Banana Cake

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F.

The bananas don’t have to be frozen in order to make this recipe. You’ll need 1 1/2 cups of mashed bananas regardless. But I used frozen for this recipe. So take the bananas out of the freezer. Yes the freezer. Get some bananas, let them get really brown out on the counter (still in the peel), then freeze them (in the peel) for later. It’s saves wasting some bananas that are a bit past their prime and using them makes the cake that much better.

Put the bananas into a measuring cup until half thawed then sqeeze the banana “mush” out. To get 1 1/2 cups it’s about 3 or 4 bananas. Add the lemon juice and mix. Since mine were frozen, I didn’t have to mess around with mashing them. Set the mashed bananas aside for the moment.

In another bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set it aside while you beat the butter.

Cream the butter and the sugar. I don’t whip it too hard but let it go on KitchenAid speed 4 for about 2 minutes – just until it looks nice and creamy pale yellow. Then crack the eggs in there one at a time, but be sure to mix in between each addition. Then add in the vanilla and just stir in. If you’re using a mixer be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Then, if you’re like me you have no buttermilk and you forgot to add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the scant 1 1/2 cups of milk (so you have 1 1/2 cups total). Go ahead and do it now and let it sit for a few moments, I won’t tell. Or if you already have buttermilk on hand then you are ready to go. Add about a half cup of buttermilk to the butter mixture. Mix on speed 2 until mostly combined then add a bit of the flour. Go back and forth between the two (adding buttermilk and flour mixture to the creamed mixture) until there is nothing left to add. Finally, add in the bananas and give it one final stir.

Pour into a greased (or cooking sprayed) 9×13 inch cake pan. Bake for about 1 hour or until it passes the crumb test. Sometimes it takes a bit longer than an hour. This is okay. When it’s done let it cool completely then make the icing.

For the icing:
Throw the butter and cream cheese into the mixer bowl. Beat it until it’s all mixed, no lumps or clumps. Add the vanilla. Then reduce the speed (or turn it off!) and add the powdered sugar. Mix it slowly so you don’t get a poof of sugar in your face. Once that danger has passed, beat the heck out of it until smooth and delicious. Spread on the cooled cake.