I'm Bananas For Bananas | RECIPE: Chocolate-Frosted Banana Cake

There’s this running joke in my family that bananas are my best friend. Cue laughter. But wait, why shouldn’t they be? They appear to always be smiling. They attentively listen to me and never interrupt. And they contribute to my overall feelings of well-being by giving me the best gifts. But should friends be eaten? Well, thanks to the work of global agriculture as soon as one friend bids their final adieu, another shows right up filling the exact same role without fail, so what's there to regret?

As you have probably gathered, I LOVE bananas. And I’ll put them in almost anything. Oatmeal. Yogurt. Pancakes. Milkshakes. Cinnamon rolls (that's another post for another day). And of course, I’ll have a banana all by itself, solely giving all of my devotion to just one with no added distractions. I just can't get enough of bananas. I’m bananas for bananas! (No, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to type that.)

So you can imagine my extreme delight when I discovered banana bread! (Thanks Mom!) Everybody loves banana bread! Even those who would have nothing to do with an actual banana. They just can’t resist its charms. There’s just something about the mild sweetness and the delectable moistness that’s always a sure winner. But that’s not where the lovely banana’s journey ends. It has now given me the pleasure of tasting banana cake.

What’s the difference between banana bread and banana cake? Well, one man’s banana cake is probably another man’s banana bread. It is not easy to draw the line between the two BUT as a rule, banana cake is lighter than banana bread. It is “cakey” compared to the slightly heavier banana bread; this is in terms of texture. A lot of banana bread recipes do not call for baking powder while baking powder is almost a must in banana cake (all the cakes I have baked had baking powder in them). Another difference is that some versions of banana bread have brown sugar in them; I don’t think this is the case for any banana cake. Lastly, banana cake generally has more moisture (in the form of milk or water) in its batter. The banana cake batter is more fluid and less viscous than that of banana bread (which has a thick batter). All of this contributes to a more “cakey” product.

This particular banana cake recipe was actually given to me by a friend. Thanks for the gift, friend! Oddly enough the first time I made the cake with the friend, it turned out less than satisfactory. The resulting cake was a bit gummy. Taste-wise, it was fine but the presentation was not pretty. It looked gray. Not cute. In the world of baked goods, golden brown is the most desirable appearance. We couldn’t for the life of us figure out what went wrong and I was stumped. I also felt guilty because I thought I had messed it up somehow.

I took a risk and remade the cake for mother’s day and it came out perfectly. It was also flawless on the most recent try. I still don’t know what went wrong with the first trial. And by now, I no longer care. This recipe works! And the result of that first attempt has no bearing on my baking skills. All is right with the world again; my world order has been restored.

This cake has that distinct taste of bananas and is light and moist. I paired it with chocolate frosting to fill and top the cake. Chocolate plus banana equals yum. You can switch it up and serve it unfrosted or you can use another kind of frosting (the original recipe uses cream cheese frosting).

Get into it.

RECIPE: Chocolate-Frosted Banana Cake

Makes 2 9-inch cakes or 1 9-inch by 13-inch cake

Adapted from Moms Who Think and Redpath Sugar

Ingredients

For cake:

• ½ cup butter
• 1½ cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups flour, sifted
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ cup milk
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda (add to pureed bananas)
• 3 pureed bananas, very ripe

For frosting:

• 1 (500 g) package icing sugar (approx. 3¾ cups)
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• ½ cup (125 ml) softened butter or margarine
• 3-4 tablespoons (45 – 60 ml) milk
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13" baking pan or two 9" layer cake pans.
2. Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Sift flour several times, then add the salt and baking powder to the flour. To the creamed butter mixture, add the milk and flour (alternating, beginning and ending with flour).
3. Add vanilla and mashed bananas (with the baking soda added to the bananas) to this mixture.
4. Bake layer cakes (9") for 25-30 minutes, oblong (9x13") for 35-40 minutes.
5. Combine the icing sugar, cocoa powder, softened butter or margarine, milk and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until icing is spreading consistency. Spread on cooled cakes to desired thickness.

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2012