Banana Cake With Buttercream Frosting

 This banana cake recipe came from my great-grandmother and has been in the family for 100 years. SHORTENING — Crisco has altered its shortening to remove trans fat. This means that it doesn’t hold up in frosting as well as the original Crisco. It’s better to use “high-ratio” shortening. CAKE FLOUR — I’m often asked if you can use all-purpose flour instead. Cake flour has a lower protein content, is more finely milled, and is treated so that the starch granules absorb water and swell more readily in high-sugar batters which helps the cakes to be lighter and moist.

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 ¼ cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

2 large eggs

4 tablespoons salted butter, melted

4 ripe bananas mashed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts optional

For the frosting:

4 tablespoons salted butter softened

½ cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, cream together sugar, sour cream, egg, and melted butter.

Add mashed bananas and vanilla extract and continue to mix.

Add flour and baking soda; mix well.

Pour batter into baking dish.

Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

Cream butter and confectioner’s sugar together until smooth using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.

Slowly add the heavy cream; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.

Spread on cooled cake. Slice then serve!