| Gramma's Banana Cake to die for .. but first some Important Tips 1- The fruit should be ripe and spotted but not pure black (black is better for banana bread). 2- We want some speckles to show through in the cake but we don’t want a dark brown cake. 3- You can make this cake with regular unripe bananas, although the bananas will have to be mashed well and I would add a tablespoon of honey, noting that the cake will have a slightly different texture and the color will be a little different. 4- Whatever fruit shows in the mashed lumps will show in the cake for the most part (so we want some tiny fruit morsels in the cake but not large white lumps of the banana). Ingredients for Banana Layer Cake: 2 large eggs 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (3 or 4 large ripe bananas) 2-1/2 cups cake flour 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, fine quality 1/4 cup of buttermilk (or 1/4 cup milk with 1/2 teaspoon of white vinegar) Directions for Banana Layer Cake: 1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees 2. Prepare two round 9″ cake pans by buttering them and lining the bottoms with parchment. 3. Mash 3 or 4 large bananas to produce 1 cup hand-mashed banana puree 4. Measure out into a large bowl all 4 of the dry ingredients. Whisk all ingredients until thorough blended. 5. In a seperate small dish, Using the mixer, beat the sugar and butter on high for about 3 minutes until light and creamy. 6. Beat 2 large eggs by hand/fork in a cup and Beat into the batter on medium speed until fully incorporated. Add Vnilla flavoring next. 7. Place the prepared mashed bananas in a bowl and, using a fork, stir in the sour milk (or buttermilk) until thoroughly blended. 8. Add the banana-sour milk (or buttermilk) mixture and the prepared flour mixture in partial batches to the batter and blend with the electric blender on low-speed until just incorporated, about 30 seconds. 9. Bake the banana cakes at 375 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes until the tops are golden brown.  Fresh Banana Frosting Ingredients: 1/2 cup Mashed Bananas from about 1 large ripe banana 16 ounces (1 pound, about 3-3/4 cups, usually 1 box) Powdered Sugar 1/4 cup (1/2 cube) Unsalted Butter 4 ounces (1/2 cup, usually half of large foil package) Cream Cheese 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, fine quality 2 or 3 large bananas (not overly ripe, for slicing between the layers) Directions: 1. Mash a large banana well with a fork, remembering that every little chunk of fruit will show in the final frosting but hoping for some tiny bits to prove it up as the real deal. 2. Add the room temp butter and banana puree to the powdered sugar in the mixing bowl. 3. Fold in some vanilla Flavoring. 4. Microwave the cream cheese a few seconds to take the chill off, chunk it up and add to the mixing bowl of ingredients 5. Blend everything together with mixer til it shows a 'sheen' Banana Layered Cake with Frosting continued here |
