Banana Cake

 Banana Cake

Love getting together with friends and at our last occasion I brought the dessert. I had not made a banana cake in a long time...and I had some over ripe bananas!

I made the recipe I have been making for years from this cookbook.   My mother bought this for me when soon after I married and I love reading the recipes and trying old traditional dishes (halushky, kolacky, pirohy, etc.)  - and the wonderful cakes.

2 cups cake flour                                2 eggs, well beaten

2 teaspoons baking powder                1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda                      1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt                                 3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup margarine                              1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup sugar                                         

                                                       Mrs. Tony Brenkus, 

                                                       Whiting, Indiana

OK...I just love that each recipe has the name of the person who submitted it to the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association.  The first cookbook was published in 1952...I received my copy in 1977 and I don't believe it was updated much from the original.

I just love that the book is "Dedicated to our mothers and grandmothers in grateful remembrance"!   

That dedication always brings a tear to my eye as I remember the wonderful dishes my mother made in our kitchen.  And, the sifter pictured here belonged to my fraternal grandmother.  I never met her...she died before my parents even met.   But my mother moved into the family home and this sifter was there...my mother used it for years and I am lucky enough to have it today.  Each time I use it I think of them and how their story goes on....and say a prayer for them both!

Sift the dry ingredients, cream the margarine, add sugar, beat until light and fluffy. 

 Add eggs and vanilla, beat again  Add dry ingredients alternately with milk, blend, and add bananas.

The recipe calls to add the walnuts at this time...but I save them for the top of the cake.

Pour into two 8 or 9 inch pans ( note, these are my NEW cake pans!   I had my other pans for years - they were showing wear and cakes were sticking, so I treated myself to new ones!) Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

And they worked great !  The recipe calls to frost the cake with regular white frosting...I decided to make a cream cheese frosting - 

Since I was going to only use one layer today I used a half stick of butter and half of a package of cream cheese.  

Beat well, then add enough powdered sugar to make frosting...add a little vanilla, too.

Then, before I frost the cake, I put strips of waxed paper under the edges to I don't mess up the plate it sits on...

One it is frosted I top the cake with walnuts and dried banana chips.  Then pull out the wax paper and...

There you have it !   I picked up this holiday plate in one of my shopping trips and then used it as my gift to our hostess.   The cake was great...it is a rich, dense cake ( that is why I only use one layer at a time - last time I made it I made it a layer cake with two layers and it was almost too rich to enjoy) and the perfect way to use up those bananas that are over-ripe! I put the other layer in the freezer...well wrapped in plastic and foil - and it is all set for another occasion - just needs frosting !

Do you have a favorite cookbook ?  Or a favorite cake you like to make ?  Please leave a comment below - and thank you for stopping by Our New Vista!