Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The Lowcountry Boil was Saturday — one week late, but it happened, and baby, it was the best one yet. Maybe because we needed it. Maybe because a hurricane came through and we were still standing and the shrimp were still swimming and the church was still there, and when you survive something together, the celebration that follows tastes different. Sharper. More real. Like the seasoning has been turned up because life reminded you to pay attention.

Two hundred and forty-one people. Down from last year because some folks are still dealing with storm damage, but the ones who came were hungry for more than food. They were hungry for normal. They were hungry for the parking lot and the big pots and the newspaper on the tables and the sound of two hundred people cracking shrimp shells. I gave them that. Me and Big Mike and Doreen and the church ladies. We gave them normal, served on newspaper, seasoned with my secret blend.

Gladys brought her cobbler. I brought mine. She also brought a pound cake this year, which I interpreted as an escalation and responded to with a banana pudding I made at four in the morning. We set our dessert tables across from each other, same as always, and the congregation made their choices, and I don't keep score, baby. I don't keep score. But if I did, it would be Dot: 7, Gladys: 4. I love that woman. I also intend to beat her every September until one of us is in the ground.

Pastor Williams prayed over the food. He thanked God for the food and the fellowship and the fact that the church still had a roof after Irma. He said, "Lord, you brought us through the storm and Dorothy Henderson brought us the shrimp." The congregation laughed. I did not. It was not a joke. I take the shrimp very seriously.

After the boil, I sat in the parking lot in a folding chair with Gladys. The sun was going down and the parking lot was a mess of newspaper and shrimp shells and children running with corn cobs like they were swords. Gladys said, "Good boil this year, Dot." I said, "Thank you, Gladys." She said, "Your banana pudding was all right." I said, "Your pound cake was adequate." We sat in the sunset and we didn't say anything else. Forty years of friendship. Forty years of cobbler. It's enough.

Now go on and feed somebody.

Now, I made a banana pudding for the boil — and I stand by it — but if you don’t have the time or the big trifle dish, this banana cake with cream cheese frosting is the move. It has that same something-to-prove quality: the kind of dessert you set down on a table across from somebody else’s cobbler and let speak for itself. The cream cheese frosting is cool and tangy against the sweet banana, and when you pull it out of a carrier at a parking lot church event, people notice. Gladys would notice. That’s all I’m saying.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 16

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
Cream Cheese Frosting:
16 oz (2 blocks) full-fat cream cheese, softened
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Pinch of fine salt

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and grease the parchment. Set aside.
Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed for 3–4 minutes until pale and fluffy.
Add eggs and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Fold in bananas. Add the mashed bananas and mix on low until just combined — a few streaks are fine at this stage.
Alternate dry and wet. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions (flour — buttermilk — flour — buttermilk — flour). Begin and end with flour. Mix just until the last streak of flour disappears; do not overmix.
Bake. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for 33–37 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops spring back lightly when touched.
Cool completely. Let the cakes cool in their pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then turn out onto the rack and cool completely before frosting — at least 1 hour. Do not rush this step or the frosting will slide.
Make the frosting. Beat the softened cream cheese and butter together on medium-high speed for 2–3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Reduce speed to low and add the sifted powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add vanilla and salt, then increase speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes until fluffy and spreadable.
Assemble and frost. Place one cake layer on your serving plate or cake board. Spread a generous layer of frosting over the top. Place the second layer on top, pressing gently to level. Frost the top and sides of the cake. Smooth with an offset spatula or leave it rustic — both read as intentional on a folding-table dessert spread.
Chill if needed. If making ahead, refrigerate the frosted cake loosely covered for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — The Four A.M. Secret Weapon