There is just something fantastic about good banana cake. You may be wondering why I refer to mine as cake and not a bread? That’s because boring, bland, bread would do this sweet banana bake no justice! We’re talking moist with a thin crisped-outer crust, and you can skip the jam & butter…
This version is classic with no weird nuts or fancy fruits, just simply banana and lots of them… I could eat a piece for dessert, breakfast or heck, even dinner… who needs chicken anyhow? I’ve done this as a bundt, muffins and a whipped, cream cheese-frosted, layer cake. The options are endless, but today we’re going with the traditional loaf. The following recipe is for a single batch, but I’m doubling since I have a boat-load of bananas.
Banana Cake...
in the making
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The riper the bananas the better, so hold onto an extra bunch this week & by Sunday, you’ll be having your cake and eating it too…but not for long because this one goes fast!
.jpg "Lbs Classic Banana Cake")
Simple & moist! This banana cake is a classic. Use the ripest bananas you can!
What to get...
- 1.5 cups mashed bananas (very ripe, about 4 bananas)
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- 1 cup baker's sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1.75 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp grd. cinnamon
- 5 T buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
What to do...
- Preheat oven to 350
- Soften butter ahead of time
- Mix flour, soda, salt & cinnamon in a separate bowl
- In bowl of electric mixer, cream butter & sugar, adding eggs one at a time
- Add mashed bananas
- Add buttermilk & vanilla, mix 1 minute
- Pour batter into loaf pan
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, untill toothpick comes out clean & middle is firm (will be dark brown)
- Cool 10 min in pan, then remove & cool 1 hour on rack (don't prematurely handle, needs to set!)
- Slice and enjoy!
- Store leftovers in air-tight container.
Notes
The cooking time may vary according to pan choice. A dark metal loaf pan will cook more quickly than a glass one. If you vary and go with muffins, this will cook in only around 25 min. If toothpick comes out clean and middle is firm, it's done! Give it a good while to cool, so it can set...
I wish I could relay the smell of this cake baking in my oven now, it is heavenly!
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Any suggestions on how to make this dairy free? Use shortening instead of butter? Or “I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter”? And a replacement for the buttermilk? Looks good but dairy is a no go for me!
Hi Liz! Good question! I’ve been planning to do a post specifically on the Science and substitutions of baking, but haven’t yet! I have on occasionally done dairy free cookies and cakes, but the results are never exactly the same. For this cake because it is a bit denser then a say a white cake, a substitution is easier. I would never recommend using margarine as a substitute; there is not enough of a solid fat to work with. You need butter because it is a solid fat that you cream the sugars with. That is crucial because it gives the texture and ‘fluff’ to the cake or bread. You could use shortening (I like the canola version), but typically that is a better sub for cookies, because they don’t rise as much. One thing you can do to mimic the creaming of the butter is separate your egg yolks from the whites. First, “cream” the yolks since they have fat with the sugar, then adding the whites with the other ingreds. I still think you should replace equal amounts of shortening for the butter still. For the buttermilk, skip it! I would sub with ~4 Tablespoons of applesauce instead. I have used applesauce for oil and some liquid fats several times before, not as rich, but worked! Curious to see how this turns out. Hope you are doing well!
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