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Going Bananas

I always try to make sure that, if I buy anything, I get rid of something else. My kitchen is a galley kitchen, nothing like the bigger one I had in my old house, but it is a better place for cooking. What I don’t have is much storage.

I also try to keep most of my kitchen counter clean of unnecessary clutter. (Hmmm, is there such a thing as “necessary clutter”?)

Recently when cleaning up after a dinner, I noted six bananas that were cornered, and about to become overripe.

I decided to look for a recipe other than banana bread, and found one I hadn’t tried, for a cheese cream-frosted banana cake. Best of all, I had all the ingredients I’d need for the recipe. It isn’t very different from banana bread, but it is pretty and the addition of orange zest is a nice touch. And because I had six bananas, I made two cakes, since each cake calls for three, which was twice as nice.

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake

From Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That

(Clarkson Potter, New York, 2010)

Yield: Serves 8

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

½ cup vegetable oil

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I use 3 large eggs)

½ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Grated zest of 1 orange

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Walnut halves for decorating

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix bananas and sugars on low speed until combined. With the mixer still on low, add oil, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix until smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add dry ingredients, and mix just until combined. Stir in nuts. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Spread a thick layer of frosting on the top of the cake and decorate with walnut halves.

Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

6 tablespoons (three-quarter stick) unsalted butter,

at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 ½ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (one-half pound)

Mix cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don’t whip! Add sugar and mix until smooth.