Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

One day last summer I was visiting a friend, and she served the most amazing banana cake with cream cheese frosting. I fell in love with it, but never managed to get the recipe from her. I recently decided to try to recreate the recipe, with the addition of mini chocolate chips. It was a huge hit at our house, and I’ll definitely be making it again soon.

This is an adaptation of a Paula Deen recipe. The batter looked way too dry (more like banana bread than banana cake), so I added the buttermilk, omitted nuts, and added mini chocolate chips. I also adapted the cream cheese frosting recipe so it wasn’t quite as sugary sweet.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

• Butter, for greasing pans
• 3 C all purpose flour, plus more for greasing pans
• 2 C sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 C vegetable oil
• 4 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 C buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 C mini chocolate chips

Frosting

• 12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 C butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 – 1lb confectioners’ sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Butter and flour 2 (9-inch) round cake pans; set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cake

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the eggs and oil and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened; do not beat. Stir in the banana, buttermilk, and vanilla. Fold in mini chocolate chips.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake layers in the pans for 10 minutes, and then turn them out onto a rack to cool completely.

Frosting:

In a bowl, blend together the cream cheese and butter. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Fill and frost the cake when completely cool.

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