Banana Cake
You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to make a good banana cake. I’m talking about a sheet cake that tastes like banana bread, but not too dry, not too tough, and not dense and fudgy, like the dead center of banana bread can be at times. For weeks, maybe even a month, we worked on a banana cake in the basement of Ko. It felt like a lifetime—and still we weren’t getting anywhere close. That is, until Emily, our extern, came in with her mother’s sacred banana cake recipe. We adapted it, but this recipe belongs to the heart of her family. Mrs. Kritemeyer, we love you!
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 1 quarter sheet pan
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the oven to 325°F.
Step 2
Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and mix on medium-high again for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
Step 3
Stream in the buttermilk, oil, and banana extract while the paddle swirls on low speed. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and paddle for 5 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. You’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for it, so if it doesn’t look right after 6 minutes, keep mixing. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Step 4
On very low speed, add the bananas and mix for 45 to 60 seconds to ensure all the bananas are broken apart.
Step 5
Still on low speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together and any remnants of dry ingredients have been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Step 6
Pam-spray a quarter sheet pan and line with parchment, or just line the pan with a Silpat. Using a spatula, spread the cake batter in an even layer in the pan. Give the bottom of your sheet pan a tap on the countertop to even out the layer (this cake batter is very forgiving). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain slightly buttery and dense. At 25 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger: the cake should bounce back slightly and the center should no longer be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven for an extra 3 to 5 minutes if the cake doesn’t pass these tests.
Step 7
Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire rack or, in a pinch, in the fridge or freezer (don’t worry, it’s not cheating). The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.
Notes
Step 8
Just as with the Banana Cream (page 91), the riper and browner the banana, the tastier the cake.
