Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Mom is coming over this morning so I can prepare her taxes, and I can't tell you how excited I am!!  Why?  Well, it certainly isn't because I get to try and make sense of the enormous stack of papers she'll be bringing-that's for sure!  Nope.  It's because I whipped up a VERY special treat for our coffee break-which I'm sure we will need five minutes into the LONG and very frustrating process!

So why is this treat so special?  Because in all my years of baking, I've never been very successful at banana cake.  Some have been to dry.  Some...tasteless.  And others....well...let's just say an hour after eating them, it felt like I swallowed a rock!  UGH!

But no more.

This time I finally solved the big banana cake dilemma-and it's all thanks to a recipe I found in  one of the many local church cookbooks that I inherited from a dear friend years ago!  Unfortunately, I have no idea who the author of the recipe is-because all that was listed was Mary L.  But-you can bet if I did know who Mary L was-I would be giving her a HUGE hug right now!!

Because this cake is not only light and VERY moist.............

It also will make your taste buds think they've gone to heaven, because it's packed with SO much flavor!!  Including the TO DIE FOR thick and creamy frosting-which by the way...is also the BEST  I've tasted.  Even better, it was SUPER easy to spread onto the top of the cake.  That's a big deal for me.  I mean what could be worse than going through all the trouble of baking a cake, only to pull half the top off, trying to spread the frosting???

Mom's going to be blown away-that's for sure. Which is a good thing, because I think she hates tax time even more than I do!

Here's the recipe!  I hope you enjoy!


Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

Cake:
 1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 bananas (very ripe)

Frosting:

1/4 cup butter (softened)
8 oz pkg of cream cheese (softened)
4 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla



Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.   Grease a 9x13 pan.  Cream butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add  milk and eggs.  Combine flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and add to creamed mixture. Mash bananas until no lumps. (I also whipped them just to be sure).  Add baking soda to bananas and mix well.  Fold bananas and vanilla into mixture.  Do not over stir.

Pour into pan, and bake for 35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool completely before frosting.

Meanwhile-combine butter, cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl.  Whip until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix well.

I'll be sharing at these inspiring parties-so stop on and visit!

Jann Olson
 Katherine's Corner
 Rooted in Thyme

Blessings,

Christine