Preparation time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 15
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3 Cup mashed ripened bananas (overripe the best)
- 2 1/2 Tbs lemon juice , divided
- 1 1/2 Cups milk
- 3 Cups flour
- 1/2 Tbs baking soda
- 1/4 Tsp salt
- 2/3 Cup butter, softened
- 1 Cup white sugar
- 1/2 Cup brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 Tsp vanilla
Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/3 Cup butter, softened
- 3 – 3½ Cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tsp lemon juice
- 1½ Tsp lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
- Place 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice in a measuring cup. Top to 1 1/2 cups with milk. Set aside.
- Mix together mashed banana with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, set aside.
- Beat together butter, brown and white sugar until combined. Add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Mix on high until light and fluffy (almost the texture of frosting).
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to egg mixture stirring just until combined. (Do not overmix). Fold in bananas. Pour into prepared pan.
- Put into the oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees. Bake 60 – 70 minutes (see note below) or just until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not over bake).
- Remove from oven and place in the freezer for 45 minutes to make the cake extra moist. Cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
- Cream together butter & cream cheese until fluffy. Add in lemon zest and juice. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach desired consistency. Spread over cooled cake.
Notes:
- The cooking time on this cake can vary! This recipe took about 60 minutes. Check your cake at 55 minutes, if it isn’t ready, continue cooking until a toothpick comes out clean (this can be up to an additional 20-30 minutes depending on your oven).
- To ensure a soft moist result:
- Ensure your ingredients are at room temperature (eggs and butter)
- You need the acidity from the lemon juice (& milk) mixture. Subbing in just milk or cream won’t work. (You can use buttermilk in its place if needed).
- When mixing your butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla, beat the mixture until VERY fluffy, almost the consistency of a fluffy buttercream frosting. This should take about 5 minutes.
- When adding the flour mixture you want to mix until just combined. Over-mixing will cause a dense chewy result.