Luscious Banana Pecan Cake with Caramel Frosting

A soft, moist cake filled with bananas and pecans and topped with a creamy caramel frosting make for a luscious treat.

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  I found this recipe on Food.com.  The title of the recipe...Best Banana Cake Ever.  The best indeed!  This was soft , moist and full of flavor. In regards to baking this cake ,the instructions are a little different than most cake recipes. This cake is baked at 275 degrees for 1 hour.  I started preheating my oven before I made the cake to make sure it was nice and hot.  My cake was golden brown and done at 1 hour.  The next step...are you ready for this?  Take the cake from the oven and put it in the freezer for 45 minutes.  The reasoning behind this is that it makes a soft moist cake.  I did put the cake in the freezer, but there were plenty of people that commented on the recipe that said they didn't and the cake was still moist.  Don't let putting it in the freezer keep you from making this cake.  You can make it and not do this step and it will still be ...The best Banana Cake EVER!    My only addition to the recipe was 1 cup of toasted pecan pieces.

We start out making this cake by creaming the butter and sugar together.  For new bakers , this is what beating the butter and sugar until creamy looks like.  You don't just mix it, you keep beating it until it is well incorporated and creamy.  After they are creamed you add the eggs one at a time, and mix till each egg is incorporated and then add the vanilla.  Next the flour and buttermilk are added alternately, always start  and end with the flour.  Add a 1/3 of the flour - 1/2 of the buttermilk - another 1/3 of the flour - the last half of the buttermilk and then the final 1/3 of flour.  Only beating until each ingredient is incorporated. That's the trick to a nice soft cake.

Look at that batter, it's gorgeous!  Thick , creamy and fluffy, just the way we want it.

 

Our final step is to add the mashed up bananas and  toasted pecan pieces, folding them into the batter.

Place this gorgeous batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour or until the middle is set and it's golden brown.  And then, to freeze or not to freeze , that's up to you.  I frosted this cake with a very easy recipe from Paul Deen for Caramel frosting.  The combination of bananas, pecans and caramel frosting were wonderful!   I hope you try this soon and love it as much as we did!  Enjoy!

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Best Ever Banana Cake

Food.com

Ingredients

1 cup toasted pecan pieces ( my addition)

1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 275°.

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.

In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside. 

In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
  

Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.

Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk.

Stir in banana mixture and ( toasted pecan pieces if using )

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist.

Caramel Frosting

Paul Deen

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream, plus more as necessary
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar

Directions

Melt butter in small saucepan. Add brown sugar and 1/3 cup cream. Cook over medium-low heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Transfer to a large bowl.

Using a handheld electric mixer, beat in confectioners' sugar a little at a time until smooth. If frosting is too thick, add 1 tablespoon heavy cream at a time until consistency is right.