Banana(nananana) Cake!

Tail wags, readers. It's me, Stormy. We've had a few requests to share some of Mom's recipes with you. Dave posted the Lemon Oat Bars recipe and Zim explained how Mom makes Baked Empanadas. Now ... what a lot of you pups have been waiting for ... the Banana(nananana) Cake!

Before I start, please understand this is food for bipeds. Not us. But as with most recipes, there will be left-over something that you'll need to help with. Like cheese from the empanadas ... or figuring out what to do with excess bananas!

We in the Ao4 get banana slices every day - here we are at a recent Banana Formation, to get you in the mood:

Daily Banana Formation
Starting with Dad and going clockwise: Dad, Dave, me, Zim and Am in the top left

Without further ado... here's the recipe!

Banana Layer Cake
By the Ao4

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. plus 1 Tbs. buttermilk*
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup chopped pecans

*Mom never has buttermilk. Here's what you can do if you don't, either. For the amount above, take 1/4 cup of milk and add a hefty 1/4 Tablespoon of lemon juice. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add egg YOLKS, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Leave the whites sitting in a bowl on the counter. Dissolve soda in buttermilk; add to creamed mixture alternately with the flour, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in bananas (Mom doesn't really mash hers; she just has the mixer going and cuts chunks into the bowl as it goes around) and the pecans. In a separate bowl, beat room temperature egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold into batter.
Pour batter into 2 greased and floured (Mom uses the spray kind) 9" round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans, move to cooling racks and let cool completely.

To make frosting, beat together the following:
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter (4 Tbs)
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Once the cake has cooled, place first layer on plate - upside down from how you baked it. You know ... so the rounded top is on the plate. Either spread some of the frosting on that layer ... or ... spread a thin layer of melted semi-sweet chocolate on it, then top with sliced bananas. Your choice. Then top that with the other layer - right side up. Your cake will look best this way! Frost with the remaining frosting. Make it look pretty. Mom says if you mess it up, to sprinkle chopped pecans all over it and no one will ever know.
Store covered in the magic cold box.

I hope your bipeds will enjoy this. It's a great way to use up over-ripe bananas - which is another thing you can help with! Remember to take them nice, pups!

Tail wags and bon appétit!
Storms