding large chips. Small pieces fold through the cream evenly and make cleaner slices.
Storage
Keep covered at 4 °C or below for up to 2 days; best within 24 hours while the bananas are fresh. The assembled banana cream cake is best refrigerated rather than frozen.
SURFSTR · DUTCH PROCESS
it starts with cocoa.
SURFSTR Dutch-process cocoa contains 20–22% cocoa butter. Use the cocoa specified in the recipe: natural cocoa is not always a direct substitute.
Meet the cocoa