Banana Cake with Penuche Frosting

I have had this cake recipe saved for years and finally decided to try it for my sister who loves bananas. I had such high hopes considering the high ratings and positive comments but unfortunately we all felt this was just waaaaaay too sweet. Its surprising how many people really love super sweet desserts. Anyway, maybe I will try this again and cut back on the amount of sugar in the cake. I also would try another frosting.

This was DELISHIOUS! I added cinnamon and ginger just to spice it up, and holy cow was it good. The frosting is amazing, I think next time I may stop before adding the powdered sugar to the icing because it would be delicious with the caramel sauce. I had to make this as a bundt cake because I lost 1 of 2 round pans, upped the bake time to 50 minutes, and it was perfect. Also, my house smells AMAZING!

Great light cake. As I had buttermilk on hand I used it for the “sour milk” and for the “milk” in the frosting. It added a subtle but welcome tang to the frosting. Both will be permanent substitutions when I bake this again.

Just fantastic! I had all the ingredients so what else do you make on Holy Thursday during a pandemic? Thanks for such a great recipe that everyone enjoyed.

This cake is wonderful. I made it with Bob's Red Mill's Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour. Wonderfully easy to make as my own birthday cake, and it'll definitely be in my permanent baking rotation. The icing is unforgettable.

I did not feel this cake deserved such high ratings. The frosting is terrific, and it seems a better fit with a spice cake. This was too bland. Maybe nuts would have helped. Will not make again but will save the frosting recipe.

This cake rocks. I've probably made it 12 times in the past few years since I first found the recipe. The frosting is decadent. And the cake moist and cake-y. I'm gonna go make it again right now.

I made this as directed except using Bob’s Gluten Free cup 4 cup pastry flour, and three 5” cake pans instead of two 8” pans. I also added 1/2 tsp ground cardamom because cardamom and banana pairs well. I also choose the add 1/2 cup nuts (walnuts) option. The results were delicious; however it took almost 1 hour to cook completely through, and for me it is already cloyingly sweet. The penuche would make it inedible. Instead I’ll opt to serve it with unsweetened whipped cream to offset. Next time I would reduce the sugar by 1/2 if I were to add the frosting and add an extra egg to keep it light and cake-like.

This is our family celebration cake, on 7 occasions now. It's been a layer cake, a tube pan cake and cupcakes. I love it with the penuche (as a glaze without the powdered sugar) or as frosting. I've made variations with cream cheese frosting, with a hidden cream cheese center, with chocolate chips, and with streusel topping instead of any frosting! Next time I want to try a chocolate ganache icing, or maybe whipped cream. The cake itself is fail-proof, with pastry flour, or regular flour sifted, or with gluten-free flour. It is very sweet. I recommend making with bananas that are fully ripe but not over-ripe.

I made this cake for a party, I did 4 layers and it was a huge hit! I made it exactly as written. Folded in the egg whites and made the frosting as well. It was a huge hit and so so delicious, I will definitely be making this again!

I have been baking since I was 8 years old. Back then we always made cakes from scratch, so I have quite a few years experience. Believe me when I tell you that. you DO NOT want to put flour in the icing for this cake. Penuche is meant to be sweet. I would only suggest you not add flour but simply eat a smaller piece of cake.

A lovely masculine birthday cake for a workmate. The frosting on the cake dries quickly, you must work fast! There's not quite enough frosting to make the lovely swirls in the photo. I would probably times the recipe by 1.5 for the frosting. I considered adding some flour to the frosting, to offset some of the sweetness. But I thought it might be Pasty. I wonder if anyone's tried a portion of flour?

This turned out very well...I LOVE the crumb and flavor of the cake. I only had whole wheat pastry flour and APP at home so I used half WW pastry flour and half APP + cornstarch (aka cake flour). Really, the pastry flour made all the difference here. I find it makes the cake taste and feel so luxurious, airy and soft. I also love the frosting, but it is WAY to sweet. I'd probably cut down on the sugar in the cake and, as others have suggested, replace sugar with some butter in the frosting.

Is this not from Food That Really Schmecks?

