Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I bake with bananas on a regular basis, so when I see them starting to get to that dark, ripe baking stage, I start scouring my brain, the internet, and my recipe box for banana recipes. Having made banana muffins too many times to count, I was searching for something different. Something that I either haven't made in awhile...or something I haven't had the chance to try out yet.

I ended up finding this recipe for Banana Cake in my recipe box and I'm so happy that I did! I remember writing down this recipe from the website www.dessert.food.com and I had totally forgotten about it!

So this is what I decided to make today and I'm thrilled to be able to share it with all of you! I am a huge fan of this cake! It can easily make about 30 servings which makes it so perfect for large gatherings, which I love! It's actually sweeter than banana bread - and of course the tangy cream cheese frosting goes together beautifully with the sweet banana and vanilla flavors. I give this cake 2 thumbs up! And I think you will too!

If you'd like to give it a try - here is everything you'll need to get started:

Ingredients for Cake:

1 1/2 cups of mashed ripe bananas

2 tsp of lemon juice

3 cups of flour

1 1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp of salt

3/4 cup of butter, room temperature

2 1/8 cups of sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

Frosting

1/2 cup of butter, softened

8 oz of cream cheese, softened

1 tsp vanilla

3 1/2 cups of icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 by 13 inch pan. 

2. In a small bowl, mash bananas with the lemon juice; set aside. 

3. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. 

4. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.

5. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Stir in banana mixture. 

6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake in your preheated oven for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  (My cake took about 1 hour and 15 minutes.)

7. Remove from the oven and place directly into the freezer for about 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist. 

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Beat in 1 tsp of vanilla. Add the icing sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until smooth. Spread on cooled cake. Sprinkle chopped walnuts over the top of the cake if desired. 

This cake was so moist and flavorful! Hope you enjoy!