Chocolate Banana Cake

I often find myself with a plethora of left over bananas. Mostly because I like to eat them when they are still green, and when I see the first "freckle" or sign of aging, there they sit, until I eventually throw them into a banana bread batter or into muffins, or into the garbage can.  I'm always looking for new ways to use ripe bananas.

I stumbled across this recipe and it looked delish so I had to give it a go.  Plus it uses buttermilk, which I also had left-over from a few batches of Roasted Strawberry and Buttermilk Ice Cream (recipe below) that I made earlier in the week.  I love making things that use up the last of a few random ingredients I have around the kitchen.

This cake is so good.  The rich chocolate, the sweet banana, the hint of warmth and spice from the cinnamon. Mmmm....

Banana Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Yields two 8-inch cake layers (or 9 x 13" cake)

Banana Cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Grease two 8-inch baking pans. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the bananas and vanilla extract.

Alternatively add and beat in the flour mixture and buttermilk in 5 additions, starting and ending with the flour. Pour batter evenly between prepared baking pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from cake pans. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Glaze
12 ounces (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate
8 tablespoons butter

In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Glaze will be thick. Remove from heat and frost cake before glaze hardens.