I made this cake pretty much as-is last week. I used small frozen bananas which had lost some mass in the freezer so to be on the safe side, I used three bananas. Could someone provide a weight or volume measure for the bananas?

The cake turned out delicious. Don't skip the almonds, they make things ever better! I did whip the egg whites but not perfectly as I whipped them using my hand blender whisk attachment to save washing up the KitchenAid bowl twice. This cake is very very moist and actually quite sweet. I didn't make the penuche frosting as it didn't appeal to me at all. I instead turned this into a 6*2 layer cake (with some leftover batter I baked separately for snacking) with french buttercream (eggnog spices + rum). It was all manner of fantastic.

Could someone let me know if they have had any luck reducing the sugar in the recipe and/or adding cocoa or chocolate pieces in the batter? I'm curious!

Bottom line: 10/10 would make again. This is a very easy and unfussy recipe, the absence of fancy ingredients and the ability to use frozen bananas makes it all the more appealing. Thank you!

Sour milk?

This looks beautiful. I have a question about the egg whites - I only have one mixing bowl for my stand mixer and am a bit worried about the time it will take to transfer the batter, whip the whites and add them into the batter. Will the leavening effect of the baking soda/baking powder wear out in that time?

I made this over the weekend at work as a special (I’m a baker). It went over really well. I loved the way it turned out and loved the frosting too, with a very thin layer. However, for an experiment I’m going to whip the cooled icing with plenty butter next time to ease up on the sugar.

I made the cake with the nuts and next time will sprinkle additional ones on top. I agree with the commenters, that salted nuts and salted butter make for a nice modification.

I made this on Saturday. Kept the powdered sugar to 1 1/2C, used Dark Brown Sugar and KerryGold salted. Let it cool then beat it into submission. The icing was then this ridiculous Salted Caramel Ganache that you could eat by the spoonful. Terrific recipe for bananas that are almost to the banana bread stage of ripe...

I made the cake for Mother's Day, my mom who is 90 was raised with her mother's love of penuche, I decided to pay homage to her mother. We all reaped the benefit to that decision. The cake was loved by everyone. I could see how the frosting would be more of a glaze & decided to add more sugar to make it thicker like the photo. I think topping it with toasted chopped nuts or the maldon salt is the best way to tone down the sweetness. Its really a great banana cake!

Would cake flour work as well as pastry flour?

I have made this a few times and love the cake - I too thought the frosting is too sweet, so I have to play with that. Has anyone made it into cupcakes? Is there any reason that wouldn't work? Any timing tips? I need to make them tomorrow, thanks in advance!!

This cake looks wonderfully light and Fluffy☆☆ I was just wondering if I could use egg replacer in place of the eggs for this recipe?? I would love to try this for my family at Thanksgiving brunch, if I can't do it with egg replacer I will finish a great looking cake for my family as the recipe is listed♡♡♡ thank you so much appreciate your time☆☆

I've made this twice now, very good consistency and flavor. I made a few changes to suit my tastes the second time around by adding 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the batter, butter milk in place of sour milk. Then, for the frosting, I finished it with a hefty pinch of Maldon salt to give it some contrast. It was a hit, and a new favorite.

This is amazing!! Definitely one of the best cake that I ever had! I will keep making it forever!!

I baked this last night. The cake is exquisite. So moist and not heavy like banana bread. It doesn't need frosting, it's that good, but I love penuche. I found out at the last minute I was out of powdered sugar. Without it, the penuche is a glaze instead and delicious as is. In place of sour milk, I used half yogurt half milk. Don't use over-ripe bananas. Fully ripe ones, just slightly soft and speckled or striped with a little black on the peel.

I made this cake after work. So tired I forgot the baking soda. It was still so delicious I ate 2 pieces. It's a winner!

I just made this cake over the weekend for a Baby Shower. I made the cake, not the Penuche Frosting. It is the best banana cake recipe I've come across. The recipe is perfect as-is. No modifications needed whatsoever. The crumb and flavor were really stand-out. I paired the banana cake with a caramel buttercream. The flavor combo is stellar. Everyone at the shower swooned over the cake. Needlesstosay, there was no cake left by the end of the shower.

