BANANA-NUT SHEET CAKE WITH MILK CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

An old favorite from a vintage Pillsbury cookbook, banana-nut cake would be a hit at any pot-luck you attend or at any family dinner.  Back in the day, shortening was the preferred fat in cakes, and it did produce a fluffy texture.  My current preference is to use butter, or sometimes coconut oil.  I’ve even been known to substitute applesauce for some of the fat in cakes and use some whole wheat flour to add fiber.  This time, I used the full amount of butter with regular flour.  You will love the moist, tender crumb and the full banana flavor.  The nuts add some complex notes.  Topped with chocolate buttercream, this cake is a real winner.

You can also make 24 cupcakes with the batter, if preferred.  Sheet cakes are so easy, I decided to take the lazy man’s approach.   I’ve included my recipe for Chocolate Buttercream below.  Of course, you can use whatever frosting you want, but, if you’ve never put chocolate frosting on banana cake, please do try it.  You may never go back.

P. S.  My favorite banana cake is “Ultimate Banana Cake.”  It has my highest rating for best texture and flavor.  It’s also a sheet cake, baked at 275F, then placed in the freezer to cool for 45 minutes.  Weird, but delicious!

Banana-Nut Sheet Cake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Rating:  9.5 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

CAKE (adapted from Pillsbury): 2-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, whisked, then lightly spooned and leveled 1-1/4 cups sugar 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 oz.) unsalted butter, softened 2 large eggs, room temperature 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium-large) 1/2 cup buttermilk or yogurt* 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract  (I used my homemade vanilla extract) 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts or pecans + 1/3 cup for garnish Heat oven to 350F.  Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.  Line with parchment to fit bottom. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into bowl of stand mixer.  Add butter, eggs and bananas.  Beat at lowest speed to barely combine, then beat on low for 1 minute (1-1/2 minutes if using hand mixer).  Add buttermilk and vanilla; beat 1 minute on low (1-1/2 minutes if using hand mixer).  Stir in nuts, taking care not to overmix batter.  Turn into pan. Bake 30-35 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted near center returns with just a few crumbs.  Cool pan on wire rack 10 minutes; turn cake out onto rack.  Peel off parchment.  Cool completely, then turn cake back into pan before frosting.  Yield:  12-16 servings MILK CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING (my recipe):  1/3 cup unsalted butter, soft 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1-1/2 Tbsp. Kahlua or other coffee brandy of choice (or strong coffee) optional:  1/2 tsp. chocolate flavor 4 cups confectioner’s sugar 1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 1/3 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder In medium bowl, cream butter and salt on medium speed of electric mixer.  Stir in flavorings, 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup cream and beat till well blended.  Whisk cocoa powder and remaining sugar in small bowl, then gradually add to butter-sugar mixture.  Add remaining cream, 1 Tbsp. at a time, as needed to reach proper consistency.  When proper consistency is reached, beat on high about 1 minute, or till very smooth.  Frost top of cake and sprinkle with toasted chopped nuts.  Yield:  enough frosting to generously cover a 9x13 cake.

SIMPLE BANANA CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING

A banana cake without nuts?  It didn’t sound right, but allrecipes.com readers gave it a 4-1/2 star rating.  Of course, theirs was topped with cream cheese frosting, and my hubby prefers chocolate frosting.  I had to put some nuts somewhere, so I sprinkled them on top. 

The banana flavor is mild, but the cake is moist and tender, and everyone seemed to really like it.  (It won’t replace my top two faves:  Ultimate Banana Cake and One-Bowl Banana Nut Cake.  Ultimate Banana Cake goes right from the oven into the freezer for 45 minutes, and the texture and flavor of this cake really are the ultimate.  One-Bowl Banana Nut Cake is a tried and true Pillsbury recipe from way back that never fails to please.) But if you like banana cake without nuts, then Simple Banana Cake is for you.   And, of course, go ahead and frost it any way you like.

