Banana Cake with Brown Butter Icing {Sweet Treat Tuesday}

This recipe popped up on my facebook feed last Friday morning from Lauren's Latest. It looked and sounded so good! It just so happened that I had small group meeting at my house last Friday night and I had some bananas sitting on the counter waiting to be eaten. So, I immediately made this cake. I am glad I did. I have never actually "browned" butter before, but seen recipes that called for it. It definitely has a distinct flavor, it is compared to a "nutty" flavor. I think I agree. This recipe is easy and yummy. Give it a try. It's pretty much like banana bread with icing, where on earth could you go wrong with that?

Banana Cake with Brown Butter Icing
slightly adapted from Lauren's Latest

Ingredients:
for the cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large bananas, mashed (or 3 medium to small)

for the frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoon heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped walnuts {optional}

Directions:

For the Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 8x8 baking pan or dish with nonstick spray. I used a glass baking dish and it worked just great.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside.

In another bowl (I used my kitchen aid mixer.), combine sugar, oil, and applesauce. Once combined well, add in eggs, vanilla, and finally the bananas.

Once your wet ingredients are combined, slowly add in your dry ingredients until just combined. Pour into prepared dish and place in preheated oven.

Bake for 30-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. The original time called for 25-30 minutes, but mine took closer to 45 minutes if not long longer. Just keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Cool completely before icing.

For the Icing:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted begin to swirl it until it turns brown and has a distinct new smell. People say it is a "nutty" smell. Once this happens remove from heat and pour into a mixing bowl. Allow the butter to come to cool before making the icing.

Once the butter is cool add in powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of the cream, and vanilla. Stir until all ingredients are combined. If you think it needs a bit more cream add it in until the icing is the consistency you want. It should be thick, but spreadable.

Spread evenly on top of cake and top with walnuts if desired. I desired walnuts, so my cake has walnuts! Yum!