So a couple of years ago when Sara and I were doing Time Out for Women, we got to be good friends with so many of the other presenters and behind-the-scenes people, especially the ones we were frequently traveling with. We kept hearing about Brooke Stone’s legendary banana cake,who sings in a group called Mercy River.
So after a couple of years of all the banana cake talk, I awkwardly requested the banana cake recipe. Turns out Sara did the same thing, so it’s good we’re on the same page here.
It was everything I was hoping for in a banana cake–light and fluffy and moist and banana-y. I topped it with cream cheese frosting, but the whole time, I was wishing I had frosted half of it in the brown butter frosting from this snack cake. I like options.
That said, according to Sara and the instructions, this cake is heavy and dense like banana bread. That wasn’t my experience at all–it was like the lightest, fluffiest, moistest cake in the world. And I liked it that way, so I’m gonna roll with it. I’m going to try and re-create every little thing I did to (unintentionally) procure the moistest and fluffiest cake in all the land.
You’re going to need 1 1/2 cups of mashed, very ripe bananas (the riper the better), 3/4 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature, 2 cups + 2 tablespoons white sugar, 3 room temperature eggs, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 3 cups flour, very lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 1/2 cups buttermilk at room temperature, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
Grease a 9×13″ baking pan and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mash the banana
and mix it with the lemon juice. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix flour and baking soda.
In large bowl, mix butter and sugar on high speed for about 90 seconds-2 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, mixing in completely after each addition. Add vanilla. Add ½ flour mixture, followed by ½ the buttermilk. Mix until just incorporated, then repeat with remaining flour mixture and buttermilk. Don’t overmix! Add bananas. Pour into prepared 9×13 pan
and bake for 35-50 minutes (mine was perfect right at 38 minutes, but my oven bakes fast), or until toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely, then frost with cream cheese frosting or brown butter frosting (frosting recipe follows the cake recipe).
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese or Brown Butter Frosting {You Pick!}
Recipe adapted from Brooke Stone
Ingredients:
¾ cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups + 2 tablespoons white sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour, very lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 ½ cups mashed banana
Instructions:
Grease a 9×13″ baking pan and set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix banana and lemon juice. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix flour and baking soda.
In large bowl, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Add ½ flour mixture, followed by ½ the buttermilk. Mix until just incorporated, then repeat with remaining flour mixture and buttermilk. Add bananas. Do not overmix. Pour into prepared 9×13 pan, and bake for 35-50 minutes (mine was perfect right at 38, but my oven bakes fast), or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost with cream cheese frosting or brown butter frosting (frosting recipe follows the cake recipe).