Fab-u-lous in every way!! While this cake deserves to be in the "Special Occasion" section of the Food52 Baking cookbook, it's actually so easy, delicious and quick to make that it's a perfect all-occasion cake. My cake pans are 9" so this time around I baked a single layer in a bundt pan for about 40 minutes. And my husband, who is an aficionado of all things Penuche (aka sucre a la creme), gives a huge stamp of approval to this delicious frosting. It tastes EXACTLY like the fudge his mom used to make when he was a kid.

This is a delicious and moist cake. Some changed: I baked one layer for about 40 minutes, because I can't be bothered layering or cooking two small cakes in my small oven. To make the icing look the the photo, whip the hell out of it- I did about 8 minutes on full tilt. It swirls beautiful with the tip of a butter knife.

Make this cake. Cake was very good. Frosting not so much. Will try a different frosting next time.

I just made this cake and followed the recipe, except used 1-1/2 cups of sifted powdered sugar for the frosting (based on some comments that it was too sweet). Frosting consistency was fine, but I had barely enough to cover the cake, so no thick swirls as pictured.

Could 1/4 to 1/2 cup less of powdered sugar makes that much of a difference? It's in the refrigerator now to harden so I can smoothen the top and sides with a warm spatula before serving in few hours.

I just made this and it was so good. I didn't have pastry flour so i used unbleached flour and sifted 3 times. I measured once I was done sifting for an accurate amount of flour. I also used (2) 8x4 parchment lined loaf pans and baked for 35 minutes. Once done I sprinkled with powdered sugar. It came out fluffy like a cake!

I just made these earlier and they are so good. I had stocked up on baking supplies for the holidays and had a new bag of pastry flour! Yay! The only thing I added was a little brown sugar in place of less white sugar because I like the flavor it gives to baked goods. I experimented using miniature bundt pans and paper bund form cake pan for the first time and turned out perfect. I didn't make the frosting but doesn't need any at all. You can sift powdered sugar on the tops to make it look pretty. I will be making this cake from now on instead of banana bread !

looks delicious!

I just pulled miniature bundt and cupcake versions of this delicious cake out of the oven. I am hosting a Craft and Wine party, and thought mini-sized treats would be perfect. I only had a blend of all-purpose and whole wheat so I replaced some of the flour with cornstarch, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Delicious!

I made this recipe from the Food52 baking book last night and it's the best cake I've ever had. Seriously. IT'S SO FREAKING DELICIOUS!!!!! (should I say 'was' - it's long gone) And it turned out even though I was worried I didn't whip my egg whites enough (it was totally fine). I used regular AP flour instead of pastry flour and topped my cake with a sprinkle of edible flower petals for colour contrast. Thank you!!!

This time i made frosting with dark brown sugar. First time was with light. Recipe does not specify which one should be used. Mine also had the consistency of a glaze this time
but placing it in refrigerator for half hour to one hour does the trick.

Wow speechless, have to try

I used a combo of unbleached ap flour and spelt flour, only used 1 cup of sugar, but added a handful of chopped dark chocolate and I used an equal amount of plain nonfat yogurt instead of the sour milk. I made the cake in a bundt pan and also only used half the frosting recipe, just frosting the top. I also squeezed a half a lemon into the frosting, which both cut the sweetness a bit and lightened up the consistency. Turned out beautiful and delicious!

Very interesting recipe, I think.I will try to make it.Thanks

I made this today - the cake was awesome but the frosting ...way too sweet for me and I love sweets - so I made a whipped cream frosting with some of the penuche added.

Zanzinger,a teaspoon of white or cider vinegar in whole milk will sour it for this recipe. I also think your idea of buttermilk would work as a fine substitute. I have even gone as far as using sour cream to replace sour milk.

What do I need to do to sour milk? Would buttermilk be a substitute?

This is our family favourite too! My mother has been making it for years, and I possibly got the recipe from her mother...

