Learning Project/Kade’s Kitchen: Going BANANAS for this Cake Recipe!!!

This week’s learning project is about nostalgia and the feelings you get from experiencing something again! Another recipe or breakfast dessert that brings me back to the safety of my childhood is a sweet Banana Cake. My grandma taught my mom a similar recipe, and I want to surprise her with this around Christmas time as a little treat of joy. I will provide you with two questions to consider while reading the post: What is your favourite baking involving bananas or fruit? And do you have similar dishes that bring you comfort? Anyway, let’s get back into Kade’s Kitchen!

The baking history with bananas comes with the common cousin to this dessert, banana bread. Trading ships brought the fruit to North America in the 20th century with the invention of the ice box (refrigeration). The main ingredient territory for bananas started in the depressing years of the 1930s when people wanted to save ripened bananas and advances or exposure in baking. Leaveners got similar recipes printed in cookbooks of the time. It evolved as the general public wanted a cake instead of the typical good with bananas. Also interesting is the recipe has a cult following as a steamed version in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam cultures.

A Mind“Full” Mom’s website has a homie and preppy feel, making the audience want more recipes. The recipe index and meal plans are well sorted and presented, which other cooking pages don’t have. Kristen’s About Me section is a standout section of the blog because it has her favourite recipes and gets personal with cystic fibrosis awareness. I enjoyed the family connections and standard step-by-step instructions. Great inclusions were quality pictures, tips, reasons, notes, and nutrition counts like grocery store food items. These easily give the recipe and site a five out of five chef hats.

Sour Cream Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients lifted from the website: 

The Cake

• ½ cup unsalted butter softened 
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 room temp large eggs 
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
•  ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 large overripe bananas)

Cream Cheese Frosting

• ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• 1 cup cream cheese softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2½ – 3 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream

I started by beating the butter and sugar into a light yellow, fluffy, full-of-air mixture in a large bowl for three to five minutes. Then, I added the eggs, vanilla, and star recipe contributor sour cream until thoroughly combined. Mash the bananas in a small bowl and add to the wet batter.  Now, it was sifting and whisking time for the powder dry-ingredient substances of flour, baking soda, and good old salt. Around this time, I preheated my oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, I wanted to know what baking soda did for this recipe. So, I googled, and this is the answer that came up! In this recipe, CO2 raises the cake during baking to ensure the final product is light and tasty in our tummies. Okay, fine, I will stop with the fun facts and get back to the baking by returning to my kitchen. Next, I combine the dry ingredients mixture with the wet cake batter. I deviated by using a long cookie sheet rather than a casserole dish because that is one of my only cooking equipment. Cook it for twenty-five to thirty minutes or until the banana cake is a delightful golden brown colour!

For any baking, just cover the tasty treat with frosting, and it will be 100 percent better, hahaha. So, I threw together more butter and cream cheese with a hand mixture to create a heavenly smooth and creamy texture. Slowly add in vanilla extract and milk until thoroughly beaten into the frosting. Be careful because powdered sugar is used, and you do not want it all over your home  (p.s. make sure to try some to see if it tastes good). If the frosting is spreadable, then you can put this on the cake, and for the best result, wait two to three hours to eat the banana cake!

I enjoyed this recipe because of the cake flavours and the memories associated with it for my family. It was pretty simple, but that is fine since I learned something new and finals are approaching. Luckily, I tried to follow the cake-baking rules and succeeded by measuring correctly, making sure the butter was at room temp, mixing for the time provided in the recipe because nobody wants a dense cake, and preheating my oven to 350 F. I now avoid checking the stove because of the problem during the cheesecake week. I definitely think that you should make this Sour Cream Banana Cake for a light and die-for cake that anyone should love since I will try it again after the semester is over for my mom. Thanks for reading, and remember always to have a growth mindset!