Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

So simple yet so delicious!

~

What to to with 2 nice bunches of very ripe bananas, but bake?!  This cake is made with a recipe I've been using since the early 90's.   It is very simple, with few ingredients, but it is so delicious and moist!

.

I usually top it with a Brown Sugar Glaze, but since I had cream cheese, this time I decided to make a traditional Cream Cheese Frosting for the cake.



.

BANANA CAKE

1/2 cup shortening or butter (I used softened butter)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup (2 med) bananas, mashed

1 1/4 cups self rising flour

.

Cream shortening (or butter) and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.   Add flour to mashed bananas and mix well.  Next, add the banana and flour mixture to the cake batter.  Stir well.  Pour into greased pan.  Bake at 350º for 45 minutes or until cake is browned on top and springs back to the touch.

.

***NOTE- I used a 7 x 11 glass baking dish and the cake rose to the top of the dish and was fairly thick.  The layer could be sliced and a filling added to make a 2 layer cake.

.

Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup butter
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
½ teaspoon of vanilla

 3 ½ cups of powdered sugar

.

In a medium sized mixing bowl cream the butter and cream cheese together.  Add the vanilla.  Slowly add the powdered sugar.  When you are adding the powdered sugar, use a low speed on the mixer.   After you have it all in, put up on a medium to high speed.   Mix the frosting until it is fluffy.

Make sure your cake is completely cooled and spread the cream cheese frosting on it. 

.
 

 

Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Ok, so not a very good photo.  It was melting fast!  I really needed to give the ice cream time to "ripen" in the metal container nestled in the salty ice.  But as it goes around my house when it comes to homemade ice cream - we just can't wait! 



Here's the "recipe" I use.  It's my mom's.  That's what I always strive to do, make it like Mom's.  The only thing different I do from Mom is to heat the milk and temper the egg mixture.  Then I call the custard cooked just in case I'm serving finicky people who don't prefer to eat "raw" eggs.

Old-Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream

• 6 eggs


• 2 1/2 cups sugar


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 3 tablespoon vanilla extract


• 2 each 13-ounce cans evaporated milk 


• 1 can condensed milk


• 1 pint heavy whipping cream


• whole milk , as needed to fill line


• chipped ice


• rock salt

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar gradually, stirring constantly. Add salt, vanilla, condensed milk, and cream.  Heat the 2 cans of evaporated milk in the microwave until boiling.  Add the milk a little at a time to the egg mixture to prevent currdling.  Pour the ice cream mixture into the metal freezer can.  Add enough whole sweet milk until the mixture reaches the container's fill line.  Stir.

Assemble the ice cream freezer. Add alternating layers of chipped ice and rock salt to barrel around freezer can. If electric, plug the freezer in and let it do it's thing, adding more ice and salt, as needed.  When freezer stops, unplug.  Remove top and dasher.  Ice cream may be soft on top (see pic above :D) but will be firmer near the bottom of the can.   Replace top. Cover can with more ice and salt. Cover ice with a towel, allowing ice cream to "ripen" for at least 1 hour, if you can wait!  :) Makes about 5 quarts of ice cream.

Enjoy!

Here's to the happy days of summer!