Banana Cake

Am I the only one who always has tons of rotten bananas laying around? In an effort to get out of the banana bread rut (not that it is a bad thing) I looked for something new. Ok, so this cake was so good! I only got to taste a little bite, but I definitely wanted more. It is very moist and tastes like banana bread, but it is a cake. The recipe was accompanied with a cream cheese frosting recipe, but I left it off. I think it is delicious all on its own, but if you love frosting, go for it! I thought the low cooking time was strange and I had to leave it in a smidge longer than an hour, but it baked perfectly. I would suggest checking on the cake at the end so that you don't overbake it. It would ruin the moist texture. Joey took this cake to one of the zero period classes at the high school. They loved it and devoured it quickly.

Banana Cake

From allrecipes.com

3/4 c butter, softened

2 1/8 c sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 c flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 c buttermilk*

2 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 c mashed bananas

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 c butter, softened

1 8oz package cream cheese, softened

3 1/2 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 275F. Grease and flour a 9x13" baking pan. In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas and lemon juice, set aside. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. (Flour, milk, flour, milk, flour-end with the flour) Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.

*If you do not have buttermilk here is a substitute. For each cup of milk called for, pour 1 Tbls vinegar into measuring cup and then fill to desired measure. This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, so in a measuring cup first put in 1 1/2 Tbl of vinegar and then fill with milk to the 1 1/2 c line.

For the frosting: In a large bowl, cream 1/2 c butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 tsp vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat on low spead until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake.