Going Bananas

Well, it seems like the overripe fairy has visited the kitchen overnight. I have a small hand of bananas that have gone from almost ripe to almost gone. I’ll need to do something about that.

While doing time in the Texas Independent School Systems (12 years with no early release), we were often served a dessert similar to banana bread with raisins and covered with stiff frosting. Perhaps we should revisit those days to bury the trauma once and for all.

Let’s start with the raisins. Instead of the shriveled, stem-infested shotgun pellets the “Matrons” used in their unholy concoction, I’ll macerate mine in bourbon. I’ll replace the chemical-laced vanilla “flavoring” with a true vanilla extract. (I know what it is because I infused it myself.) Ditto, I shall use proper grass-fed butter, not butter-flavor, and lastly, I’ll use ripe bananas, not ones that have been ethylened into the semblance of “ripeness”. For an added rougechef kick, including 1/4 tsp of a good cayenne will spark the taste buds.

As for the frosting, real butter, proper sugar, and true vanilla extract will be combined to deliver a frosting cap suitable for a simple cake or a towering wedding offering. The recipe is included below the main recipe.

As per Wikipedia:

A banana cake is a cake prepared using banana as a primary ingredient and typical cake ingredients. It can be prepared in various manners, including as a layer cake, as muffins and as cupcakes. Steamed banana cake is found in Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian and Vietnamese cuisine. In the Philippines, the term “banana cake” refers to banana bread introduced during the American colonial period of the Philippines.

Banana cake is prepared using banana as a primary ingredient and typical cake ingredients such as flour, sugar, eggs, butter, margarine or oil and baking soda. The bananas can be mashed or puréed using a food processor or electric mixer and mixed into the cake batter, and the cake can also be topped or garnished with sliced bananas. Banana cake may be prepared as a use for browned or overly-ripe bananas.

An icing or glaze may be used in the cake’s preparation, which can include alcoholic beverages such as bourbon in it.

Simple Banana Cake

Turn overripe bananas into a delicious cake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Global
Servings 6
Calories 383 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Butter unsalted
  • 4-5 ea Bananas Ripe, mashed
  • 1/2 cup Pecans Chopped, or walnuts
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Raisins Bourbon Soaked, OPTIONAL
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon Ground Optional
  • 2 cups AP Flour

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  • Grease and flour a 9-inch round pan.
  • Cream together sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy
  • Add bananas, flour, walnuts, eggs, baking soda, vanilla, and salt, raisins if used, cinnamon if used
  • Mix through
  • Pour batter into the prepared dish, and spread evenly
  • Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
  • Cool completely, then frost as desired.

Notes

It’s a basic banana cake, with the roguechef kick of raisins, macerated in bourbon.  The OPTIONAL cinnamon is highly recommended.

Nutrition

Calories: 383kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 3gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 525mgPotassium: 165mgFiber: 2gSugar: 34gVitamin A: 568IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg
Keyword banana, Cakes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

One can add a small amount of bourbon and reduce the milk for that added RogueChef Twist.

Basic Butter Cream Frosting

All cakes, cupcakes, and cookies deserve the very best buttercream. Here is the best basic recipie
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Course Dessert, Ingredient
Cuisine American
Servings 2 cups
Calories 894 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Mixer Hand or stand

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter Room tempreature
  • 2 cups confectioners' sugar From Cane sugar, sifted
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract The real stuff
  • 2 tbsp Milk

Instructions
 

  • Cream butter in a bowl with a mixer and paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy.
  • Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated.
  • Beat in vanilla extract.
  • Add milk and beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
  • Use immediately or store buttercream in an airtight container

Notes

Notes:
Buttercream frosting can be kept on the counter for about three days. Though it contains perishable ingredients, the high sugar content keeps it from going bad immediately. After a day, I’d move to the refrigerator.  If it lasts that long
If your buttercream frosting is grainy, it’s likely because you’re using the wrong type of confectioners’ sugar. Make sure to choose a variety made from cane sugar, as it melts faster than beet sugar. You also might have forgotten to sift the sugar before mixing it with the butter.

Nutrition

Calories: 894kcalCarbohydrates: 121gProtein: 1gFat: 47gSaturated Fat: 29gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 15mgPotassium: 44mgSugar: 119gVitamin A: 1442IUCalcium: 34mgIron: 0.1mg
Keyword Frosting, Iceing
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

  Filed under: American, Baked, Dessert, General, Global, Vegetarian

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