Best Ever Banana Cake

One of my favorite cake recipes is based on a recipe my sister found over on food.com. She told me it was so good she ended up throwing it out her window because she could not stop eating it. Of course, after hearing that story I had to try it for myself. Guess what? This banana cake recipe really is that good.

The recipe below is primarily from the recipe posted over at food.com, but it has a few alterations. I hope you and your family will enjoy it and will not have to throw it out the window.

Best Ever Banana Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 1/2 to 4 cups icing sugar

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275° (yes that says 275°)
2. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan or two 9 inch rounds.
3. In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
5. In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
7. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk and then stir in the banana mixture.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (See note).
9. Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. Do NOT skip this step as it will make the cake very moist.
10. For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
11. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
12. Add icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
13. Cool cake completely and frost.

Note: A few have commented that the cake was still runny after an hour. This may be due to differences in climate, bananas, or even elevation. For me, this temperature and baking time works perfectly.  You may have to experiment to find what works best for you (maybe increasing temp to 300, or cooking longer).

I hope you enjoy this banana cake recipe. Let me know if you try it. Feel free to leave a comment.