Picture this - two moist loaves of banana bread fastened together with cream cheese icing and sprinkled with brown butter pecans. It's a cake, but also breakfast, and that is the beauty of it. How many opportunities in our lives to eat cake for breakfast and feel good about it. Well, there was that time last month where I ate chocolate cake for breakfast and felt pretty good about it.
I made this cake a few days ago, mostly because I wanted to have an excuse to eat cake for breakfast - because I'm getting awfully sick of avocado toast. I also want you to become as excited about this cake as I am. A photo can say a thousand words, and I want these ones to say - hey, put down that avocado toast and come to grab a slice of cake.
BANANA CAKE RECIPE
makes 2 - 9" cake rounds
notes: adding the cake to the freezer produces a tender crumb and also allows you to frost and eat the cake quicker. Overripe bananas should be very soft and the skin black in color. Store them in the freezer and pull out 1 hour before making the cake.
CAKE INGREDIENTS
3 overripe bananas, mashed
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
ICING INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 - 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
PECAN INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tbsp butter
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 325ºF.
Grease two 9 inch round cake pans and set to the side.
Peel and mash the bananas with a fork in a small bowl and set to the side.
In a medium size bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light in color, and fluffy on medium speed.
Add the eggs one at a time.
Turn the speed to low and add in the flour and buttermilk, alternating between the two. Once all is combined, stir in the bananas.
Pour the batter into two round baking pans, and tap on the counter to remove any bubbles. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Place onto a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes.
Place the cake, in their pans, into the freezer for 45 minutes.
While the cake is cooling, add the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar to the stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment. With the speed set to low, start to mix the icing ingredients. Once the powdered sugar has been incorporated, turn the speed to medium and mix until fluffy. Set to the side.
In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp of butter on medium. Once the butter starts to foam, add the chopped pecans and salt. Cook for a couple of minutes.
Remove the cakes from the freezer and then from their pans. Scoop a generous amount of icing on top of one cake round. Smooth it out with a spatula. Place the second cake round on top, and then cover with the remaining icing.
Scatter the chopped pecans on top. Cake should be eaten within a week, which will likely not be a problem.
