Banana Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

This summer sure is flying by, isn't it?

Caitie finished up her internship in NYC earlier this month.  Sean finished his internship as well.  Monday was Erin's last shift as a hospital volunteer.  Which reminds me that I never did post these pictures:

About a month ago, when I dropped her off for her shift, as we pulled around the drop-off area we noticed that the sidewalks were lined with people.  Dozens of people.  And each and every one of them was looking skyward, holding up their cell phone.........

Spiderman does windows!!  

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Today's recipe came about because I had a few overripe bananas, but I didn't want to go the usual banana bread route , or even make chocolate banana bread because I didn't want to put the oven on for the hour+ that it takes to bake it.

I figured that spreading the batter out in a jelly roll pan would shorten the baking time and then I thought frosting would be a nice touch and then it all disappeared so quickly that I had to make another batch!

Today's Playlist

• "Hotel Yorba"...The White Stripes
• "About A Girl"...Nirvana
• "Sixteen Saltines"...Jack White
• "You Shook Me All Night Long"....AC/DC
• "Walk This Way"...Aerosmith
• "American Idiot"...Greenday
• "Another One Bites The Dust"...Queen
• "Bad To The Bone"...George Thorogood
• "California Sun"...The Ramones
• "Lyin' In The Name Of Love"...Joe Louis Walker

Banana Cake with Brown Butter Frosting

Cake Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 3 very ripe bananas
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons light cream

Gather your ingredients

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare your 10 x 15-inch jelly roll pan.

First, grease it with about a teaspoon of butter.  After you've smeared butter all over the pan, put a teaspoon of flour in the pan.  Shake and tap the pan until the flour is distributed and covers the pan.

Like this.  Ignore that spot that has no flour.  Yours will look much better, I'm sure.

In the bowl of your mixer, place the butter, sugar, yogurt and eggs.  Beat until creamy.

In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork or a potato masher.

Mash well.  Lumps are okay.

Blend the bananas and vanilla extract into the butter/sugar mixture.

Add the flour, baking soda and salt and mix for one minute.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix on low just until completely blended.

 Spread the batter in your prepared pan.

 If you are planning on adding walnuts, sprinkle them on top.  Some of us in this house like nuts and some of us don't, so I only put walnuts on one side.

Bake for 21-24 minutes, until golden brown.

After you remove your cake from the oven, start making the frosting.

You don't want to make the frosting ahead of time, because it cools very quickly and is hard to spread when it cools.

And you don't want to let the cake cool too much before you frost it, because the best time to frost the cake is when it's still warm, because the warm cake keeps the frosting warm and easy to spread.

It's not complicated at all.  Just take the cake out of the oven, make the frosting and immediately frost the cake.

To make the frosting:

Using a 2-quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  After it melts, you want it to just start to boil.

Keep a close eye on it.  Once it starts to boil, you will notice these brown flecks on the side of the pan.  

 As soon as you notice that the butter is starting to brown, turn off the flame and remove the pan from the heat.

Immediately add the confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and light cream.

Stir to combine.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly this frosting goes from powdery to creamy in an instant.

 Immediately pour the frosting onto the cake and smooth it to cover the top.  Work quickly because the frosting will harden as it cools!

 By the time you finish spreading the frosting it will already be starting to harden.  Cut into squares and serve warm, or wait until it cools.  Or refrigerate the cake and serve it cold.

No matter how you serve it--warm, cooled or cold from the fridge--it's really good!  Trust me.

Enjoy!