Pages

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

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.
To Read More, Click On The Recipe Title

  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!



To Print Recipe, Click Here.





Best Ever Banana Cake

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

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.






22 comments:

Anonymous said...

can you use frozen bannas instead of fresh?

Bunny said...

Anonymous, Did you freeze fresh bananas? I think thawed frozen bananas would be fine in this.

Unknown said...

Thanks for sharing.
I want to have a try.

Anonymous said...

This is great with strawberry icing too.

Bunny said...

feipeng wu, thank you for stopping by! When you try it, please come back and tell me how it went for you!

Bunny said...

Anonymous, when I read your comment about the strawberry frosting it was like a light went on! YES!! Bananas and strawberry, how perfect is that! Thank you!!

Laura Dembowski said...

I have never heard of putting cake in the freezer to make it more moist, but I would love to try it. The caramel frosting looks yummy too!

Anonymous said...

Will make this recipe but one question....bake at 275....is this an error.

Bunny said...

Anonymous, The oven temperature is not a mistake, it's 275 degrees. let me know how it goes for you!

Anonymous said...

I use frozen thawed bananas all the time for banana cake.....just pop them in the microwave on a plate for about 20 seconds
9for 3 bananas) to get them soft enough but not hot......also cover a hot fresh cake with foil and seal the edges and the steam will have nowhere to go but back inside the cake......so moist!!

Joy said...

As a Southern Food Blogger with you I discovered your website on pintrest...Everything looks so delicious and mouthwatering...I can't wait to try Banana Pecan Cake and I posted a link for your Orange Cake on another group I am in True Florida Cracker since someone was interested in an Orange Cake the other day. Thanks for sharing your creativity..if I don't get around to making the cake the pictures are so beautiful I'll just enjoy them for a while. Sunshinestatecooking.com

Bunny said...

Sunshine State Cooking, oh your going to love this cake! Thank you so much for sharing the Orange Cake and supporting me here! Will be by to see you!

Anonymous said...

275 degrees is that fahrenheit or Celsius ?

Bunny said...

Anonymous, yes 275 degrees fahrenheit is the right temperature.

Unknown said...

I couldn't get mine to cook. It was in for 1 hour and 5 minutes @ 275 and the center was still liquid. I've turned the oven up and hope it gets done. It looks great ....

Anonymous said...

Best Banana Pecan Cake!! I made it today, hubby loved it! Frosting was a little too sweet for me, but it was wonderful. Thank you!!

Bunny said...

Anonymous your welcome, it was one of my husbands favorites too!

Unknown said...

Looks delish! Can I make this into cupcakes, if so, does the temp and time change?

Bunny said...

Jeanette, I've never made them into cup cakes. The time of baking will be less obviously, I'd up the temp to at least 325. Let me know how it goes for you!

Anonymous said...

I made this cake better a couple of days ago, frosted with Cream Cheese frosting. Made cupcakes out of it, 275 degrees (preheated oven first), cooked them for about 32 minutes. Didn't place in the freezer, still very moist, When they were cool, I did put them in the fridge, frosted them the next day.
Took them to a potluck, everyone loved them. I also added nuts, had walnuts on hand so that's what I used.
The recipe made 36 cupcakes, maybe forty, hubby ate a few unfrosted:)
Enjoy, it really is the best Banana Cake Ever:)

Ruby said...

This looks amazing. I too freeze bananas. I don't peel them, just throw them in a ziploc & freeze. They peel easily.

I look forward to trying this one out.

Bunny said...

Ruby we both have lots of bananas to bake with don't we!! Thanks for stopping by!