Part 2 of "Going Bananas with Bananas" - Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Here I am with the 2nd installment of my "Going Bananas" topic.  Today I will be sharing with you a delightful recipe of Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting.  I've seen this recipe on a couple of other blogs and then I bought myself a wonderful cook-book called, Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott and found the recipe in there too (along with a multitude of other recipes that I can't wait to make).

The cake it's self is moist and full of fabulous banana flavor - easy to make.  The chocolate frosting on the other hand....well....was not what I had hoped it would turn out to be.  I say this for it was not the easiest frosting to spread (even after I added more milk to thin it out) and because of that I don't think this cake was as beautiful as it could have been.  A BIG disappointment for I LOVE beautiful things - especially to create beautiful things.  I honestly almost thought of NOT even serving this cake because of my feeling of it NOT being very ascetically appealing.  I am glad I did serve it for it was truly yummy - both the cake and the frosting.  So now I put this recipe out there for all of you to see in hopes that you can offer me some advice as to how to perfect this chocolate frosting.  My arms are wide open for help on this!  Please don't hesitate to help me out here. 

Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

(recipe originates from Southern Cakes)

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup cocoa

1/3 cup evaporated milk or half and half (I used half and half)

4 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cake Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour two 9" round baking pans or a bundt pan (I used a bundt pan).

2. Combine the flour, baking soda and powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Stir with a fork to combine well.  Set aside.

3. In a large bowl beat well butter and sugar - about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time and then the vanilla extract.  Beat all together well for a good 2-3 minutes - scraping down the bowl occasionally, until you have a very smooth batter.

4. With a large spoon stir in 1/2 the flour mixture - just until combined.  Now add buttermilk and then the remaining flour - just until combined.  Quickly but gently fold in the mashed bananas and then pour your batter into your desired baking pan/pans.

5. Bake for 25-30 - until cake is golden brown and springs back when touched lightly in the center and begins to pull away from sides of the pan.  Cool for 10-15 minutes then place on desired platter to cool completely before frosting.

*Chocolate Frosting Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan combine butter, cocoa powder and evaporated milk (or half and half).  Place over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil.  Cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes until the cocoa dissolves into a dark, shiny essence.

2. Remove saucepan from heat and stir in sifted confectioner's sugar and vanilla extract.  With a hand beater beat on low speed until you have a smooth, thick frosting. Frost cake.

*My frosting got thick alright...had to thin it out with a little milk....and there were little specs of dark brown that never went away - must have been the cocoa (maybe I should have sifted the cocoa powder too) - thus the frosting won't be "completely" smooth.  After thinking about the sequence of events next time I think I will frost the cake once it is not completely cool....thus the warm cake may help the frosting spread a little bit better.  Just a thought.

No matter what it is a yummy YUM cake....enjoy!

I love how you can see pieces of the banana still in the cake - as mentioned in my first post of "Going Bananas with Bananas", I like to have some chunks of banana present not a full puree "mashed" bananas.

Happy Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting Baking!