This cake is delicious! Came across it searching for a usage for the sour milk I discovered lurking in the fridge.
I used wWheat pastry flour (had on hand) and following other comments reduced the sugar in the frosting significantly. This however, resulting in a frosting that tasted like sweet butter - way too much "butter" for an 1/8 inch frosting layer.
I did not follow the recipe's frosting as spelled out, but based on other comments and my results, I'll likely try to top it otherwise next time around.

Could you make this as a sheet cake? Would I double it?

I remember a candy called Mexican Sweet Potato Penuche (candy). The cake was what I expected, sweet seeing the word penuche and out of this world with bananas. It's a keeper around here.

I had no idea this is what the frosting was named! It has been used on my mother in law's "The Cake" (midnight velvet) since my husband can remember! We love love love it! Thank you for putting a name to such deliciousness.

Banana bread is my weakness and being an Aussie means it's a cafe staple fr breakfasts and on-the-go eating. It's also delicious. I tested this recipe alongside a few other classics (I'm talking 6-8 loaves, and I can tell you I did not want another slice for a long time....well, maybe not that long) to try and determine the best. I tweaked this one slightly- I made one as close to the original and then one with less sugar, no nuts and plain flour (because we have no 'pastry flour' down under I made up a version with cornflour/ plain flour) and both adaptions were delicious. Actually, these were notably different from The Kitchn's version/ Bon App's version/ Flour's/ Julia's 'secret' banana bread etc. It's kind of lighter in a sense. One note, the icing was just way too sweet. But I'm not really an icing person, and everyone else sampling it equally found it cloyingly rich and sweet. But hey, sometimes you need that kind of sugar boost. I would recommend this recipe.

I used cake flour, whole eggs, and added pecans to the batter. Not sure what sour milk was, so I used buttermilk. The cake was delicious, although a bit sweet, so next time I'll cut the sugar down to 1 cup. One of the best cakes I've ever eaten. Thank you Lindsay-Jean!

Great recipe - definitely a keeper. I would like to know if there are any tips on lightening up the frosting consistency. I followed the directions exactly, and even paused to chill for 10 mins before final beating, but the frosting remained stiff - almost fudge-like. Is there any way to make this with more of a fluffy, buttercream consistency?

I made this cake day before yesterday... I'm a lazy cook so I made a couple of changes and I couldn't screw this recipe up. I used AP flour because I too didn't have any pastry flour and my cake flour was "buggy". I like vanilla so I added a ts of vanilla to the batter (to be honest I don't think it added anything to the cake) I did add a pinch of salt to the frosting... I like the idea of Debby to just add the whole eggs. And I also like the idea of cutting 1/2 cup of sugar out of the cake. I will say I know better but I used ripe bananas instead of overly ripe bananas which I'll use next time. As for the frosting... (did I say I am a lazy cook?) I made it and just poured it over the cake and then spread it out with knife. Alot went onto the plate but I liked the way it soft hardened and because of it being not too thick it didn't make the cake overly sweet. Cause of my liking to tinker I'm going to top the icing next time with a light touch of specialty salt. (I'm a sucker for salted caramel). I hope I'm not insulting Lindsey-Jean Hard with my and our tinkering.... It's a good recipe and easy to make on a week night.

I made this cake yesterday. It is an exceptionally good recipe! I will admit I changed a few things like using part cake flour and part unbleached AP flour because I didn't have pastry flour, added a third small banana, real buttermilk and added the eggs whole. I've tested recipes both ways with whole eggs and whipping the whites and folding them in and prefer just dumping the whole egg in for a moister cake. I doubled the frosting. Holy smokes, that frosting is incredible! I think the key to it is letting it come to room temp before trying to whip it to frosting consistency. I also put it in the fridge when it was just about the right consistency and when I took it out after about 10 minutes and beat it for a few seconds more, it was perfect. I've never been a big fan of banana bread or cake but this is outstanding! Oh yes, I cut 1/2 cup of sugar out of the cake since a few had posted how sweet the frosting was and I'm very glad I did. Thank you! This is definitely a keeper :-)

I made this on a whim for my banana-loving husband's birthday dinner last night, and it was out of this world. I made all of his typical favorite foods for dinner, and he said the cake was by far the best. I made my own pastry flour by subbing 2 tablespoons of corn starch to a scant cup of AP flour, and it worked well. I was a bit skeptical re: the frosting, but it was SO GOOD. I think the key to getting it to a fluffy/frosting-like consistency is beating it with an electric mixer for a few minutes after adding all of the powdered sugar (which does need to be added gradually per the directions). Anyways, this cake was lights out. Can't wait to eat leftovers tonight!

