All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [45]
A double boiler, real or improvised (see step 9)
FOR THE CAKE
⅔ cup shortening
1⅔ cups sugar
2½ cups cake flour
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1¼ cups ripe bananas, mashed
⅓ cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
⅔ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
FOR THE FROSTING
Two 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
4¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup cream or sweetened condensed milk
TO MAKE THE CAKE
1. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare the pan.
2. With the mixer on medium speed, cream the shortening, then gradually add the sugar, mixing well.
3. In a separate bowl, dry whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add to the creamed mixture, beating until blended.
4. Add the mashed bananas and half the buttermilk and mix just until moistened, then increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 2 minutes more.
5. Add the rest of the buttermilk and the eggs, and beat for 2 more minutes.
6. If you’re going for the walnuts, add them to the batter and mix on low speed until just blended.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the cake tests done.
8. Cool for 10 minutes, then unmold onto a cake rack and cool completely.
This was one of those special requests from a colleague who missed her mother. Carol Klinger’s birthday was fast approaching one March when she asked if I could whip up a banana cake with chocolate frosting, just the way her late mother used to make. Turns out, Carol’s mom loved baking and would do a custom cake for each of her children’s birthdays. Carol loved the taste of bananas dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts, like she’d had at Disneyland. So her mom would whip up her favorite flavors in a cake.
I’d never heard of banana cake before, let alone putting chocolate frosting on it, but I was interested in trying to re-create it for Carol. She works incredibly hard booking guests for the show, so I wanted to do her request justice. First, a little CSI: Kitchen. I got Carol to describe what she remembered of the flavor of the cake (“It was kind of like your banana bread, but cakier, with walnuts, and no booze”) and the frosting (“She just did the top of the cake, not the sides. It was fudgy”). Then I baked two different cakes: a basic banana bread and this one, which comes from that ‘70s-era Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Both had a thick, dark-chocolate icing just on the top of the cake. Carol had a slice of each, pronounced them “very good!” but said this was closest to the cake of her memory. Now, Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting is on my list of must-do office cakes for the month of March, in honor of Carol and her mother.
This is a very easy recipe, which serves between 16 and 24 people. But be forewarned: it doesn’t follow our standard mixing procedure!
TO MAKE THE FROSTING
9. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl fitted into a saucepan with simmering water. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Allow to cool.
10. With the mixer on medium speed, cream the butter, then gradually add half of the confectioners’ sugar, blending well. Beat in 2 tablespoons of cream. Beat in the remaining sugar and cream and set aside.
11. Add the melted chocolate to the creamed mixture and beat until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then spread on the cooled cake.
Fresh Apple Cake
Ah, Yes, This Is Another Family Story
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YOU’ll NEED
An 8-inch square or 9-inch round baking pan
A strong wooden spoon
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons vanilla extract
1½ cups vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups peeled and diced Granny Smith apples
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries or dried cherries
1 cup chopped walnuts
I mentioned that Grandma Gray would freeze her Black Walnut Cake (page 115). You might wonder