RECIPE: Banana Cake

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.

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.