Banana Cake with Brown Butter Icing Recipe

How to make it

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• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk. Turn out onto waxed paper.
• In the same bowl, mash bananas and add to a measuring cup. If you have a tablespoon or two extra of bananas, leave out a little of the buttermilk. If you have a tablespoon or two less than 1-1/2 cups, add a little buttermilk. If you’re way short of banana, you could make up the difference with applesauce or other pureed fruit—even baby food.
• In the same bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugar, adding sugar gradually. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the mashed bananas.
• Add the vanilla to the buttermilk. Beating slowly alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the banana mixture. I usually do this in 5 parts: one-third dry ingredients, half wet ingredients, another one-third dry, remaining half wet, and remaining one-third flour. You want to beat the mixture as little as possible so the gluten in the flour won’t develop and toughen the cake. If just a little flour remains visible you can stir it in by hand.
• Pour the batter into a 10” x 14” baking pan which has been sprayed with vegetable oil, and spread it evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched with the fingers. Cool completely on a rack before icing.
• Assemble cake by icing with Brown Butter Icing. Break the walnuts into 3 or 4 pieces each as the texture is so much better than chopping and, in the case of nut abstainers, easier to pick off. Sprinkle walnuts over icing and lightly press down so they adhere.
• Brown Butter Icing:
• 4 Tbsps. unsalted butter
• Half and half cream (or light cream or whipping cream with milk added)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pound box powdered sugar
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter until it turns nut brown in color. Swirl it around rather than stirring it and don’t leave it for a minute. Remove from heat.
• Immediately add about 1/3 cup light cream, the vanilla and about 3/4 of the powdered sugar. Beat with an electric hand mixer until smooth, adding more cream and/or sugar until icing is still a bit runny but spreadable. It will be sticky until cooled. Ice the cake and top with nuts if desired. Chill about 20-30 minutes to set up quickly. Good on all kinds of cupcakes, too.