Banana Cake With Chocolate Icing. Are you looking for a cake that will feed a crowd? This recipe has you covered. It is simple to put together, has a great combo of flavors and it is perfect for a crowd.
Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
I love to add whole wheat flour to my baked goods. For this cake, I used whole wheat pastry flour. It comes from soft winter wheat that is lower in protein, giving your baked goods a more tender crumb. I buy my grains from Farm Fresh Wheat, a family-owned generational farm in Washington. Then I grind it in my Nutrimill Grain Mill. If you don't have a grain mill, you can always purchase whole wheat pastry flour.
Making The Banana Cake Batter
The batter itself is really simple to make. I combine the oil, butter, and sugars in a bowl. In another bowl, the flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend the oil mixture well. Then add in your eggs, bananas, and vanilla. I do this in my stand mixer or with a hand mixer. You can always do it by hand if you prefer.
Baking The Banana Cake
When I have a big cake to make, I will almost always use my pan riser. Have you ever seen or used these? Here is one from Amazon I use. It makes baking large batches a cinch. I like to line my sheet pan with parchment, then add the riser. Then I spray the riser and pan with pan release. This makes for a quick, easy release when the cake is baked.
Now, one thing to note about baking with whole grains- I always underbake just slightly. There is a process in cooking and baking called carry-over cooking. What this means is the residual heat in food will still continue to cook it even after it has been removed from the heat source. So if you bake a cake with whole wheat perfectly when you pull it from the oven, it will continue to bake when you remove it. This will make for a dry cake!
Making The Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing
The icing is really simple to make as well. Blend all ingredients. Spread over the cake once it has cooled slightly. I like to spread it when it is still just a touch warm.
Banana Cake With Chocolate Icing
Banana Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour You can use other whole wheat flours, but the whole wheat pastry creates such a tender crumb.
- 2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup oil I used canola, but use whatever you prefer. Just make sure it is neutral flavored
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 6 bananas
- 6 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 cups buttermilk
Chocolate peanut butter icing
- ½ cup butter
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ⅔ cup cocoa powder
- ½ cup peanut butter creamy or crunchy, your choice. It is a pretty serious debate in our house.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep sheet pan by lining with parchment paper and spraying the paper and pan riser with pan spray or softened butter. In small/medium bowl combine dry ingredients- flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In another larger bowl, mix butter and sugars. You can do this with a stand mixer, hand mixer or even by hand. It will be a good workout if you decide to do it by hand! Beat the butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy. Add in bananas and mix again. You can mush them before hand, but it is so simple to throw them in and mix them. Next is eggs and vanilla. Blend this only until combined. Then add dry ingredients. Now, only blend these until they just come together, you don't want to overmix and baked goods with whole wheat flours. Last is your buttermilk. Again, careful not to overmix.Pour batter into pan. Spread carefully, but don't stress on it being completely flat, it will do this as it bakes. Now, bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. I actually like to under bake just a touch. Whole grain baked goods can dry out quickly. It is good to underbake just a little.Place on a cooling rack. Within a minute or 2, remove the riser. Allow to cool before icing.
Chocolate peanut butter icing
- Mix your butter, powdered sugar and cocoa powder until light. It will be dry, but don't worry as we keep adding in ingredients, it will soften. Add in peanut butter and vanilla and continue to mix. Last is milk. Add in as needed. This will depend on how soft your want you icing.If it makes it, you will be tempted to eat it all, ice your cake :).