Banana Cake with Sea Foam Frosting
Submitted by azucena17
Banana cake made with Coca-Cola and yellow cake mix, topped with a billowy sea foam frosting whipped from brown sugar and egg whites. A retro Southern classic that’s earned 22 reviews.
YIELD
1 CakePREP
15 minCOOK
40 minREADY
1 hrsCoca-Cola in a cake? Welcome to the South, sugar.
This retro banana cake uses cola in place of water to give the batter a subtle caramel sweetness and extra lift from the carbonation. Mashed bananas and chopped nuts round it out, and the whole thing bakes up in a 9×13 pan.
But the frosting is the real showpiece. Sea foam frosting is an old-fashioned cooked frosting made by whipping egg whites with brown sugar and cola over a double boiler until it forms billowy, marshmallow-soft peaks. It’s lighter than buttercream and twice as dramatic.
This is the kind of cake your grandma’s church cookbook had a dog-eared page for.
Kitchen Tips
- Use a cake mix without pudding and that doesn’t call for oil. The cola provides the moisture
- Stir the cola until the fizz dies down before adding it to the batter, or you’ll get air pockets
- Beat the sea foam frosting a full 7 minutes over boiling water. Patience here means fluffy, stable peaks
- Frost only when the cake is completely cool, or the frosting will melt and slide right off
Ingredients
Directions
- Do notuse a cake mix that has pudding or which requires oil.
** You may substitute 1 tablespoon of corn syrup.
TO MAKE THE CAKE: In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, baking soda and eggs.
Measure the Coca-Cola, stir briskly until the foaming stops; add to the batter.
Blend ingredients just until moistened, then beat at high speed of an electric mixer for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl often.
In a bowl, combine the mashed bananas with the lemon juice;add to the batter.
Add the chopped nuts to the batter and beat for 1 minute at medium speed.
Turn the batter into a well greased, lightly floured 9” X 13” X 2” baking disk.
Bake in a preheated 350℉ (180℃) oven for about 40 minutes or until the cake tests done.
Cool on a rack for 15 minutes, remove cake from pan and turn right side up on a rack to finish cooling.
TO MAKE SEA FOAM FROSTING: In the top of a double boiler, combine all of the ingredients, except the vanilla extract. Beat for 1 minute at high speed with an electric mixer.
Place over boiling water (the water should not touch the bottom of the top half of the double boiler).
Beat on high speed for about 7 minutes until the frosting forms peaks when the mixer is raised.
Remove from boiling water (for the smoothest frosting, empty into a large bowl).
Add the vanilla extract and continue beating on high speed until thick enough to spread, about 2 minutes.
Spread on the sides and top of the cold banana cake.
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