Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Despite having a great recipe for banana bread to use up any extra bananas, sometimes it's worth finding new recipes to work on the same ingredient. It is in this thought that this banana cake with vanilla bean frosting is found. I have extra crème fraîche sitting in the fridge (from all those unhealthy crème fraîche potato salad), freshly bought whipped cream, 2 very ripe banana, so this recipe fits perfectly. Take a look.

Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

adapt from: Butter Yum
makes a 20" round pan

Cake:
134g (2/3 cup) sugar
120ml (1/2 cup) sour cream
1 egg
2 tbsp (25g) unsalted butter, softened
2 mashed super ripe bananas (about 3/4 cup)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
128g (1 cup) flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Frosting:
2 tbsp (25g) unsalted butter, softened
5 tbsp heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, seeded & scraped

150g confectioner's sugar

To make cake (easily mixed by hand):
1. Grease an 8" round pan and preheat the oven to 375F (190degC). 

2. Cream together sugar, sour cream, egg, and 2 tablespoons softened butter. 

3. Add mashed bananas and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. 

4. Fold in flour, salt, and baking soda, mix until just incorporated. The important thing is not to over mix the batter. The mixture should not be smooth. Over mixing the batter will yield tough cake.

5. Pour into the greased pan. Bake at 375F (190degC) for 35 - 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

To make frosting:
1. Cream butter and confectioner's sugar together until smooth. 

2. Slowly add the heavy cream; stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla bean until fully incorporated and spread on cooled cake.

The frosting is very sweet. If you're not a sweet tooth, reduce the confectioner's sugar accordingly.

If you don't have vanilla bean on hand, here's the general rule for substituting vanilla:
1 vanilla bean = 1 tablespoon vanilla powder = 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste