Banana Cake
This recipe was inspired by my Mother but it was NOT one of her homemade recipes. Instead, it was adapted from a favorite store bought cake that she would pick up when she did her weekly grocery shopping and it usually lasted less than 24 hours in our house.
Some of us are lucky enough to be middle aged, or tipping the scale towards “senior status”…speaking for myself here, ha! If so, you may remember the Banana Cake that Sara Lee started selling us in the 60’s. That cake was KILLER! And we were a family used to wonderful, homemade desserts so we were very hard to impress.
When Sara Lee suddenly took the Banana Cake off the market a few decades ago it was strange, we couldn’t understand why and still don’t but were elated when it just as suddenly reappeared a year or so ago. It was a huge disappointment. That cake was terrible. Whatever they did to it was a disaster.
In total desperation, I found this recipe somewhere online and for some reason I decided to give it a shot – it was a home run! I replicated the Sara Lee Banana Cake of the 60’s!! I’m sorry to say that I don’t know who deserves credit because I scribbled it on a piece of scratch paper.
It is beyond moist, it is decadent and it is DELICIOUS!!! And don’t let the white cake mix turn you off, there are so many other wonderful ingredients going on that you won’t even notice that the base came out of a box.
- 1 box WHITE cake mix
- 3 egg whites
- 3 very ripe bananas mashed
- 4 heaping tbsp. sour cream
- 1 1/3 cups milk
- 2 tbsp. oil
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 8oz. cream cheese softened (I leave mine out for at least 4 hours)
- 1 stick of butter softened (leave it for 4 hours as well)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/c chopped pecans for garnish
- Blend all ingredients well with mixer. Spray one 9 x 13 OR three 8 inch cake pans generously with Pam. If I'm using 8" pans I like to place a round disc of parchment paper in the bottom after spraying with Pam so the cakes come out easily without breaking. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. The cake will not brown very much at all, it stays white in color so don't let this trick you into allowing it to over cook.
- Beat well with your mixer. I think the longer you leave the cream cheese and butter out to soften, the creamier your frosting will be. It really and truly makes a difference so try to remember to pull them out and even leave them out overnight if you can. You'll be glad you did. 🙂
Sopapilla Cheesecake
My daughter-in-law Brittany tasted this sopapilla cheesecake at a wedding and said it was the best thing ever. My step-son Jason is a world class lover of all things "cheesecake" and he gave it a thumbs up! I looked at the recipe, the ingredients were very basic. It took practically no time at all to throw together so I gave it a shot. It was instant love. There's something about the butter on top...
Read More→
Super Easy No Bake Cheesecake
I honestly like this no bake cheesecake better than the traditional baked version, and you won't believe how simple it is to throw together. With that said, like any cheesecake, this is an indulgence! It is not figure friendly folks! It's rich and decadent and everything that cheesecake is supposed to be, right? And I would venture to say that the traditional baked version of cheesecake...
Read More→
Mom’s Chocolate Sheet Cake
I'm pretty sure that everyone on the planet at this point has had a piece of chocolate sheet cake. And most cooks have pulled out a sheet pan, grabbed their cocoa and whipped up their own version to take to a pot luck dinner or to a family BBQ. It's an all around family friend dessert because it feeds an army and everyone always loves a sheet cake. And no one can ever...
Read More→
Lemon Cake With Whipped Frosting
This is a simple and easy lemon cake dessert because it starts with a box mix. I love these "semi-homemade" desserts because they cut down on time but still give you that homemade taste. And any time you add fresh lemon to a recipe you always gain an edge - it simply takes food to another level. When the weather turns warm I have a tendency to crave lemon in everything...
Read More→