If you bake, I’m sure you’ve found yourself in this situation… some nearly solid-brown bananas on the counter and no desire to make yet another loaf of banana bread. At that stage of the “nanner-lifespan” your only real option is to use them for baking since said nanners are not at their peak of “peel -&- eat goodness”. At least this is what I’ve been told. You see, ever since I was a very little girl, I’ve been severely allergic to bananas and unable to eat them. But with these nanners quickly nearing their end… and my refusal to bake banana bread… I had to seek out other options. And boy am I ever glad that I did because I hit a major-league home run when I made this phenomenal banana cake with cream cheese frosting!!! In a word…. you must make this. Uh huh, yeah, I know, that’s a sentence not a word :P But that’s okay cuz this cake is so good it’ll leave you stumbling over words too :)
In my search for nanner inspiration, I checked two of my usual sources… foodgawker and TasteSpotting. I came across tons of results for variations on the usual banana loaf but finally came across a gorgeous looking picture of a banana cake. Clicking on that picture I discovered that beauty came from my friend Jamie’s blog and reading her post convinced me it was exactly what I was looking for.
I had all the ingredients on hand and followed the recipe exactly as written… even though the baking instructions sounded crazy as could be. You bake it for an hour at 275°F and then stick it in the freezer for an hour. HUH??? I’d never heard of such a crazy idea but supposedly it’s the secret for making this cake so incredibly moist. Since I wanted my cake to be the best possible I threw caution to the wind and followed the directions like a good girl:) Because I chose to bake this in a bundt pan, one hour at 275°F did not result in a cake passing the doneness test so I stuck it back in for another 10 minutes. Checking again it still was not done so I went for another 15 minutes and at that point it was just barely to the point of being done. I removed it from the oven, placed it directly in the freezer (bundt pan and all) and set the timer for one hour.
After the hour was up, I inverted the cake onto a cooling rack and oh crap it would not come out :( I was torn between panic and depression. Giving it a couple of solid knocks did nothing but further convince me I’d wasted all that time and effort because my cake would never come out in one piece. Uncharacteristically, I walked away… dejectedly and no doubt with a hang dog face. I came back about 10 minutes later and lifted the pan to discover my cake had released beautifully and was resting nicely on the cooling rack. YAY!!!!
I proceeded to make the frosting and, like Jamie, warm it up a bit in the microwave so that I could pour it on the cake. But after that I thought it looked unfinished so I grabbed a container of rainbow sprinkles and decorated until, with a big smile on my face, I could confidently proclaim “there! now it’s done!”. DH and I each had a very small slice and absolutely loved it. Oh, and my severe allergy to bananas? I must have outgrown it because I had absolutely no reaction whatsoever – woohoo!!! The next morning I took the rest of the cake to work and my coworkers liberally tossed around the praises and accolades. They totally loved it :)
This cake really is outstanding and a fantastic alternative to making banana bread with those bananas quickly goin south. I can’t say enough good things about this cake. Definitely make it! Head here for the recipe.
Have a delicious day!
