Have you ever bought a whole cluster of bananas with the best of intentions, only to watch them grow soft and brown over the subsequent days (or weeks)? We’re all guilty of this banana negligence, but the good news is that even overripe bananas can be used in delicious recipes, the most delectable of which is banana cake with cream cheese frosting.
Terri, the blogger behind the food blog Great Grub, Delicious Treats offers up this recipe for a classic banana cake with a rich, sweet cream cheese frosting. A bit similar to banana bread, banana cake calls for ripe bananas, flour, eggs, butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, vanilla extract and a little “secret ingredient”: sour cream. Terri writes that she often uses sour cream in baked goods because it can add moisture without changing the flavor of the end product. Another option is to use plain Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.
This recipe for banana cake with cream cheese frosting calls for four ripe bananas, so you can really feel great about using up that produce you’ve been ignoring! The rest of the recipe requires the usual steps of mixing together wet ingredients and then dry ingredients in a particular sequence. Bake in 8-inch round tins until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
While waiting for the cakes to bake, whip up the cream cheese frosting, which calls for cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract. Simple and classic, this sweet spread will go over and in between the two round layers of banana cake.
Find all the measurements and details for making banana cake with cream cheese frosting at Great Grub, Delicious Treats.
There are plenty of other banana dessert recipes out there for anytime you have a sweet tooth and a few very ripe bananas. This Banana Cream Pie Lush is a no-bake confection that is ideal for when you’re craving banana cream pie but don’t feel like turning on the oven. If you’ve never heard of a lush, it’s a layered dessert that usually consists of a cookie crust, cheesecake or pudding and whipped cream.
This recipe is as simple as they come, with easy ingredients like bananas, milk, cream cheese, Jell-O instant vanilla pudding and Cool-Whip. It does require baking up some sugar cookies in advance, though you could also just use store-bought sugar cookies for the cookie crust.
Of course, you can always take the simplest route possible and cook up some pan-fried cinnamon bananas. With most of the steps and ingredients right in the name, the recipe for these little bite-size treats is practically foolproof. Once again using very ripe fruit, slice up some bananas into little coins and heat them up in a pan with a sprinkle of sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. That’s it!
If you’re not looking for something sweet, check out our roundup of recipes to make with overripe bananas, which includes savory dishes like spicy fritters, chicken with banana curry sauce and even banana risotto. Banana appetit!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
