It’s time to go bananas for the banana chocolate mousse cake at Starbucks! When I learnt that a banoffee frappe is currently available at Starbucks in Australia for their current seasonal menu, I felt like I wanted a taste of that banana and caramelly goodness! Plus, I miss the Starbucks outlets in Brisbane’s city center, where people-watching and catching up with awesome company over my favorite matcha frappe were just two out of my many highlights of enjoying the city. A fun fact is that my very first Starbucks post was about the matcha frappe I had in Brisbane!

The closest I could get to enjoying the banana-filled goodie while sitting in fuzzy jumpers is by ordering myself a slice of the uniquely-sounding banana chocolate mousse cake. Plus, I’m a huge fan of banana bread and cake so a banana-chocolate combo sounds like a match made in heaven!

Whilst the cake doesn’t have any caramel in it, the banana makes up for it! And chocolate an equal winner in my books. Just looking at the slice, there isn’t too much of an indication of the banana’s existence. Like a ninja, the banana element has somehow camouflaged its way into a seemingly chocolate-looking cake, like it’s going to pounce out as an element of surprise to unsuspecting cake enthusiasts.

The delightful-looking cake comprises of six layers, namely (from top to bottom):

1. Dark chocolate
2. Chocolate mousse with banana
3. Chocolate cake
4. Fluffy, cream-like marshmallow
5. Chocolate mousse without banana
6. Chocolate cake

Aesthetically, the banana chocolate mousse cake is packed with richness courtesy of chocolate layers. This is certainly parallel with its flavor – the chocolate is rich, particularly the first layer which was a thicker layer of semi-sweet dark chocolate. The cake wasn’t, however, crazily sweet at all. Its richness also represents the high quality of ingredients used in creating this cake.

When the fresh bananas are added to the chocolate mousse’s equation, the combo shines brighter as the banana contributes a pleasantly sweet and refreshing depth of flavor. In each forkful, the banana stood out first, followed by its chocolate co-star. The mousse’s texture is dense, firm and soft.

The soft and creamy marshmallow layer has a rather subtle role to the show, and it’s a supporting character to the show headlined by its banana and chocolate stars. When I tasted the three bottom layers (i.e. marshmallow, chocolate mousse without bananas, and chocolate cake), its prominence increased slightly more. What I love about that small touch is that it gives a little pop of color and brightness to the cake. Along with the marshmallow, layers of soft and moist chocolate cake were absolutely decadent and they complemented the entire creation.

As it’s a rich cake, my ideal setting to savor this cake is by accompanying it with a hot cup of tea (I love their mint blend tea from the Teavana range) while enjoying a good book. Tasting this cake was a lovely experience, especially for someone like me who’s obsessed with chocolate! Although I was expecting more banana-infused elements, I think the combo worked well together in the second layer, as it was the thickest and standout layer.