Banana Chocolate Chip Layer Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Yield: 1- 8 inch layer cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
4 medium-sized ripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅔ cup buttermilk (room temperature)
⅔ cup mini chocolate chips plus more for garnish
For the frosting:
2 sticks of butter softened (1 cup)
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
3½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 - 8 inch round pans*
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas and vanilla.
Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the batter- starting and ending with flour. Mix until just combined. (Don't overmix.) Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and place on a damp tea towel to cool.
For the frosting:
Cream together the butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the powdered sugar a half cup at a time and then the vanilla. Gradually add the milk, beating after each splash until frosting is smooth and creamy.
To assemble:
For a 4 layer cake, level each layer with a long serrated knife. Fill and frost the cake as desired, always placing the cut sides down for easier spreading!
Notes
*Though the recipe states the cake yields an 8 inch layer cake I actually used 2- 6 inch pans (and sliced each one length wise) and had enough extra batter for 4 cupcakes :)