Author Notes: This recipe was my nana’s recipe for banana cake, which has been a family favorite for some time. I decided to try and make the recipe a little more “fall-ish” by adding spices to the batter. The spices added the warmth I was looking for and made the dessert a great choice for Thanksgiving – moist, decadent, and delicious! —PinkCupcake22
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
For the cake
-
2 3/4
cups cake flour
-
1
tablespoon baking soda
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1
teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1/2
teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
-
1/4
teaspoon ground allspice
-
1/4
teaspoon ground cloves
-
1
pinch salt
-
1/2
cup unsalted butter, softened
-
3/4
cup dark brown sugar, packed
-
1
cup granulated sugar
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2
eggs
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4
medium ripe bananas, mashed
-
2/3
cup buttermilk, at room temperature
For the frosting
-
8
ounces cream cheese, softened
-
4
tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
-
3 1/2
cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
-
1
teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-
1
tablespoon milk
-
1
cup walnuts, toasted
Directions
- For the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 9-inch round cake pans.
- In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.
- In a large bowl using a stand mixer, beat butter until fluffy, about 1 minute. Gradually add granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the bananas. The mixture will look curdled – that is okay.
- Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture; there should be three additions of the flour mixture and two of the buttermilk.
- Pour batter into prepared pans, smoothing tops with an offset spatula to make even.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven; cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning onto cake racks. Cool completely before frosting
- For the frosting: In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the cheese and butter until fluffy, about a minute.
- Add the sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix well; add milk if necessary to achieve spreading consistency.
- Frost cake; top cake with toasted walnut pieces.