recipe: moist banana cake with cream cheese icing

My dear Dad’s birthday is coming up next week.  He’s a hard guy to buy for, but he’s always sure to appreciate the following three things:  1) dark covered chocolate ginger, 2) homemade cards and hugs from his grandsons and  3) a “from-scratch” dessert.

My Aunt Jan is the baker in our family.  She’s known for her shorttbread, hello dolly squares, coconut strawberries, toffee almond diamonds, sinful chocolate cake and this delicious banana bread with cream cheese frosting.  Jan is one of those people who “forgets to eat” but surprisingly, she has a soft spot for sweets.  Like any good baker, I think that she enjoys making and sharing her desserts even more than she enjoys actually eating them.

Here is her recipe for banana cake, which just might make an appearance at Dad’s birthday table this year!

moist banana cake with cream cheese icing

ingredients for cake

·        ½ (one-half) cup softened butter

·        1¼  (one-and-one-quarter cups) sugar

·        2 (two) eggs

·        1 (one) teaspoon vanilla

·        1 (one) teaspoon baking soda

·        ½ (one-half) teaspoon cinnamon

·        a shake or two of nutmeg

·        ¼ (one-quarter) cup sour cream

·        1 (one) cup ripe bananas (about 2-3)

·        1 ½ (one-and-one-half cups) flour (Jan uses ½ cup cake & pastry flour and one cup all-purpose flour, but you can use 1½ cups all-purpose too)

·        ¼ (one-quarter) teaspoon salt

method

1.      Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.      Cream butter, add sugar, eggs and vanilla.

3.      Dissolve baking soda in the bananas.  Add sour cream to mixture and beat well.  Add bananas and beat well.

4.      Combine flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, add to mixture.  Beat until blended – not long.

5.      Pour into sprayed 9” x 9” pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Ingredients for cream cheese icing

·        4 (four) ounces softened cream cheese

·        ¼ (one-quarter) cup softened butter

·        1¾ (one-and-three-quarters) cup icing sugar

·        2 (two) teaspoons orange juice or lemon juice

·        1 (one) teaspoon vanilla extract

method

1.      Cream softened butter and cream cheese together, add vanilla, juice and icing sugar.

2.      Smooth onto banana cake.  Refrigerates up to 5 days, freezes up to 2 months.  Makes 1½ cups.