Banana Cake

It's a new favorite dessert!

But, in reality, it's the oldest favorite dessert on the ever-loving planet.  

I've been making this since high school, guys, which means 15 years.  That's a long time for someone not yet 30, so go with me on it.  Old!  When I was in high school in Japan I was a cheerleader, and for a few years we had this epic coach named Rochelle.  She was a fabulous cook, and so were several of the girls on our team (I hate the word squad), and so once upon a time she compiled a little booklet of some of the fav recipes we had at our sleepovers, and this was one of them.  When I was cleaning out the soon-to-be nursery I found the booklet, and WHOA have I ever been so happy to find a recipe.  I'd though about this cake off an on the past few years, and here it was, ready for me to make it again.  

Ashley's banana cake.  I made this all. the. time. in high school, and it was and still is just the perfect recipe.  I used to make it in a 9x13 pan, but this time I made it in a springform pan, which worked GREAT and was really pretty for a birthday.  There's no banana extract or anything fake in this recipe, so we're looking at a super decadent banana bread.  But...maybe not for breakfast.  Or maybe for breakfast!  It's got dairy and fruit, after all.  

You need butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, lemon, and bananas for the cake.  

And, it starts like a lot of other cakes.  Preheat the oven to 275F.  It's not an error - this cake bakes super low and it's AWESOME for the moisture content of the cake later on.  Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, set that aside.  

Mix the bananas and lemon juice in a bowl with a fork, set those aside.  

Then, we build batter!  Use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together for about a minute.  Then, add the eggs one at a time and vanilla to make a smooth mixture.  Try not to eat this.  Then, add the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, about a third at a time, until you have a smooth batter.   Don't overbeat the mixture, just stop as soon as everything is done combining.  Then, gently stir in the bananas.  

Now, grease whatever pan you're using and pour the batter right in!  

Bake the cake for an hour or more until a toothpick comes out clean.  The baking time will depend on your baking vessel, so after an hour just check the cake every 10 minutes or so.  As soon as the cake is done, STICK IT IN THE FREEZER.  This, too, works on the moist-cake idea.  After 45 minutes, take it out of the freezer.  

While the cake is cooling in the freezer, make the icing!  Cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla.  

Mix everything together with a mixer for a few minutes until it's super duper smooth, and try not to eat THAT.  It's hard.  If the mixture seems really thin, add a little bit more powdered sugar to firm it up.  

Now, you can of course make the cake the day before you'd like to eat it, and ice it right before, or make the whole thing in advance, whatevs.  It all works.  When you'd like to ice it....don't look at me for advice.  I just dump the icing all on top...

...use a knife to spread it all out...

...and kind of hope for the best.  

Candles and sprinkles kind of help.  

THIS CAKE, though.  The flavor isn't heavy on banana, but the cake is dense and moist and all the words we love to hate but really want to be involved in our cake at the same time.  

The recipe works well every single time I've made it for FIFTEEN YEARS and you just need to try this asap.  You'll love it!  

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