BANANA CAKE

MOST MOIST BANANA CAKE EVER

I thought banana bread would be a nice change.  I've been searching around for a great recipe over the last few weeks and finally found one! Before I begin, let me just say; if you love a moist banana cake then this one is for you. The moisture from this cake can't even be legal, but at the same time, it's not wet and soggy. I despise loaf cakes that are dense and dry--resembling cardboard. The moisture really binds the incredible banana flavor in this cake. 

When I search for generic recipes such as banana cake, a basic yellow cake, chocolate cake, etc., I find myself resorting to sites such as allrecipes.com, cooks.com, et al. I wouldn't normally use recipes from such sites, (they are good for certain things) however, I base my recipe selections on user reviews because it is the only source of virtual criticism I'm going to get when getting recipes off the net. Obviously my preference would be to actually taste it myself--but it is what it is. With that being said, this banana cake had the most fantastic reviews that I absolutely couldn't turn it down. 

Moist, check. Delicious, check. 5 star cake, check. I'm sold.

This recipe calls for a 9x13 pan, however I broke it down differently. I used one-9inch round pan, one standard size loaf pan, and I topped it off with 1 mini loaf pan.  For the standard and mini loaf pans I added mini chocolate chips and left out the white chocolate cream cheese icing. For the 9-inch round pan I baked the recipe as is, without any additions or subtractions. I encourage you all to make this!! I've gotten incredible feedback!

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup butter

2 1/8 cups sugar

3 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups 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 ripe banana

FROSTING

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• chopped walnut

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 275°.

2. 2

   Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.

3. 3

   In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.

4. 4

   In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

5. 5

   In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.

6. 6

   Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.

7. 7

   Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.

8. 8

   Stir in banana mixture.

9. 9

   Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

10. 10

    Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes.

11. 11

    This will make the cake very moist.

12. 12

    For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

13. 13

    Beat in 1 tsp vanilla.

14. 14

    Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.

15. 15

    Spread on cooled cake.

16. 16

    Sprinkle chopped walnuts over top of the frosting, if desired.