Peanut Butter Banana Cake

Spring equinox this week. Equal day and equal night and then the days start running longer and I always feel something shift around this point in the year, some internal dial that turns a few degrees toward whatever is next. I have been making more cold brew and less hot tea, which is Alabama's version of spring arriving.

Gloria turns seventy on Saturday. Seventy years old. I have been planning this birthday for two months. The party will be small, just us three and two of Gloria's friends from church, Miss Leona and Miss Bertie, who have known her since before I was born. I am making a full spread and then the coconut layer cake, which is now the official Gloria Martin birthday cake by her own declaration from last year when she said I want that again next birthday.

I have been practicing the coconut cream filling one more time because I want it perfect. The key is toasting the shredded coconut before you fold it in: it goes into the oven for a few minutes on a sheet pan until it is fragrant and lightly golden at the edges, then cooled completely before it goes into the cream. The texture changes, becomes slightly chewy and more intensely coconutty, and the filling holds itself better between the layers.

Seventy years that woman has been alive and she spent eight of them teaching me to cook and to be a person and to understand that a kitchen is where you make the things that matter. I am going to make her birthday dinner very good because she deserves very good things and I am finally in a position to give them to her.

Gloria’s coconut cake is her cake, and nothing will touch it — but when I’m in the headspace of baking something celebratory and from scratch, this Peanut Butter Banana Cake is where I warm up my instincts: it demands the same attention to the filling, the same patience with the layers, and it delivers that same deep satisfaction of putting something homemade in front of people you love. It’s the cake I make when the occasion calls for showing up fully, and seventy years of Gloria Martin absolutely qualifies.

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, room temperature
3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3–4 tbsp whole milk
Pinch of salt (for frosting)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.
Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and peanut butter. In a large bowl, beat the butter and 1/2 cup of the peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat for another 2–3 minutes until light.
Add eggs and banana. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions. Mix in the mashed banana and vanilla extract until fully incorporated. The batter will look a little curdled at this stage — that’s normal.
Alternate dry and wet. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk (beginning and ending with flour). Mix just until combined after each addition; do not overmix.
Bake. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 32–36 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly golden. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
Make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup peanut butter together until smooth. Add the pinch of salt. Gradually add the sifted powdered sugar, beating on low. Add milk one tablespoon at a time until the frosting is spreadable and creamy.
Assemble and frost. Place one cake layer on your serving plate. Spread a generous layer of frosting over the top. Set the second layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before slicing for cleaner cuts.

Nutrition (per serving)

Peanut Butter Banana Cake — The Cake You Make When Someone Deserves Something Special