Banana Cream Cake
So, guess what?
In last week’s post I said that rather than wait for the autumn weather to kick in before I started posting ‘autumn recipes’ and comfort food, I would just start baking & posting autumn recipes and let the weather catch up to me later.
This week, the temperature dropped around 10-15 degrees in our area.
Iiiiiiiii would like to think I had a thing or two to do with it.
(Probably not, it’s likely due to some natural–or rather unnatural, because, global warming–causes but I’m claiming the credit for it anyway.)
The weather is cooling down because it’s trying to align with my autumn baking. What can I say except, you’re welcome?
This week’s recipe happened because of a tale as old as time.
Girl goes to store. Girl buys green bananas, thinking she has plenty of time to eat them. One days passes. Bananas are still green. Two days pass. Bananas are just barely starting to yellow. Three days pass.
Bananas are ripe. Too ripe to eat. Girl is now stuck with four overripe bananas.
I guess ‘stuck’ is a little harsh. Bakers know that overripe bananas are really a blessing in disguise–they give you an excuse to put a healthy fruit into a not-as-healthy baked treat. Oftentimes, that treat is banana bread. Banana bread is great and easy, as are banana muffins. This time around though, I decided to try to go with something a bit different than what I was used to. It’s not too much more difficult than the bread or muffins, but I’ll tell you what: it IS a good deal greater.
One of the reasons that I love using bananas in cake is that they lend themselves really really well to cake batter. Why? Because the fat and moisture content in them helps keep the finished cake INCREDIBLY moist. So long as you’re using overly ripe bananas, it’s going to be quite difficult to overbake/dry that sucka out. This is a perfectly delicious banana cake all on its own. It’s then made even more delicious by a ribbon of vanilla cream cheese filling that gets poured on top of half the batter, then the other half of the batter is poured on top of that. The smells alone as it bakes are glorious. As for the taste…you can probably guess.
What can I say except…you’re welcome?
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Banana Cream Cake
Recipe Adapted from NordicWare
Ingredients
For Cake
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups mashed ripened banana
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For Cream Filling
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Milk, to thin
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt or tube pan and set aside. In a measuring cup or small bowl, pour the milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice together and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour with the baking soda and salt. Stir together with a fork and set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer (or using a handheld one) use the paddle attachment to cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing just until the yellow disappears. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go to ensure even mixing.
Add the mashed bananas, stirring just until combined. With mixer on low speed, gradually beat dry ingredients and milk mixture alternately into batter. (Start and end with the flour mixture) Beat for 1 minute. Remove batter to a bowl.
Beat the cream cheese in the standing mixer bowl until it’s smooth. Add the egg and vanilla, stirring just until combined.
Pour half the batter into the tube pan. Use a teaspoon to spoon the cream cheese filling evenly around the center of the cake batter. Carefully spoon remaining cake batter over filling, covering completely.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until top is brown and springs back lightly when touched. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto cake plate.
For the icing, combine the powdered sugar with enough milk until it forms a smooth but still somewhat thick icing. Use a fork to drizzle over the cake. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes, until hardened.
Linking up to Fiesta Friday #247, co-hosted this week by Antonia @ Zoale.com and Laurena @ Life Diet Health.
Oh my! Jess! That is extra! I’d never have thought to add a creamy swirl inside the cake – that’s so clever! 😀 Now you’ve given me all kinds of ideas and I need to bake (yet another) cake! 😀 Thanks for linking up with us and sharing this at Fiesta Friday – have fun!
Thank you–I hope you get a chance to make the cake soon 😉
This looks delicious. I have not owned a bundt pan since we emigrated so I may just have to buy one so I can make this.
I love my bundt pan–it’s one of the best buys I’ve made for my baking. Thanks Laura!
Your story of overripe bananas is the tale of my life. We have like 7 bananas in the freezer that I need to cook with. I totally agree about the moisture they bring to cake batter. This recipe looks delicious Jess!
Thanks Heather–this cake is certainly a worthwhile choice for those 7 bananas 😉
Oh so tempting!
Thank you 😉
Looks yummy, Jess! I am drooling here.
Thanks Sandhya 😉
That look delicious!
That it is–thank you 🙂
Oh wow, this looks really yummy 😋
It is! Thank you for stopping by and commenting 🙂
I need to get some bananas!!!!!
I think that would be a great decision lol Thanks!
I have seen a recipe now and then but this one takes the cake. Couldn’t help myself, sorry! Seriously now that I’ve seen your recipe and how gorgeous it is, it’s going on my list!
LOL That was a good one, Mollie. Thank you, I hope you can try the cake sometime–I know that you’ll enjoy it 🙂
I just got myself 4 bananas yesterday to eat for dinner, but I think I might change my mind and let them ripen. 😀 I love banana cakes, muffins or anything baked with bananas and this, my friend, looks so good! And yeah, thank you! 😀
Thank you Jhuls, go for it! They will be 4 bananas well worth waiting to ripen 😉
Beautiful cake, Jess!! I just love it when I cut or bite into a cake, a surprise is waiting inside, especially if it’s the form of something creamy and cheesy 😀
Thank you Angie 🙂
does this have to go in the fridge after baking? I love the cream cheese idea but my event I wanna bring this to can’t keep it cold.
That’s going to depend upon the temperature of where your event is at. If it’s going to be outdoors in the sun in warm temperature, I would try to keep the cake inside the fridge as long as you possibly can before the event, then only take it out when it’s actually time to cut into and serve it, if possible.
If you have an indoor event and the room is relatively cool, then after the cake is finished baking and has finished cooling off, I would place it in the fridge until it’s time to go to the event. It should be fine to sit out for an hour or so.
But either way keep in mind, this is a cream cheese filling, so the ideal is to keep it at best cold and at worst, at room temp.