I made this cake with AP flour, lactose free milk I soured with vinegar and it turned out really well. My husband said he thought it was maybe too sweet, but I loved it. I have wondered if you could use zucchini instead of banana. Looks similar to a zucchini cake recipe.

Is it possible to do this without baking soda? I'm in Europe and they don't seem to have it in the grocery stores :( Thanks!

This cake looks very moist-how does the Food 52 crowd think the icing would hold up if frozen? I bake for storing in our parish freezer for homebound and bereavement ministries. Is this a good freezing icing-the cake surely looks promising ?

Other than the obvious definition of what sour milk is, how do you recommend we sour it? add 1/2 T. of white distilled vinegar to 1/2 c. of milk? or is 1/2 c. buttermilk an acceptable substitute?

Everyone loved it! Made it for Mother's Day. I did decrease the sugar by .5 cups in the batter recipe because of previous comments mentioning that the frosting is quite sweet. Best decision! You must increase the powdered sugar to make it a buttercream frosting-like texture. I also doubled it to make the 4-layer cake. Such a keeper recipe and accommodates modifications gracefully. Love, love, love!

Love this cake -- I made a few changes based on what I had. I couldn't find regular pastry flour but was able to buy whole wheat pastry flour (go figure). I didn't have two 8-inch pans so I used two 9-inch pans; the cakes baked in 20 minutes. And I used the icing from my Chocolate Dump-It Cake (https://food52.com/recipes/5102-chocolate-dump-it-cake), because I thought our kids would like bananas and chocolate together. (They did.) Thanks, LJ, for such a great and obviously flexible recipe!

Made this cake yesterday, for Mother's Day. OMGoodness! Delicious! I used AP flour, no problem. The frosting, .... For me the frosting turned out more like a maple glaze. (think maple bar donuts). Maybe not enough powdered sugar?? Any thoughts?? The banana flavor and smell is amazing. I will make this cake again, but maybe a different frosting. I am thinking just a powdered sugar/milk glaze.

Here's an explanation of Pastry Flour: http://daisyflour.com/flours/white-pastry-flour.html. By "nonbleached white flour" you probably have a bag of all - purpose flour, which also will work, just be a little "tougher" as in stronger rise and longer fresh time. Better try it with "white" flour first and then try whole wheat as you want to know the consistency of the batter. Whole wheat is denser so it might take a little bit of extra liquid...take little bit seriously!

One more question. It states two bananas mashed. I have had bananas that take two people to eat as they are so large. Have also had some that were so small, you needed 3 to eat per person. Any idea how much (cup wise) is needed for this recipe. Again thanks for your help.

I saved this recipe and intend to try it tomorrow. One question Lindsay-Jean Hard.......I have so many different flours in my pantry and hate to run out to buy another (pastry flour). Can I sub non-bleached white flour or whole wheat flour in place of the stated flour? Thanks for your help on this matter.

I think June Price may have missed her morning medications, this is an excellent cake and if more instruction is needed for you then don't make this recipe as there are plenty of other more detailed recipes out there written by bakers that take thier meds as prescribed

June Price, many recipes are not written to your required level of details. This being said though, sour milk is buttermilk. It is easily found in US groceries. Most of the time it is sold as low fat buttermilk. You can also make your own by taking 1 tbsp vinegar and add milk (milk with no adjective in front means whole milk) until it reaches the one cup mark. Adjust based on amount of buttermilk required for in recipe. After a cake is baked, one usually knows to wait until it cools a bit ( maybe 15 to 30 min) before Unmolding it. As for the icing, I myself had plenty. However, as per the picture, I only put a thin layer for the filling.

