Red White and Blue Banana Cake

I’m a week late, but alas.  Here’s the cake I made for the Fourth of July this year.  It was yummy!  The recipe had TONS of high ratings so I assumed it would turn out well, though I did have to do some major substitutions to make it dairy-free, which can always mess with a recipe.  I’ve never heard of the freezer trick (you put the cake right into the freezer from the oven to lock in the moisture) but it seems to work great.  The frosting was also dairy free, and it still turned out fabulous — possibly the best dairy-free frosting I have made yet!  The only slight problem was that I put on the cut strawberries ahead of time and they leaked juice a bit onto the frosting — which is to be expected, I suppose.  

Dairy Free Banana Cake 

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter substitute (I used 1/2 cup margarine, 1/4 cup coconut oil)
2 1/8 cups sugar (ha, I just eyeballed it. An 1/8 of a cup???)
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk substitute (I used 1 cup soy milk, a few more teaspoons of lemon juice, and a little less than half a cup of "Sour Supreme" sour cream substitute).

Dairy Free "Cream Cheese" Frosting (A slightly altered version of the cream cheese frosting recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 (8 ounce) package Tofutti "Better Than Cream Cheese", softened (I actually subbed a little of this with coconut oil, too — maybe 3 Tablespoons)
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar (use more or less, depending on consistency)

Garnish — chopped walnuts, or fruit (blueberries and strawberries for mine, though next time I may try raspberries)

Directions:  

Preheat oven to 275° & grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.

In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.  In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and 2 1/8 cups sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in 2 tsp vanilla.
Beat in the dry ingredients alternately with the liquid "buttermilk" mixture.
Stir in bananas.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Mine needed more like 1 hour 15 minutes).  Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist, don’t skip this!!!  

For the frosting, cream the margarine and "cream cheese" until smooth (this is where I added the coconut oil, too). Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add sugar and beat on low speed until combined, then on high speed until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake.

Decorate with berries or nuts, as desired.  

Elsie in the blue bib, Delia in the red, Emma in striped dress.

The frosting was a hit with everyone, most of us also greatly enjoyed the cake!  Even Lonnie, who is more a pie guy, and who is rarely enthusiastic about banana desserts… 

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