I tend overbuy food… a lot. I don’t want people to go hungry. You know those little old grandmas always pushing food toward you and telling you to eat more? That’s totally going to be me. I have nightmares about running out of food in the middle of the party. Seriously, major panic attack nightmares. So, to offset my fear, I overbuy. I especially overbuy fruits. I am convinced that I do this because stepping through the doors of a supermarket triggers a temporary form of amnesia that causes me to forget what foods I already have at my house. I do this with bananas more than any other fruit (apples are a close second). I have an inexplicable compulsion to buy bananas. It’s like there is some strange gravitational pull that doesn’t allow me to leave the store unless I have them in my hands. If I don’t get the bananas, I panic. I’ll be at the store with David and ask, “Do we have bananas? How many bananas do we have? Are you sure we have bananas? What if we don’t get bananas and the boys don’t have anything to put on their cereal?” Real serious problems, let me tell you. Everyone in the family likes bananas so things don’t generally get out of hand. There are, however, only so many bananas that a person can reasonably eat and I had some excess bananas that didn’t get eaten quickly enough so they were a bit overripe (I dislike wasting food about as much as I dislike not having enough so I try to make sure that everything gets used). Instead of making my usual banana bread or bananas foster, I decided to shake things up a bit. I thought, why not make a cake? Everyone likes cake. I couldnt’ find a recipe for exactly what I had in my head, so I had to experiment a bit. Judging from the fact that there was not a single piece leftover, I’d say it was a hit.
Banana Cake
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Pamela’s Ultimate Baking and Pancake Mix
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 6 Tablespoons butter, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs plus 1 large egg white
- 4 medium ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cream together the butter and brown sugar.
- Add eggs one at a time and then add the egg white.
- Fold in banana, buttermilk and vanilla.
- Mix in salt and Pamela’s until just combined.
- Pour into a buttered 8×8″ pan.
- Bake cake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. *** If you bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, the final cake comes out a bit more dense and it has a consistancy like bread pudding.
While the cake is baking, make the cream cheese glaze.
Cream Cheese Glaze
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk (1% or higher)
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- Cream together the cream cheese and butter.
- Add the sifted powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
- Add the milk, one Tablespoon at a time and then the vanilla extract; mix until incorporated (it should be slightly runny).
Topping
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans (toast at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until fragrant, about 10-12 minutes…I generally do 12)
After the cake has cooled for about ten minutes, but it is still hot, spread the glaze evenly over the cake and top with the toasted pecans. Eat while still hot… trust me.