I haven't eaten this cake yet, but I just finished making it. One thing I noticed is that there was barely enough icing to cover the cake. Forget the fancy swirls. Was there a double recipe of frosting made for the picture? Did I use too much between the layers? I think the recipe could have been written better, with novice bakers as well as experienced bakers in mind. My feeling is you can never have too much information. Here are the things I noticed while making the cake that could have been better explained:
1. There is nothing explaining what sour milk is or how to make it.
2. No instructions about what to do when the cake comes out of the oven - cool in pan? turn out on a rack? Cool completely?
3. No indication if different types of milk can be used for the icing, or if it should be whole milk, or skim milk.
4. In the instructions for making the frosting it says to cook the butter and sugar two minutes. My experience is that stoves cook differently so you need some indication of what the mixture should look like - cook until the sugar is completely melted? Is there a danger if you cook it too long? What should you see in the pan?
5. Then it says add milk and raise the heat but it doesn't say how much to raise the heat. Is that to medium low? Medium high? High?
6. And what kind of boil are you looking for? Does it need to be a rolling boil?
7. The recipe says to beat the frosting until smooth. Mine was smooth but I found that it started to harden half way through putting the icing on the cake. Is there a correction for that?
8. I also prefer that recipes tell you how much of the frosting to use between the layers. That way you know how much you need for the outside.
9. Finally, these days everyone wants to know about making things ahead, and how to store them if they can be stored. Room temp? Refrigerated? How long will it keep?

I hope I don't sound disrespectful. I certainly don't mean to. But I just think the recipe could have been written more carefully.

I've now made this cake twice in the past week- it's my new go-to for overripe bananas! Both times I made it with cake flour, since that's what I had. The first time I made it as an 8 inch layer cake, the 2nd as a sheet cake. Both got rave reviews. Moist, caramelly, and full of banana flavor. Thanks for a great recipe, and fun frosting that's easy to make by hand! Definitely staying in the rotation :)

I love banana cake but everything I've eaten in the last several years has been miserably dry. This cake is great! So moist and tasty. Just follow the directions; it is easy to make. I've made it twice in the last week. First time I added walnuts to the batter. Great combination of tastes and texture. Second time I used heavy cream in the frosting and put toasted pecans on top. A good variation. I've added this to my book of favorite recipes to pass down to my daughters.

So tasty! I added a teaspoon of nutmeg to the cake and it was fab. I know the premise is it's supposed to be simple, but with the bananas and pecans the nutmeg worked really well.

fragrant & moist but too sweet for my (admittedly sweet averse) taste. Think I can cut back the sugars without compromising the cake or frosting too much? My sweet-tooth wielding daughter will adore it, though.

Wonderful,simple banana cake. After tasting this cake, I decided vanilla and spices only complicate the flavors of banana cake or bread. This cake bakes up light and airy; not a big rise but perfect for cupcakes to frost. I used King Arthur cake flour blend (easy to find in the supermarket) and it worked perfectly. I did rearrange the steps in the recipe a bit. I had everything ready to add to the batter. I first soured the milk with lemon juice and set that aside to curdle (about 20 minutes), then whipped the egg whites and set them aside, then mashed the bananas and set them aside. The recipe then came together very quickly. The batter made 11 jumbo cupcakes so I will figure out how to up the ingredients to make 12. Thanks for a great recipe Lindsay!

I used unbleached white, and so the cake was a little heavier, but not too heavy at all…. really good, in fact. I'll make it with pastry flour and unbleached white again. It's gonna be a go-to, that's for sure. The icing was too sweet for our tastes, so I'll find a cream cheese icing for it.
thanks for this keeper!

Any chance of providing the weight measurements of the dry ingredients? I find that weighing them out leads to a good, consistent result when baking.

Have been looking for a light, fluffy banana layer cake. Memories of one from The Jolly Roger on Balboa Island (Newport Beach CA) albeit with a light, fluffy shiny white frosting and English walnuts. Will try this cake but after reading comments I'm not sure how to proceed. Should I follow your recipe exactly?

