Officially this is called double banana cake and it hails from a restaurant in Winnipeg via Bon Appetit’s Favorite Restaurant Recipes. That’s the official story of provenance. But in these parts, it is called *Blue Ribbon Banana Cake because it won first prize at the Sandwich Fair. If you have ever seen the line of entries for baking contests at this particular country fair, you are by now suitably impressed.

My dear friend, a humble, wildly talented cook and baker (whose masterpieces are created in a galley-sized kitchen) prefers to live in the witness protection program when it come to her prowess. So she spent years quietly contemplating entering one of her fabulous desserts in the fair. My only advice to her was to avoid the pie category, the judging of which I suspect is rife with nepotism. Pie, it seems, is the signature specialty of practically every revered country cook. And besides, who wants to spend weeks or months perfecting a pie crust when there are masses of women who can whip up a better one guided solely by instinct? After making this suggestion I tried her banana cake and there was no longer any doubt about how to make her fair debut.

With six bananas in the cake and two more layered in between, this cake is dense, moist and oh-so-fresh tasting. The real secret, however, is in the kosher salt, that gives both cake and frosting the blue ribbon sass. In deference to the champ, I made my version just as the recipes says and did not attempt to copy her tweak, which is to make it in three pans as a triple layer cake. Desserts are not my specialty, so the prospect of two layers of slippery bananas vs one was just too daunting. As it was, the actual blue ribbon winning cake had to be hastily rebuilt just prior to its fair entrance thanks to a surprise boulder in the parking field.

At any rate, if you have an occasion or a special meal or a whole lot of ripe bananas make this cake! And if you’re bringing it somewhere, do not expect to return with leftovers. Guests WILL divvy up any remains and spirit them away.

 Ingredients

CAKE

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter plus more for pans, room temperature
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups coarsely mashed very ripe bananas (about 6 large)
3/4 cup sour cream

FROSTING

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 ripe but not mushy bananas, cut crosswise into 1/8-inch slices

Method

CAKE

Preheat oven to 325°. Butter two 8″-diameter cake pans with sides 2″ high. (The pro uses 3 pans for triple layer). Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper rounds. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 1/2 cups butter and sugar in another large bowl until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating to blend between additions. With mixer on low, gradually beat in flour mixture, scraping sides of bowl. Mix in bananas, then sour cream. Divide batter between pans.

Bake cakes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50–55 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes in pans on wire racks.

Invert cakes onto wire racks; let cool completely. Remove parchment. Using a serrated knife, trim off rounded tops. (Slacker alert–I did not do this because my cakes were not very rounded. However, this is probably key to sound architecture.)

FROSTING

Using an electric mixer, beat first 5 ingredients in a large bowl until light and fluffy, 6–7 minutes.

Place 1 cake on a plate. Spread 1 cup frosting over. Arrange banana slices on top. Top with second cake. Spread a thin layer of frosting over top and sides of cake; chill for 30 minutes. Spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cakes.

Bring It!

After being in the fridge the cake is plenty sturdy and can simply be covered in plastic wrap on its platter. See story above and do position the cake wisely in case of any unforseen bumps. Those bananas can get mighty slippery.

*An observer did quietly admit that the first reaction by a judge upon tasting this cake was “Holy Crap!” Even though that sums up everyone’s first reaction to this cake, “Holy Crap Cake” just didn’t sound right.