Best old-fashioned banana cake recipe, from scratch. This is a family favourite for birthdays that still tastes delicious the next day, if there's any leftovers!
Oh yeah. Carve yourself a big slice. I know you want to. This is seriously the best banana cake you can bake from scratch. Even my dad, who is a self-professed non-liker of banana cake…likes this cake. In our spree of spring family birthdays, this one almost always get chosen by someone. And even though this was the third cake in as many weeks, there is only one slice left, just in time for the next birthday cake to make an appearance today. You’d think I was a full-on pastry chef these days but trust me I’m not. I do binge cake-baking in the spring for birthdays and Easter and then it’s back to muffins, loaves…and cookies if they’re lucky.
Mr. Personally grew up having banana cake as an option for birthdays, and that was how I started baking this once upon a time. The recipe comes from a cookbook that his mom gave him when he first left home, and I use it still. The book is called Canadian Cook Book, first published in 1923. It’s the kind of book that was meant to teach first-time homemakers everything about the kitchen, cooking and entertaining. From how to shop frugally (you don’t see that word used much anymore) when you’re on a budget to the correct way to carve a chicken. From how to prepare an antipasto plate for a crowd to cooking a caribou stew. Canadian for sure. Sometimes when I have to look up an obscure (or obvious) cooking method I check this book first. It’s way more fun than google.
The way the cookbook works is that it will start a chapter with an overview of a subject, in this case cakes, describing the various main ingredients and what their purpose is, various methods for making cakes and the equipment you need, etc. Then it gives some basic recipes and then all the variations to it. Fascinating reading, especially for someone like me who once knew next to nothing about preparing a meal or entertaining.
The basic recipe for this cake is Butter Cake, with Banana as a variation…a different but same ingredient list (???) and changes to the basic order of instructions, plus a few extras and deletions, so you refer back and forth between your variation and the basic. Yikes. Here I’m giving it to you straight up from beginning to end. You’re welcome. And I may print off this post and tape it into my book to help myself as well. Apparently I’m still like a first-time homemaker that needs lots of help in the kitchen.
Here we go. The recipe makes two 8 inch round cakes, so grease and flour your two cake pans, set them aside and preheat the oven to 350°. Collect up all your ingredients…
1/2 cup shortening – 1 cup brown sugar – 1 tsp vanilla – 2 eggs well beaten – 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour – 3 tsp baking powder – 1/2 tsp baking soda – 3 mashed ripe bananas – 1/4 cup milk – 1 tbsp orange juice
In a stand mixer cream together the shortening and sugar. Beat on medium high speed for a minute. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla and beat again for a minute. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each for a minute.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl, add the orange juice to the 1/4 cup milk. Add the dry ingredients to the shortening/sugar mixture alternately with the liquid, a third at a time, beginning and ending with dry. Stir and beat briefly after each addition. Divide batter between prepared pans and bake 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before carefully removing the cakes from the pans. I try to make this one a day or even two before. Then it has lots of time to cool and it’s way easier to do the icing. Also it actually tastes better by the second or third day.
See, it’s not so hard when you put it like that.
I ice this one with chocolate icing, actually mocha, and the recipe is here. Because banana and chocolate is a match made in heaven and mocha just takes it up another notch.
You probably already knew this but it took me forever to figure out that you turn the bottom cake upside down, ice the surface, then place the other cake on top right side up. Rocket science, my friends.
This one was for Mr. Personally’s birthday. I think it might even have been as good as the cake his mom makes. Maybe. But I’ll take a slice anyway, please.
Best Banana Cake
1/2 cup shortening – 1 cup brown sugar – 1 tsp vanilla – 2 eggs well beaten – 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour – 3 tsp baking powder – 1/2 tsp baking soda – 3 mashed ripe bananas – 1/4 cup milk – 1 tbsp orange juice
1. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a stand mixer, cream together the shortening and brown sugar. Then beat on medium-high for a minute.
3. Mix in the vanilla and mashed banana, then beat again. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
4. Combine the remaining dry ingredients in a medium bowl and the milk and orange juice in a measuring cup.
5. Alternately add the dry and wet ingredients to the mixing bowl, about a third at a time, beginning and ending with the dry. Always beat briefly after each addition.
6. Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool completely, remove carefully from pans and ice with Mocha Icing.
Slice, serve and enjoy!
And...for more homemade baking check out these posts:
Slice, serve and enjoy!
And...for more homemade baking check out these posts:
Also, find these plus lots more delicious curated baking recipes on my Pinterest board FOOD | baking.
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