Plenty of leftover bananas. This recipe is great with pastry flour; nice and light. For the other end of the spectrum try our spelt flour in banana bread: http://daisyflour.com/recipes/bread/banana-nut-bread.html

Dwayla, thanks. 0). But do try it again. I am convinced you inadvertently added too much it or too little of something, or maybe you did not grease the pan. I admit I bake all that time so I consider myself an amateurish experienced baker, but usually if you are careful with the ingredient measurements and the pan size and oven temperature indicated, anyone can successfully make a cake. I too ate most of the cake on Sunday after church, with some help of course. I am now back on my usual Monday diet. LOL

both sticks... of butter

when I went to make the frosting I realized I had used both sticks in the cake. I guess I got lucky it's moist but not soggy. Will probably be a little over buttery tasting with the frosting but still really good. I'll definitely try it again.

Cake was definitely moist. Not sure I'd make in springform pan again. Directions are made to be followed. Hah! Frosting is really sweet. Will make again, however, will only put frosting in the middle. Too sweet for my tastes, but the cake is delicious.

I used 1:1 cake flour to APF, turned out great. Only had 2% milk so used that for sour milk. Hi Alt. adjustments: reduced baking powder, increased flour 2Tblsp, reduced sugar by 2Tblsp. increased baking temp to 375. Made a loaf and cupcakes with the remaining. Cupcakes turned out perfect...not sure about the loaf. It had to cook quite a bit longer. Loaf is awkward to frost so trying to decide if it needs frosting. Any ideas on frosting?

Or maybe you are just a good baker, Regine! :) It was not so forgiving of me, and I went to church and ezzerything today!

Oh, i forgot to say i used storebought low fat buttermilk.

Made this cake. Excellent. I did not have pastry flour so I decided LOL to try my never fail formula for using all purpose flour in lieu of cake flour and it worked perfectly. One cup cake flour equals 3/4 cup (12 tbsp) all purpose flour and 2 tbsp cornstach. So i used
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour + 3 tbsp & 1 tsp cornstarch. Cake turned out excellent and so did the icing. I will make this again, and if i find pastry flour, i may try it next time. However, i think this cake is forgiving in that pastry flour or all purpose flour or cake flour or my formula above will all work.

Waaah! Mine broke and stuck to the pan. Is extremely moist--maybe didn't bake long enough? Tasty, but very sweet. Nice texture for baby.

sour milk?? substitute sour cream?

can I use cake flour instead of pastry flour?

Made this cake today in a spring form pan. Much longer to bake then the time posted in this recipe. I'm a fairly good cook and I love to bake. Not sure why (initially), I chose not to read directions re making the frosting. Duh, had to remake after I totally messed up. Fortunately, I had enough ingredients to remake. Anxious to try a piece. I've already emailed this to my daughter-in-law who loves anything banana.

What is pastry flour?

Mmm, gonna try these for sure.

Ms. Hard,

Thank you for answering so promptly, I will report back once I try this.

I would like to know if you can substitute self-rising flour. This is all I have on hand, was bought by mistake. Thanks for any help you can give with this.

Uhm...with what type of frosting?? Did they just really???

Uhm...With what type of frosting????

Def making this!
I made this frosting when I was young- from my good ol' Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys & Girls. Listed under Penuche Icing- Bettys said it is really candy & it came from Mexico.
Maybe your family's spelling is Italian?
This frosting is delicious on Spice cake, too!

I made this cake this week - delicious thanks for sharing this lovely recipe.

have you ever made this using AP flour instead of pastry flour?

I love this cake so, so, so much. Especially for breakfast.

Such a delicious looking cake, with those light & buttery crumbs. That icing itself looks so heavenly!

We always called this frosting "Penuche." I looked it up, and both are correct, although "Penuche" comes from Italian and doesn't seem to have an alternative definition. "Panocha" has an alternate meaning in Mexican slang that is quite vulgar.

Admittedly Novice Cook Here…there seems to be an endless debate online about sour milk. What do you use for sour milk in this recipe? (1) Buttermilk (2) Do you add vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk (3) Do you let milk creep to the edge of the spoiled line?

We call that frosting "Penuche." But in any case, I am so glad to have the recipe!

Oh, my stars and garters. I am making this for my birthday. Thank you!