Banana Cake

Sweets never appealed to me much. As a teenager I worked in a bakery and never ate anything aside from bread. Then I became pregnant and all I wanted was cake cake cake. When my husband and I bought groceries, I’d linger over the dessert displays until we both ended up with treats. His picks were invariably better even when I was certain I had selected the best cake. A true gentleman, he would trade but insist that I listen to his advice next time as he’d been in the sweet game much longer than I had. We were living in Portland and one of his discoveries was the New Seasons banana cake. Layers of fluffy cake were separated by thinly sliced banana and cream frosting that was (seemingly) light as air. My walks always somehow landed me at New Seasons and off home with a tidy white box tied with string. It was the great indulgence of my pregnancy.

We moved back to Vancouver when my daughter was 6 weeks old and I said goodbye to banana cake and affordable housing. My sweet tooth stuck. I make desserts regularly, though I feel I have a bit of catching up to do.  Some new cake favourites include a dense orange as rich as marmalade and my mom’s chocolate, but the perfect banana cake recipe has proved elusive. After countless variations, especially during my second pregnancy, I gave up. I couldn’t accomplish the fluffy texture of the cake and maintain a deep banana flavour, or get a sturdy topping that was as airy as cream.

Recently, the dreary weather nudged me back into the banana cake project. This winter was so rainy that my daughter and I have been baking a LOT. Morning after morning I’ve woken up to a dark, wet sky and wondered how I would fill another day that seemed longer than my patience. One very wet day, Lila and I lit a fire and played the ukulele, then leafed through the Joy of Cooking to find the banana cake recipe. The cake, though not as fluffy as I was looking for, was tasty and we perfected the frosting with some flaked coconut. I’d like to tidily end here, eating cake by the fire with rain pelting the windows. But life isn’t tidy and banana cake obsessions die hard.

Two cakes and one week later, research revealed the original New Seasons recipe was from the now-closed bakery Kienow’s, and people have been raving about this cake for years! Luckily the recipe is available online. I couldn’t wait to find out if it was as fluffy as I remembered so I broke half of it open and ate it over the cooling rack. Not tidy but perfect.

Kienow’s Banana Cake
Serves 12 to 16

For the banana cake:

2 cups cake flour
1 1/4 cup vanilla sugar (or regular sugar and add an extra tsp of vanilla)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup corn or other neutral oil
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (approximately 3 bananas)
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Whipped cream and mascarpone frosting (you’ll have extra):

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup mascarpone
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas, thinly sliced
1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together sifted cake flour, vanilla sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until just combined. Add corn oil, mashed bananas, and vanilla. Beat for 1 minute until just combined, then add the buttermilk and egg yolks and beat for 1 additional minute. Set aside to make the meringue.

In a separate bowl, with clean beaters, beat egg whites on medium speed. While continuing to beat, add cream of tartar, then 1/4 cup sugar gradually. Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Fold the meringue gently into the cake batter until the streaks just fade.

Prepare two 8 inch cake pans. Butter the edges, then line it with parchment paper and flour it. Pour the batter in and place it into the oven. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then on a cooling rack.

To make the frosting, sift confectioners’ sugar into a bowl and set aside. In a large chilled bowl, whip the cream and mascarpone together, gradually adding the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Whip until firm peaks.

To assemble the cake, slice each cake in two so you have 4 cakes. Place one layer on a plate. Spread frosting, add single layer of banana slices and sprinkle 1/3 cup of coconut if including. Spread a little more frosting to ‘glue’ the next layer on. Place another layer of cake on top and repeat with the third and fourth layer, finishing with just frosting and coconut on top.  Refrigerate—this cake tastes best after it rests in the fridge for a few hours, or even overnight. Serve.