Barefoot Contessa Old Fashioned Banana Cake

How were your holidays? Merry and bright? Were they "the most wonderful time of the year"?  I love the holidays, starting with Thanksgiving and ending with New Years. Love the focus on  Christ, family, service, love- lunch with dear friends, smelling the pine tree, nativities, snow, snow, snow, music, and unearthing all of the decor that has been in hibernation for the past 11 months. Love the way the home looks after it's all decorated. So cozy and warm. Love the outside lights. For the past few years one of our neighbors have lit up a huge tree in their front yard.  Hundreds of lights. I'm not sure why, but every time I passed that tree all lit up, it made me smile. That was December.
Now it's January. I wonder, why is it all of the decor, etc. (in my home) looks so wonderful... up until January 2? Then it takes on a different look. The look of CLUTTER. The look of, "put me away, I was so last month". 
Scene in my house right now. It's 10:30 AM, everyone is still asleep. Jake is sick, Brooke and Stephen home from college, were up late. And I'm looking at the clutter. I've come up with an idea to enlist their help in stashing the clutter  decor.  I'll bake something yummy. The smell will waft through the air into their rooms, it will be enough to make them wake up and come to the kitchen. Then, after feeding them something sweet, I'll talk them into helping me pack and clean.  It's a plan.

Had some old bananas sitting on the counter. Found this recipe in Ina Garten's   "How Easy Is That" cookbook Sheri gave me for Christmas. Mixed up in about 5 minutes. Cooked up in about 40. Really moist. Absolutely delish served warm. Will work for food? 
Works for my kids.

Old Fashioned Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Barefoot Contessa- How Easy is That cookbook
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3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream (I used low fat)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, after sifting
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
powdered sugar for sprinkling on top
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
Cream cheese frosting ( optional,recipe follows)
Walnut halves, for decorating

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 2-inch round cake pan, or line the pan with a piece of parchment or wax paper cut to fit inside the cake pan.  Spray the liner and sides lightly with cooking spray. 

MIX bananas, granulated sugar and brown sugar in bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Add oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Add flour, baking soda and salt. With mixer on low,  mix just until combined. Stir in chopped walnuts if using. Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, turn out onto cooling rack.

Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar, or cool completely and top with Cream Cheese Frosting. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (1/2 pound)

MIX cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don’t whip. Add sugar and mix until smooth.

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