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By Root 1060 0

and more important, has been the star at so many family birthdays that my ragged copy of The Cake Mix Doctor opens to page 72 on its own! But even great recipes need a few tweaks. I now make this cake without brown sugar in the batter, without banana liqueur—just a little vanilla—and with milk or water as the liquid. I still insist on ripe bananas, and I still insist on my mom’s caramel frosting to top the cake. What you end up with is a better banana cake!

serves:

12 to 16

prep:

25 minutes

bake:

30 to 32 minutes

cool:

30 minutes

Vegetable oil spray, for misting the pans

Flour, for dusting the pans

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix

1 to 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 medium-size ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (1 generous cup)

1 cup milk or water

½ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

Quick Caramel Frosting (page 485)

½ cup chopped toasted pecans (optional; (see page 204)

Recipe Reminders

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1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly mist two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray, then dust them with flour. Shake out the excess flour and set the pans aside.

2. Place the cake mix and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add the mashed bananas, milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the ingredients are incorporated, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes longer, scraping down the side of the bowl again if needed. The batter should be well blended. Divide the cake batter evenly between the 2 prepared cake pans, smoothing the tops with the rubber spatula. Place the cake pans in the oven side by side.

Banana Cake Without the Eggs

My friend Katy Varney is also a big fan of this banana cake and wanted to make it for her nephew who was coming to dinner. But when she gathered the ingredients together she realized she was out of eggs. And with no time to dash to the supermarket, she made the cake without eggs, poured the batter into a brownie pan, and baked it. The results were yummy—a cross between banana cake and bread pudding. Katy’s family was thrilled with her resourcefulness, and I was curious. So I tested Katy’s recipe and found, indeed, that this cake works without eggs!

To do this, make the Better Banana Cake but omit the eggs. Pour the batter into a greased and floured 13 by 9–inch pan and bake it at 350°F for 38 to 42 minutes. The eggless cake is best served warm in bowls with vanilla ice cream, rum raisin ice cream, or whipped cream. Plato was right—necessity is the mother of invention. Or, as any Cake Mix Doctor would say, inventive mothers cook well sometimes out of necessity!

3. Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and the tops spring back when lightly pressed with a finger, 30 to 32 minutes. Transfer the cake pans to wire racks and let the cake layers cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each cake layer and give the pans a good shake to loosen the cakes. Invert each layer onto a wire rack, then invert it again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Let the layers cool for 20 minutes longer.

4. After the layers have cooled, make the caramel frosting.

5. While the frosting is warm, assemble the cake. Transfer one layer, right side up, to a serving plate. Spoon about a cup