Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting [RECIPE]

If you’re like us, you may find that bananas always seem to ripen before we can eat them all. Since we hate to waste food, we usually wind up using those very ripe bananas to bake up a batch of Banana Nut Bread or Banana Crunch Muffins. But sometimes we just get a hankering for something sweet. That’s when this delicious Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is just what the doctor ordered. It is tall, beautiful, and super moist and the citrus zest adds just the right amount of brightness. Best part of all, you probably already have all the ingredients on hand. Enjoy!

PREP TIME: 20 minutes
COOK TIME: 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• 3 very rip bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 jumbo eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Grated zest from 1 tangerine
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)
• Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows
• Pecan halves, for decorating (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (1/2 pound)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9- x 2-inch round cake pan.
2. Put bananas, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low until combined. Without turning off the mixer, add the oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and tangerine zest. Mix until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients slowly so they don’t clump and mix until just combined. Stir in chopped pecans, if using. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.
4. Spread the frosting thickly on the top of the cake (not the sides) and decorate with pecan halves, if using.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low until just combined. Do not whip! Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

YIELD: 8 servings