Banana Cake July 13, 1945 Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as suggested by Mrs. Marion Holt. That is what the recipe card says. When you get married, family recipes sometimes are part of the pact. In my case I inherited a Banana Cake recipe. They don’t tell you these things as they watch you waltz down the aisle, oh the horror of secrets.
You might think…don’t be a baby Sue, it’s just banana cake, well someone left it out in the rain and I don’t think that I can bake it, cuz I’ll never find that recipe again.
Well it’s a big deal to a young bride.
I am not kidding you. Try to recreate the perfect cake for your husband that his mother and sisters have made for years. Are your married? Then you know how the story goes. My cake was the not good enough cake.
I even got to the point where I refused to make the Banana Cake during a point in time. Ridiculous to boycott a cake. I admit to being a Cake Nazi..No cake for you!
Why-don’t-you-like-some-other-kind-of-cake!… swirled in my head. This was my husband’s favorite cake that I needed to make for his very own Birthday!
Once a year.
Banana Cake made from scratch with instructions that say hunk of butter and handful of sugar….damn you Mrs. Marion Holt of 1945…..Love is blind.
Banana Cake: Sift flour once, then measure and sift again with soda and baking powder. No problem. Today’s girl has pre-sifted flour and I can skip that step. I got this handled. Except…it just doesn’t turn out right if you don’t sift and sift again even if it’s Pre-sifted Flour.
I’ll explain those unpinworthy horrid photos later. Meantime, this is the recipe. Note the bottom says A M E N. I think that was a way of saying..this is a delicious recipe..Amen. For me it meant I needed to pray to be able to get this Banana Cake right.
Cream butter, add sugar and cream together, until fluffy. Except it doesn’t say butter on the ingredients for the cake. It does say 3/4 cup shortening..that must be the butter. See what I mean? (I have done trials over the years using shortening too).
Add whole eggs, beating well after each. Got that.
1-1/4 cup mashed bananas.
Add sour cream and vanilla to bananas. Add this alternately to the flour mixture…..
until well blended.
The cake was never that hard. It is supposed to be a heavy cake, not light and airy. Bake at 350 degrees. How long? No clues provided. My banana cake has been convicted of being not heavy enough, too light! I’ve been to Cake Jail.
Brown Sugar Frosting Desired Consistency.
Banana Cake Brown Sugar Frosting: The evil frosting.
HUNK OF BUTTER
HANDFUL OF BROWN SUGAR
LET MELT TOGETHER
ADD SWEET MILK AND POWDERED SUGAR UNTIL DESIRED QUANTITY IS MADE.
Hunk of butter. How much is a hunk of butter? They don’t sell butter in hunks. Is a hunk 4 sticks like in a box? 2 sticks? I got this recipe before the internet. I guessed, consulted friends, called my mother.
I was a corporate employee able to fly like a plane. Why was this hard? I had to call my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law and ask how much is a hunk of butter. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to! (I had to do this more than once or twice)
It was a long distance call, before cell phones, but not 1945.
I was in the middle of making a cake with hours to go before it needed to be ready. Desperation!
Ring-a-ling “How much is a hunk of butter?! How much is a handful of brown sugar?! Whose hand? A big handful or regular handful?
“What is sweet milk? Is that something special, is it carnation evaporated milk, is it vitamin D milk? Will 2% work?”
Bake at 350 degrees. How long? No clues.
After I have slaved and baked in the kitchen. After I’ve made long distance phone calls. Husband- “Where are the walnuts? How come you didn’t put sliced bananas in-between?” High maintenance, like When Harry Met Sally. He likes it just so.
See what I mean? Cake strike.
1. I will never make this cake again.
2. You can pick a new favorite cake.
3. Consult in-law rules and regulations and go to inherited recipe court.
Nowhere on the recipe does it say to use crushed walnuts as a topping and no where does it say to put sliced bananas on top of the frosting in the layer. Upon inheritance ne’er a whisper was made about it either. Sabotage.
Sometimes, in the early years I would forget the sliced bananas or forget the crushed walnuts…it’s not on the card. I made this cake once a year. I would forget.
I’ve added walnuts in the layer and added walnuts to the entire outside of the cake and not just the top; both are too much walnuts. Banana slices as a topping is too much banana.
Peace and tranquility. The cake wars are over. I can make this cake as easy as running water out of a faucet.
I inherited the old recipe card. I keep it as a tribute of achievement. I like it all messy filled with reminders of how things happened over the years.
2 cups brown sugar.
A hunk of butter for this banana cake is 1-1/2 sticks. A handful of brown sugar is 1/4 bag or 2 cups. The frosting should be thick. Don’t forget the frosting with sliced banana filling and walnut topping.
Amen!
Me? I never liked the cake in the beginning. Too sweet. Now, I kinda like it, a lot.
Oh my gosh Sue, this looks fantastic. Pinned and on my list of what to bake next!
This sounds just like my grandma’s banana cake recipe and I still have the file card that the recipe is written on and it looks just like your Myrtle Beach recipe.
Hi Pat, I would love to see your Grandma’s recipe, that would be great to compare.
I love the histories behind the recipes I have inherited from my mom. I have never heard of a banana cake but I am so grateful for the photos and backstory – thanks!
Gosh yes, I have some much loved recipes from my Mom, thank you for the reminder.
I adore baking, and the one thing I know for sure is baking is all about the precise measurements! No wonder you were so frustrated. I’m so glad you mastered this beast of a cake.
Beast of a cake, that is a very good description Sharon. It is true for me too that I would rather bake than cook any day of the week.
This made me laugh. I love the photos of the old recipe complete with hand written notes! I also love that you ‘kinda like it’ now.
My MIL made my husband a chocolate cake every year for his birthday and you would be right if you guessed I make it for him now and have for the past 18 (soon to be 19) years! BUT. He actually prefers the cake made out of a box…so I can’t say we share the same experience. Now…his Grandmothers rolls? A different story altogether! She was sweet as pie though so no guilt was poured into the recipe she passed on to me–it’s trying to replicate them I struggle with!
Hi Erin, Glad you got a laugh about this bane of my existence. It is heartening to know of someone else who struggles replicating a family recipe too. Thanks for such a nice comment.
I am so happy I gave you a banana cake giggle today.
I’ve got the same problem here with a Cream Cheese cake. Never the same. Never as good as…. blahblahblah. Damn our mother-n-laws and the boys they raised!
Glad to know I am not the only one. Too fun.
Hilarious Sue!! Did you let your husband read this?
You just made me gut-laugh with that comment.
Oh, the things we do for love.
My husband didn’t like anything his mother made so I was off the hook.
Lucky Duck! Husband likes every single thing mother made. Of course my menu rocks too.