If Life Gives You Bananas, Make Banana Cake!

I always have "brown" bananas in my freezer; once they are overripe, I just freeze them, unpeeled. Then when I need them, I thaw them for 30 seconds or so and use them to make banana crunch muffins or any one of a number of banana breads. If I need something for company, though, I make this cake. I made it for a potluck children's ministries meeting today, in fact. It has the familiar taste of banana bread with the decadent addition of cream cheese.

I love it when recipes have a "twist": this one has an unusual technique. Once you take the baked cake out of the oven, you put it in the freezer immediately for 45 minutes. You can also leave it in the freezer overnight and frost it in the morning.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted from www.recipezaar.com)

1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 275°.
Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.
For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.
Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla.
Add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth.
Spread on cooled cake.