I'm not the biggest fan of banana cake, or even bananas in general. I'm actually pretty fussy about them, especially when they're used as a baking ingredient - the flavor balance just doesn't seem to work very well most of the time (and don't even get me started on banana flavored candy - blech!). But when we suddenly found ourselves with a bunch of rather overripe bananas in the fruit bowl about a month ago, I gathered up my courage and went online to find a recipe for banana cake.
And it was heaven. In fact, it was SO good that I decided to forgo the traditional goodies and made it again for Christmas.
I'd post pictures of the entire cake, but...um...this is the last piece. Whoops. I'll quickly distract you from my appalling gluttony by posting the recipe:
The World's Best Banana Cake
recipe source
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
2 1/8 cups white sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (this is about 3-4 medium sized bananas)
Note: I normally prefer walnuts but this recipe is so good as is that I didn't even notice they were missing until my mother asked me if they were an ingredient - go ahead and toss some in, if that's your thing
Cream cheese frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese
4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan, then preheat oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C). No, that's not a typo. Yes, it's unusually low - just go with me on this one.
In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist. (I KNOW this is very unorthodox, and I'd never heard of it before this recipe, but I SWEAR that the slow cooking time at a low temp + freezer = the most incredibly delicious banana cake you will ever eat.)
After the freezer time is up, turn the cake out onto a rack to finish cooling.
Frosting instructions
Beat softened butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Spread on cooled cake. Gorge yourself on the deliciousness.
IMPORTANT
Here's the weird thing about this recipe: the first time, I followed the instructions precisely and the cake was done after one hour. The second time I followed it just as precisely and it took TWO HOURS to cook. Same recipe, same ingredients, same quantity, same temperature (and yes the oven was preheated both times), but for some reason it took double the length of time during my second attempt. I have no idea why this happened, but the end result was still perfectly moist and delicious. Go figure. Anyway, the point is: if this happens to you, don't freak out. Just let it keep baking until it's done. The low temperature seems to prevent it from getting burnt or overdone even if it needs an entire extra hour in the oven.
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