Birthday Cake

Hunton’s twelfth birthday was Sunday. Ten year old Cecelia and I were entrusted with baking his birthday cake. As is the custom in our family, the birthday honoree chooses the menu and the cake for the celebration.
Hunton requested a three layer cake. He wanted the bottom layer to be a banana pecan cake, like his dad’s last birthday cake. The next layer was to be chocolate, like his cake last year, and finally a coconut layer. I’m not sure where that idea came from but a search of the Internet finally came up with one that wasn’t just a cake mix with a coconut icing.
Promptly at ten Cecelia arrived and we set about baking. In less than three hours, we had three, two layer cakes cooling.
Hunton’s icing choice was whipped cream, as a lover of whipped cream, it was the perfect choice in my opinion.
Cecelia decorated it with pecan halves and a tasteful scattering of sprinkles. It was very well received. I now have the exact same cake in the freezer and can produce another three layer cake if anyone is interested.

The banana cake recipe came from an old cookbook and has been a family favorite since the early 60s. I’ve tried several others but they don’t compare to the lovely moist, banana flavor of this one.

Banana Nut Layer Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour, sifted before measuring
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup mashed well-ripened bananas
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¾ cup buttermilk
¾ cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Sift flour and soda together. Set aside. Crush bananas to a fine paste, add lemon juice and stir in milk. Set aside. Cream shortening, add sugar gradually and cream well with shortening. Add eggs, one at a time, stir in vanilla.

Add dry ingredients alternately with banana mixture in 3 or 4 portions beginning and ending with flour.

Pour into greased and floured 9 inch baking pans. Bake 28-30 minutes, test with toothpick for doneness. Cool pans on rack 8-10 minutes and then turn cake onto racks.