Ohhhh, this one is to-die-for. Don’t be thinking banana bread, or banana loaf; this is a full on banana cake. I didn’t make up the name. That’s what it’s known as.
I honestly forget where I first saw this cake, but it’s all over the web. It’s a strange little recipe, so I’ll clarify a couple of things right off the top. First of all: the low oven temperature: 275 degrees. That’s not a typo. You read it right – TWO HUNDRED and seventy-five degrees. I don’t ask why. I just know that it works. 
The second thing is the freezer bit. All the recipes I’ve seen instruct you to take the cake out of the oven, and place it directly into the freezer. They claim that this is the secret to the cake’s moistness. For all I know, it could turn out just as moist if you skipped this step, but what if it didn’t? I don’t want to take that risk. So for this reason, you’re going to want to bake it in something that can handle the change in temperature. I use my 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish. I don’t cover the cake when I put it in the freezer; I just fold a thick towel under the pan.
I bump up the nutrition a bit more when I’m making this with the Hooligans, by switching out half the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. It’s still very tasty, but not quite as naughty.
Ok….here are the details.
- 1.5 cups very ripe bananas (I use 4 thawed, previously frozen bananas)
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 c all-purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 c soft butter
- 2 c sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1.5 cups buttermilk (OR milk soured with one tbsp vinegar)
- Pre-heat oven to 275 degrees.
- Grease and flour (or spray with PAM), a 9×13 cake pan.
- Mash banana and mix with lemon juice and set aside.
- In a med bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla.
- Beat in flour mixture alternately with buttermilk.
- Stir in bananas.
- Pour into cake pan and bake 1 hour and 10 mins (or until knife comes out clean).
- Immediately place in freezer for 45 minutes. (if not completely cool upon removal from freezer, let cool further before icing).
Cream Cheese Icing:
- 1/2 c softened butter
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temp.
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3.5 cups icing sugar
- Cream butter and cream cheese.
- Beat in vanilla and icing sugar on low until combined, then high until smooth.
This makes a ton of icing. I personally think you could use about 1/2 to ice the cake, but if you’re a lover of frosting, this recipe will make you very happy!
Enjoy!
