today i may have eaten nothing but banana cake

with cream cheese frosting.

ok, i had a real lunch. but other than that, it was only banana cake.

try the recipe, and you will understand. don't even worry if you're not a huge banana fan, you will love it anyway. my mom sent it to me - she found online after i told her i needed a banana cake recipe. and i'm going to share it with the blog world because i love you.

cake ingredients:

1 1/2 c. bananas, mashed, ripe

2 t. lemon juice

3 c. flour

1 1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

3/4 c. butter, softened

2 1/8 c. sugar

3 large eggs

2 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. buttermilk

frosting:

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese

1 t. vanilla

3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

directions:

1. you should probably start with a clean kitchen. why? because it will end up looking like this, or worse.

so the cleaner you start with, the better.

2. realize that this recipe requires baking with faith. mostly because it's really weird and kind of intense, and you have no idea why you're mixing things the way it says to mix them. but have faith that following the recipe will bring you happiness, and you will be fine.

3. preheat the oven to 275.

4. in a small bowl, mixed mashed banana with lemon juice.

5. in a medium bowl, mix flour baking soda and salt.

6. in a large bowl, cream 3/4 butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

[i have no idea why it's 2 1/8 c. sugar. really, an 1/8 cup? i've never seen that before, ever. but just do it]

7. beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

[want to know why you beat in the eggs one at a time? yeah, me too. it's a mystery. at least to me, anyway]

8. beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk

[i didn't use buttermilk, i just added a little lemon juice to regular milk since i already had lemons on hand. and don't ask why you add them in alternately because i have no idea. just have faith, remember?]

9. stir in banana mixture.

10. taste it. because it's awesome, and the chances of getting salmonella from raw eggs is incredibly rare if you only have a spoonful. or even a few spoonfuls. trust me, i looked it up.

10. butter and flour a 9x13 pan. or 3 9-inch round pans if you want to be cool like me.

11. pour batter into prepared pan, or pans. if you go with the 9x13, bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. the 9-inch cakes baked for 45 minutes even in my oven. the toothpick rule still applies. and here is a picture of them baking in the oven in case you wanted to know how it's supposed to look.

12. remove from oven and place directly in freezer for 45 minutes. 

[ooh ooh, i actually know why you do this one! it makes the cake moist and fabulous!]

13. WARNING: there is only one teeny tiny hiccup with the recipe, and it really only matters if you decided to walk on the wild side and make a 3-layer cake. the cakes don't necessarily come out of the pan super easily, even if you butter and flour the pan like mad. after i took them out of the freezer, i actually used the other side of a spoon to slide under the cake to separate it from the pan. it kind of seems like the cake may fall apart, but if you're really careful it will come out of the pans in mostly one piece. and you cover it in frosting so it really doesn't matter how it looks.

14. for the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

[again, if went the 3-separate cake route. you may want to double or 1 and a half the frosting recipe so you don't have to worry about spreading it too thin]

15. beat in vanilla.

16. add powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth

17. spread on cooled cake. don't even bother making it look pretty. ok, you can make it look pretty if you're making it for a party. but if you're planning on cutting a piece out 2 seconds after it's done being frosted - like me - you won't have the patience to make the frosting perfect.

18. eat at least a piece, probably two though. i personally like it without ice cream.

19. after you're satisfied, go to an awesome church conference with your favorite roomie.

[i love camera timers]

20. the next morning, make sure you have a piece for breakfast.

21. and maybe just leave a fork next to the cake so you can take a bite whenever you feel so inclined. which might be every time you walk past the kitchen. i would never do that, but my friend does. ok fine. it's me, not my friend.

22. when you realize you've eaten nothing but cake all day, go play a game of kickball for family home evening with your ward, and tell some people to come over and have a piece before you finish the other half of the cake off yourself.

23. don't hate me if you do finish the other half off yourself.

24. please tell me if you try the recipe - i can't wait to hear how much you love it!

the end.