Minimally Invasive

This is my ur-banana cake. For years, no one could duplicate Aunt Lolly’s cake (specifically, the frosting) despite her willingness to share the recipe. She visited St. Louis once when I was in grad school, so I took her out to dinner and pumped her for information. Turns out the secret’s very simple: if the frosting doesn’t set up well enough, add a little extra flour to thicken it.

Cake:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup very ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk

2 ripe bananas, sliced into 1/4″ rounds

Frosting:
5 tablespoons flour (plus 1 tablespoon, if frosting is too soft)
1 cup sugar, divided
1 cup milk
1 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all cake ingredients together except for sliced bananas, beating until thoroughly blended. Pour into three greased cake pans. Bake until cake springs back when lightly touched, about 25 minutes. Remove from pans and cool thoroughly on wire rack.

For frosting, mix flour, 1/2 cup sugar and milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is the consistency of pudding. Set aside and cool thoroughly. In mixing bowl, beat together remaining 1/2 cup sugar, butter, and vanilla. Add pudding and beat for five minutes.

To assemble cake: Add banana slices between layers of cake, then spread sides and top of assembled cake with frosting.

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