Kid-Friendly Food Monday: Sour Cream Banana Cake

We don't usually have leftover bananas at our house.  In fact, if I let him, one of my twins would eat 4 or 5 bananas in a day.

But on occasion, a banana or two slips by them and ends up too "dirty", as my boys say, to eat.  Usually I will make the standard banana bread, or banana muffins, but sometimes I am not in the mood for those.  That's when I make this sour cream banana cake.

I've used this recipe for years.  I found it in an old cookbook I bought at a thrift store before I was even married.  It is especially good if I only have one lone banana that needs to be used, because it is the perfect amount if I half the recipe. 

I frost this cake with a variety of frostings - usually an old-fashioned, cooked, flour-based frosting that I have seen a revival of on food blogs lately, sometimes chocolate, and sometimes cream cheese.  And sometimes I skip the frosting all together and serve it as a plain snack cake, or maybe dusted with powdered sugar.   

Today I topped it with a whipped cream cheese frosting recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Sour Cream Banana Cake

1/4 c. butter or shortening                                  

1 1/3 c. sugar                                                      

2 eggs                                                                 

1 t. vanilla                                                           

2 c. flour                                                             

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

3/4 t. salt

1 c. sour cream

1 c. mashed bananas

1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)

350° Grease and flour a 9x13 pan.  Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla.  Combine flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl.  Add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream.  Blend in bananas and nuts.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake 40-45 min. Allow to cool, then frost as desired, or dust with powdered sugar.

Note: I halve this recipe all the time and bake it in an 8x8 baking dish, checking for done-ness at 30 minutes.