Thursday 6 February 2014

RECIPE: Banana Cake

BananaCakeRecipe

If you're easy seduced by cake - then this cake - a banana one has to go on your to bake list! While normally when we have left over, brown bananas I whip up a banana bread loaf - you can find the recipe I swear by here, Joe remembered seeing an interesting recipes for a banana cake in a recipe cook we picked up the day before at an estate sale (yeah I might have another issue with collecting vintage cookbooks). It did not disappoint.

This version is one adpated, a lot adapted from the 1990 Hometown Collection a cookbook compiling recipes from around the US - this recipe in fact coming from the Catholic Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota. I didn't have all the ingredients the recipe suggested but i'm getting a little braver in adding and taking away items, so here goes;

Banana Cake

Cake;

3/4 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups of white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of mashed bananas
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teapsoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of flaked coconut

In a large bowl cream the butter, gradually adding the sugar. Once mixed add in the eggs one at a time, finally adding the banana

Seperately combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Alternating with the milk, add the dry mix into the creamed mixture, finally adding in the vanilla. 

Pour the batter into two 9" circular pans, topping off with 1/2 cup of coconut upon each one. Place into a preheated oven at 350F and bake for 30-35 minutes. 

Cool completely before making the filling and decorating with the frosting.

Creamy Filling;

1/2 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of butter
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Combine the sugar, flour, salt, milke and butter into a saucepan and heat until the mixture has thickened. 

Remove from the heat, add in the vanilla and leave to cool completely. When cooled, turn one of the cake layers coconut side down, spread the filling and lower the second layer coconut side up. Decorate with the white snow frosting on all the sides and up to an inch around the top.

White Snow Frosting;

1/2 cup butter
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of confectionery sugar

Combining the butter, egg white and vanilla extract mix until smooth. Gradually add in the powdered sugar. This actually made more then enough for icing, so make sure to help yourself to a big spoonful.

BananaCakeRecipe

The end result is a really light, sweet cake, in fact I'd go as far as saying it's the lightest cake I've made to date and is certainly nothing like a dense banana bread. Granted you only want small slices - the icing is on the sickly side (you could even omit it completely).

After eying up some more of the recipes in this cookbook it's certainly becoming a firm favourite - any cookbook with a recipe for a rhubarb cake inside just has to be, right?!

How do you like your cake?

Please excuse the bad photographs - our apartment is a dark, dark place.

12 comments:

  1. Wow this looks absolutely amazing! Usually I don't frost or ice banana cake but definitely going to give it a go now :)

    Sarah xx

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    1. Yeah I saw a recipe the other week with a simple icing over a standard banana loaf that looks interesting too.

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  2. Yum this looks amazing! I normally just bin my bananas when they get brown but I should really use them in baking. This has given me an incentive to use them up next time. Is all purpose flour our equivalent of plain? Also I think measuring ingredients by cups is a much easier way than weighing out the ingredients :)

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    1. I believe all purpose is the same as plain. I do like the cups as a form of measurement too I will admit, although I do wish I had some scales to use with some of the British recipes I grew up is, it's not always easy to translate between cups and oz's.

      I always get excited about leftover bananas - any excuse!

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  3. Wow! I made a banana bread and nutella loaf today, but this looks like it would have been a way better use of those bananas! thatadventurer

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    1. See that sounds more than worthy of being baked to me - admittedly I'm a fiend for chocolate!

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  4. I really like this idea, I find banana loaf to be a bit too heavy for my liking. I think I'll have to try this out :) I would probably omit the icing, I just prefer my cake icing free.

    I'm just starting to be a little braver with recipes too and just making this up in general. I'm a little haphazard in the kitchen.

    ~ K

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    1. I grew up thinking I was always in the way in the kitchen so i've only really been playing around since moving to the US and I have a kitchen of my own. I get most of my fix making home made curries every Wednesday but I have a mountain of cookbooks I really should try more things from!

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  5. SUCH a banana cake/bread fan. Looks lush,especially the filling! Though I know I'd throw in choc chips,mmmm!

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  6. Rachel, this looks delicious! And I love the touch of the coconut topping!

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  7. this looks SO yummy. thanks for sharing, shall be giving this one a go for my sisters 'welcome home'
    :)
    L xo

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