Amish Banana Nut Cake With Penuche Frosting

Mercy's Note:

This is my Dad's favorite birthday cake. Old, even brown, bananas make a moister cake. This can be made a couple days ahead and covered tightly at room temperature.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

CAKE

• 2⁄3; cup vegetable shortening
• 1 2⁄3; cups sugar
• 3 whole eggs , room temp
• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
• 2⁄3; cup buttermilk
• 1 ¼ cups bananas , mashed
• 2⁄3; cup chopped black walnut

PENUCHE FROSTING

• ¾ cup butter
• 1 ½ cups brown sugar
• ¼ cup milk , plus
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. For the cake, cream the shortening and sugar together until fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beat after each.
2. Blend dry ingredients and add alternately with buttermilk; stir in bananas and walnuts.
3. Bake at 350°F in two greased 9 inch cake pans for 35 or 40 minutes.
4. Wait 10 minutes to remove from pan.
5. Let cool completely before frosting.
6. For the frosting, melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the brown sugar and bring to boil.
7. Reduce the heat and simmer 2 minutes, stirring; add the milk and bring back to boil, stirring.
8. Pour into a mixing bowl and add the salt and vanilla; gradually beat in the powdered sugar until spreading consistency.
9. Frost the cake between the layers, top, then sides.

Reviews

[anbfraz]

This was a very good cake and we all loved the sweet caramel frosting. One problem though, the cake really stuck to the bottom of the pan. Next time I will grease and flour the pans to prevent sticking. Thankfully the frosting helped me hide the damage! Thanks for sharing.

[smoke alarm jr]

A simple delight to sink your teeth into this rich and moist cake with just a hint of sweetness. We had old bananas on the counter but not one of us wanted banana bread. I whipped up this easy recipe and had everyone ooohhhing and aaaahhhing when the cake was done. Many of us went back for seconds! Thank you for a recipe that will be made again and again in this house.

[Denise in da Kitchen]

Delicious! I was a little hesitant when I was making the frosting (I thought it might be too sweet) but it was perfect on this yummy, moist cake. Thanks Mercy for this wonderful cake!