Grandma’s Banana Spice Cake With Sea-Foam Frosting

Back in the early 1980’s my grandmother spent a Saturday afternoon teaching me how to make her banana spice cake. I am not sure why they call it sea-foam frosting, but I can tell you…it does taste delicious!

What I really enjoy about this recipe is the right combination of sweet buttermilk, ripe bananas, along with the spices. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute with regular milk.

Banana Spice Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients. Stir in the shortening, buttermilk and mashed bananas. Mix all ingredients until the flour is wet and everything is well combined.

Lightly spray two 9″ round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Pour batter evenly into each pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until the center of the cakes are done.

Sea-Foam Frosting Recipe

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
5 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a double boiler, combine the egg whites, brown sugar, water and salt…beating slightly to mix the ingredients. Place over rapidly boiling water; beat with an electric mixer at medium speed, until the frosting stands in peaks (about 6 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and beat again until mixture is thick enough to spread on your cooled cake.