No the banana cake is not rotten nor for that matter are the bananas. This is the cake recipe name my mother gave for using up really ripe bananas. I think she would say this to get a rise out of her family and friends.
As bananas ripen, they develop more brown spots, turn sweeter and are better for baking.
My mom was a depression baby. The Great Depression happened in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930’s.
Being a depression baby, she learned to make do with nothing and to use everything so that nothing was wasted, not even overripe bananas.
Penny pincher or thrifty are some words that describe my mom. Another word I like that is more in tune today is ecological.
Setting the Stage:
By today’s standards, her kitchen would have bee classified as super tiny galley kitchen and people on television shows would say “this kitchen is a ‘gut job”.
When you came in the back door, immediately on the left side was a kitchen sink and counter with cabinets above and below. Near the end of the cabinets was a little alcove shelf for her flour and sugar canisters. That is where her Betty Crocker cookbook would be.
The opposite wall had the dark brown refrigerator and stove, and a window with a drop-down hinged one-legged table just below.
Next to the table was a moveable dishwasher, above which my dad built a shelf solely to hold the huge microwave atop it. She’d bought the biggest one she could so it could hold a turkey.
She never did cook a turkey, but you never know!
I find it amazing that a family of 6 lived in this house that was about 1400 square feet and perhaps more amazing do not remember thinking this was a small house growing-up.
With this recipe, let’s transport ourselves to simpler times before cell phones and the internet and make this old fashion banana cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting.
In honor of my mom, I am using my newer Betty Crocker Cookbook* for this recipe. Sometimes the best recipes are in the cookbook that is on your shelf.
Rotten Banana Cake:
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (or 3 medium)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)
Mixing:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease bottom and sides of 13×9 inch pan or two (8 or 9 inch) round pans with shortening; lightly flour.
- In a large bowl, beat all ingredients except nuts and frosting with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.
- Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
- Stir in nuts.
- Pour into pan(s).
- Bake 13×9 inch pan 45 to 50 minutes, (round pans 40-45 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool rectangle in pan on cooling rack. (Cool rounds 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack.)
- Cool completely, about 1 hour.
- Frost 13×9 inch cake or fill and frost round layers with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
Note: I recommend making a double batch of frosting if you used the rounds.
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate melted and cooled 10 minutes
2 to 3 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
- In large bowl, beat cream cheese, butter, chocolate, milk and vanilla with electric mixer on low speed until smooth.
- Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, on low speed until frosting is smooth and spreadable
- Frost 13×9 inch cake, or fill and frost 8-or-9-inch two layer cake.
- Makes 2 1/2 cups of frosting (5 if you doubled it).
My Tips & Notes:
- Reduce the oven by 25 degrees Fahrenheit if using a convection oven.
- Freeze ripe bananas in freezer bags or containers to be used later.
- I try to put three bananas in a freezer bag as my recipes for muffins and cake both use 3 medium bananas.
- I mash the bananas in the freezer bag and then snip a corner off the freezer bag so I can squeeze the mashed bananas directly into the bowl with no mess.
- Also, the banana peels and egg shells go in the compost for our garden.
- The cake must be stored in the refrigerator because the cream cheese is perishable.
- One trick we like to do because we prefer our cake at room temperature is to put the slice in the microwave for about 20 seconds, just to take the chill off.
We loved the cake. It is moist with some nuts, but the chocolate cream cheese frosting is the best.
Sometimes family history is not always records, but memories.
Even with this blog, I am working on my family history because my memory of my mom’s “Rotten Banana Cake” and what I remember of how my mom’s kitchen looked like are now recorded.
Next, I will add my memory to Ancestry® and with just a few clicks I will have my memory on my mother’s page in my ancestry tree.
Try adding a memory to your loved one today, you’ll be glad you did!
If you would like to read more articles about genealogy, please visit my homepage: https://www.nancydrugenealogy.com/.
*Crocker, Betty. Betty Crocker Cookbook, 11th Edition: 1500 Recipes for the Way You Cook Today. United States, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. Pages 148 and 154.
