Banana cake

Having guests this week end? Serve this moist and fresh banana cake from one of my favorite cookbooks The Silver Palate (Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins). Their recipes never fail. My kids couldn't get enough of this tasty treat.

Banana Cake

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pans

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring the pans

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs, separated

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 t vanilla extract

Cream cheese frosting (below)

1 1/2 to 2 medium-size, firm but ripe bananas, sliced

1 1/2 cups shelled chopped walnuts
Confectioner's sugar, for dusting the top

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch layer cake pans.
Cream the butter and granulated sugar together in a mixing bowl. Add the egg yolks and beat well. Add the mashed bananas. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and add them to the butter mixture. Stir until just combined. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Fold gently into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Set on the center rack of the oven and bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes.
Cool in the pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Unmold and cool on a rack for 2 hours.
When cooled, place one layer on a serving plate and frost with the cream cheese frosting. Arrange slices of banana over the frosting; cover with the second layer and frost the top and sides of the cake.
Cover the sides of the cake with the chopped nuts, holding the nuts in your palm and pressing them firmly to the sides of the cake. Dust the top of the cake with confectioner's sugar.

8 or more portions

Cream cheese frosting:
(This is great on carrot cake as well.)
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioner's sugar
1 t vanilla extract
juice of 1/2  lemon (optional)

Cream together the cream cheese and butter in a mixing bowl.
Slowly stir in the confectioner's sugar and continue beating until fully incorporated. The mixture should be free of lumps. Stir in the vanilla, and lemon juice if desired.
Makes enough for a 2 layer cake.

Quick tip: Put pieces of parchment paper around and under the edge of the cake to catch spills from frosting. Pull out when you are done and Voila! Clean serving plate.