Simple Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting Adapted from allrecipes.com Banana Cake II Rating:  8 out of 10 Click for PRINTABLE PAGE

INGREDIENTS: 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 cup white whole wheat + 1-3/4 cup unbleached AP) 1/2 tsp. salt (I used sea salt) 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 3/4 cup butter (I used 1/2 cup Smart Balance butter blend + 1/4 cup Land o’ Lakes) 1-1/4 cups sugar (I used 1 cup sugar + 1 Tbsp. NuNaturals Stevia) 3 large eggs 1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I used homemade) 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium) 3/4 cup buttermilk or sour milk (sour milk = 3/4 cup milk + 2 tsp. cider vinegar) Heat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9x13” pan and line with two sheets of wax paper cut to fit the bottom.  In medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, using medium speed of mixer.  Beat in eggs and vanilla till smooth.  Stir in bananas.  Add 1/3 cup of dry ingredients to wet ingredients.  Stir in till almost incorporated.  Add 1/2 of buttermilk, stirring till almost smooth.  Repeat, ending with flour mixture.    Pour batter, which will be thick,  into  pan.  Bake about 30 minutes, or till a toothpick inserted near center returns with just a few crumbs.    Cool cake in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack.  Remove wax paper and let cake cool thoroughly before icing. Cocoa Frosting 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and partially cooled 1/3 cup cocoa 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. coffee essence (equal parts of instant coffee granules & Kahlua or hot coffee) 2-4 Tbsp. heavy cream In medium bowl, combine all ingredients.  Beat till smooth and creamy, using medium speed and gradually increasing speed to high.  Frost cake.  Garnish with toasted chopped walnuts, if desired.

ULTIMATE BANANA CAKE

This recipe is also known as “best banana cake,” and Banana Cake VI, depending on which internet site you visit.  When I read the directions, my cynical mind rejected the recipe.  Baking a cake at 275F and then putting it in the freezer for 45 minutes sounded insane to me.  However, the person who dreamed up this method is a genius.  Never have I tasted a banana cake with such wonderful flavor and texture. 



The moistness and tenderness are incomparably the ultimate.  It’s the kind of cake you dream about at night and find yourself raiding the refrigerator for at 3AM to just sneak another piece of heaven.  My old favorite one-bowl banana cake recipe has dropped to second place, and there is a new king on the throne.  But I fear that I’ll be buying more bananas now, just to be able to make more of this incredibly good banana cake.  This, coming from one who is not a banana cake fan.  Pretty amazing.



I did make a few changes to the recipe.  First, I was put off at the amount of sugar.  I changed the ratio to equal that of my one-bowl fave recipe, cutting out 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. of sugar.  I used stevia in place of half the remaining sugar, to cut it even further.  Then I used applesauce and Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend in place of the butter, and half whole-wheat flour for added fiber.  Besides the extraordinary texture and moistness, the cake was also plenty sweet, and had a wonderfully complex flavor that went well with the cream cheese icing.  (I frosted one small strip of the cake with chocolate frosting for my hubby who does not appreciate the fine points of cream cheese icing.)  Plenty of toasted chopped pecans went over the top.  Everyone, but everyone, who tasted this went wild. 

ULTIMATE BANANA CAKE Adapted from allrecipes.com Rating:  10 out of 10 PRINTABLE PAGE

INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour 1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. sea salt 1-1/2 cups mashed bananas 1/2 cup applesauce plus or unsweetened applesauce 2 tsp. lemon juice 1/2 cup Smart Balance 50/50  Butter Blend (or butter) 1-1/2 cups sugar (I used 3/4 cup sugar + 3 Tbsp. NuNaturals Stevia) 3 large eggs 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I used my homemade vanilla) 1-1/2 cups buttermilk (I used 1-1/2 cups sweet milk + 1 Tbsp. cider vinegar) 1 cup chopped toasted pecans Heat oven to 275F (135C).  Grease and flour a 9x13” baking pan.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda and salt; set aside.  In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with applesauce and lemon juice; set aside. In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light.  Beat in eggs very slowly, adding half at a time on medium-low speed.  Reduce speed to lowest setting and stir in vanilla.  Using lowest speed, beat in  flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with flour.  Stir in banana mixture.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour, or  until a toothpick inserted near center of cake returns clean.  (Start checking cake at 55 minutes.  Please note that the cake does not rise and the top is quite hard.  Rest assured it will soften before you eat it.)  Remove cake from oven and place (uncovered) directly into freezer for 45 minutes.  Take cold cake from freezer and frost as desired. For cream cheese icing, in a large bowl, cream 1/4 cup softened butter (1/2 stick or 2 oz.), 1 tsp. vanilla powder (or vanilla extract) and 1-1/2 cups 10X sugar till smooth.  Cut 6 oz. cold cream cheese or Neufchatel cheese into 8 pieces.  Add one piece at a time to sugar mixture, beating well after each addition, for a total of about 8 minutes of beating.  Be sure each piece is completely incorporated and smooth before adding next piece.  This is just enough icing to frost this cake, with no leftovers.  Frost cake; sprinkle nuts over top.  Yield:  one 9x13 cake