Mar 22, 2011

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

I think I'm in love...with a cake. This cake is the most beautiful fantastic cake I've ever experienced. I had never made a banana cake before and I also had never made a frosting with a sour cream base, but I am definitely making this again. Soon.
I actually made this cake for my brother when we got home for spring break. I told him I would make him a cake because he's awesome, but really I just needed an excuse to make a cake. Also, this is what happens when my brother and I hang out in the kitchen together: Chess and baking.

This cake was kind of random and had issues. I didn't have enough bananas and I didn't have the right cake pans. (Um, yeah, why do we own a spring form pan without a base?) So I improvised! I ended up sending stephen out for more bananas and I made it into a sheet cake. The recipe I posted here is my adapted version, which turned out to be AMAZING. Sorry if the cooking times are a bit off; because I changed it into a sheet cake cooking times and temp had to be altered. Imagine a super moist banana bread with frosting. yumyumyum.

Banana Cake
Adapted from Edible Moments
1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cup sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
Adapted from Allrecipes
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

To start the cake smoosh the bananas in a small bowl. That's right. Smoosh them. That is the technical term. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a larger bowl cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and delicious. (Side note: is there a more delicious combination than butter and sugar? I think not.) Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Then alternatly add the flour and buttermilk to the egg/butter combination. Stir in the banana mixture.
Grease a 9x13 inch pan and pour in batter. You could use a normal round cake pan and make a layered cake, but the sheet cake method worked well for this cake. Bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes. Again, I altered the cooking time, so keep an eye on it. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, put it in the freezer for 45 minutes. Apparently, this makes the cake moister. Although, I don't know the science behind this, it sounds pretty legitimate.
To make the frosting melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave. I've found the best way to do this is to microwave it for 30 seconds, stir, another 30 seconds, and stir again. You shouldn't need more than a minute, stirring helps it all melt together. Let it cool a bit then stir in the sour cream, vanilla, and salt. Slowly stir in the sugar; you might not need it all, just stir in enough for your preferred sweetness level.
When the cake is cool, spread the frosting on top of the cake evenly and decorate.

I decorated it with chocolate shavings. The process of creating these chocolate shavings was surprisingly messy....AAHHHH! I'm bleeding chocolate!

Just kidding! So that's how to make the most delicious cake ever. Enjoy!
XOXO
Natalie

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