BANANA CAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING

Dessert|Brunch|Vegetarian

Ingredients

The Banana Cake:

3 cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ sticks butter, softened to room temperature (12 tablespoons)

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar, packed

4 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed with a fork

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

3 eggs, room temperature

1 ½ cups buttermilk

The Peanut Butter Frosting:

6 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

¼ cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat 2, 8” cake pans with non-stick spray. Trace the shape of the bottoms of the pans onto parchment paper and cut the paper circles out. Line the bottoms of the pans with the circles. Spray the tops with more non-stick spray.

Place the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with both sugars. Beat with the paddle attachment until smooth. Add the bananas and vanilla to the bowl and beat again. Add the eggs one at a time until combined.

Add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the bowl followed by ⅓ of the buttermilk. Continue to alternate flour and buttermilk, mixing until everything is well combined, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely.

To make the frosting, beat the butter and peanut butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric mixer until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth, then add the remaining powdered sugar and beat again. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and continue to beat, scraping down the sides until smooth.

To frost the cake, cut off the ‘domed’ tops of the cakes to make the layers level.

Place one layer on a cake plate (use a small dollop of frosting to adhere it to the plate so it won’t slide around while you frost it. Place about ⅓ of the frosting in the center of the first layer and spread it out evenly. Place the second layer on top of it and frost the whole cake with the rest of the frosting. Pro tip – place some pieces of parchment under the edges of the cake to keep the plate from getting dirty as you frost it and gently pull them out and discard when you are done.