It’s a toss-up which is better—the cake or the icing! This much-loved passed-down dessert is welcome at any occasion, from everyday dinners to weddings.
Yield: 1 large 9-inch (2.5 L) square cake or 9-inch (1.5 L) round cake
Courtesy of Audrey Vrooman, Waterloo
ingredients
Cake
Frosting
directions
In small bowl, mash bananas; add baking soda. Set aside.
In separate bowl, cream butter with sugar; whisk in eggs.
In third bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add one-third of flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring to combine. Stir in half of the buttermilk. Stir in another third of the flour, the remaining buttermilk and the remaining flour. Stir in banana mixture; stir in vanilla.
Scrape into cake pan. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for about 40 minutes. (Option: Slice cake horizontally to make two layers, instead of cake with no layers.)
Option for layer cake with banana filling: Cut cake horizontally into 2 layers. Ice cut side of bottom layer (you could use vanilla cream cheese icing between layers with maple cream cheese icing on top and sides of cake. To make vanilla cream cheese frosting, omit maple syrup and maple extract). Lay sliced bananas on top of iced layer. Replace second layer of cake over filling, cut side down. Frost sides and top of cake.
Any leftover cake or icing can be double-wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to three months.
In large bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add maple syrup, vanilla and maple extract; beat until well combined. Beat in icing sugar and meringue powder until smooth.
Ice top and sides and cake.