Kids Dish

I like the idea of bananas because they are portable, filling and healthy, thus they make a great snack on the go. They are also cheap, and while I prefer to buy local produce in the season, we’re not quite at the height of fruit season yet and while the berries are plentiful, the cherries require pitting now that Sam has gone ahead and eaten several pits, resulting in a rather uncomfortable night. There’s not much else around yet so supermarket fruits it is. Of course Sam has decided against bananas again.

He ate half of one last week but the rest of the bunch has been sitting in the fruit basket getting riper and riper. I thought about making some smoothies, but of course I never got around to it. I moved the almost completely brown bananas to the fridge and figured I’d make muffins or banana bread. But I was uninspired by the thought of banana quick bread and remembered a recipe I’d seen online for Elvis cake- a peanut butter banana cake with chocolate chips.

I made it last night and it’s fantastic, but the icing was overly sweet. Here’s the recipe slightly modified- I plan on making it again.

Elvis Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter or shortening
1 cup milk
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
2-3 mashed bananas
1/2 tsp banana extract
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips, more for sprinkling on the finished cake

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In a large bowl, cream sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating just to combine. Stir in vanilla, mashed bananas, and banana extract. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter evenly between two greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely.

Frosting
2 sticks of butter, room temperature
1 cup of smooth peanut butter.
2 cups of powdered sugar
Up to 2 Tbs milk

In an electric mixer cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth and fully incorporated. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time and use milk to adjust the consistency to your liking. Using natural peanut butter will result in a frosting that’s not quite as sweet but it may be a little grainy.