Best Banana Pecan Cake

I love baking with Bananas. The fact that I have many recipes here that use bananas is proof of how much I love this amazing fruit. It just adds so much flavor and moisture to any baked good. I love seeing the brown speckles in a banana bread. I often buy bananas just so I can make banana bread! Yes, I am truly bananas over bananas!

I already have a delicious tried and tested recipe for Banana Bread in this blog which has received so many wonderful reviews from our readers. I thought of adapting that same recipe to make a Banana Cake - with the same citrus flavor from freshly squeezed orange juice and grated zest added for that extra tang and yummy taste. As expected, the cake was moist and delightful. It being a cake, I have decided to add some delicious frosting as well. This truly enhances the already delectable cake. So you can imagine how your taste buds will sing joyfully when they savor each delicious mouthful. Hope you try this truly tasty cake soon!

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Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt

4 large very ripe Bananas, mashed*

4 Tablespoons fresh Orange juice plus zest of 1 Orange (or 3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice and zest of 1 Lemon)
3/4 cup unsalted Butter, softened
1 1/2 cups Brown sugar (can use white, too and cake will be paler in color)
3 large Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk
1 cup Pecans, chopped

*You can use a food processor to mash the bananas.
*You  can also use regular white sugar (cake is slightly darker if brown sugar is used).

For the frosting 

1/2 cup unsalted Butter, softened
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the lemon or orange juice and zest. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs one at a time then add the vanilla extract. On low speed, alternately add the flour and the buttermilk to the mixture, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the banana-orange mixture. Gently fold in the nuts.

Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Oven heating varies so please adjust baking time accordingly. Cool completely before adding the frosting.

For the frosting 

Using an electric mixer, beat together the softened butter and cream cheese until smooth. On low speed, add the powdered sugar one cup at a time and continue until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Beat in the Vanilla extract. Spread evenly on top of the cooled cake. Place 1 or 2 whole pecans on each slice. Enjoy!

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