Banana Sheet Cake

Just like everyone else, I have a chocolate sheet cake recipe. Sometimes I make it with cinnamon and sometimes not.

I also have these sheet cake versions: strawberry, coconut, pumpkin, peanut butter and white.

But there was nary a banana sheet cake recipe to be found in my extensive arsenal of tried-and-true church and community cookbooks. I called my Mom. She didn't have one either.

So, with a hefty pile of ripe bananas on my counter and a need to make a sheet cake for a funeral dinner, I turned to Google. After looking at several options, I chose one that had sour cream, which always makes a moist, flavorful cake.

The resulting cake got good reviews from kitchen workers at the church and from my husband. The banana icing recipe (which I did have in my recipe files) got even more thumbs up. It includes mashed-up, ripe bananas for even more banana flavor.

Next time, I'll have this tried-and-true recipe ready to go. Now you can, too!

Banana Sheet Cake

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. banana extract (opt.)
3 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup milk
1 8-oz. container sour cream
3-4 ripe mashed bananas (about 1 1/2 cups)

Banana Frosting
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. banana or coconut extract
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp. milk or cream (or more to make frosting of the proper consistency)

Cake:
Cream together sugar and butter until well incorporated. Add vanilla and eggs, beating well after each addition of an egg. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Combine milk, sour cream and mashed bananas in another bowl. Beginning and ending with the wet ingredients, add about 1/3 of the milk mixture to the creamed mixture, then 1/3 of the dry ingredients, combining well after each addition. Continue until all the wet and dry ingredients are incorporated, ending with the wet.

Spray sheet pan with nonstick baking spray. Pour batter into pan. Bake in 350-degree, preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. It is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely and then frost with Banana Frosting.

Frosting:
Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Add additional milk or cream if needed for proper spreading consistency. (Or, if too wet, add a little additional powdered sugar.)

Note:  I didn't have banana extract, which was called for in the recipe. Instead, I substituted coconut extract. But you could just use vanilla.