BEST EVER BANANA CAKE

Steps:

• 1. First, preheat the oven to 300ºF and grease a 9 x 13 cake pan. I always forget these steps.
• 2. Crumble: Combine all the crumble ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. If the bowl is too small, the ingredients slide up and out of the bowl while mixing. I use a pastry knife to mix until all the ingredients are tacky with butter. Spread this out evenly in the bottom of the cake pan. I pat it down with my hand to get it to stick together so that when I add the cake batter no holes form and no crumble floats.
• 3. Cake: I use a stand mixer instead of a hand mixer and just never turn it off through the whole process. Start by adding the butter with the mixer on low. Now start to slowly add the rest of the ingredients except the flour in the order they are listed. Let the mixer do the work of beating the eggs and mashing the bananas increasing the mixer speed to high for a minute or two. Return the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour. Once everything is well mixed, pour the batter over the crumble and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Leave cake in the pan and let it cool before frosting.
• 4. Frosting: Once the cake is in the oven you have plenty of time to clean up the mixer and make the frosting. Again, start with the butter with the mixer on low. Add the pancake syrup, maple is my favorite, and slowly add the confectioner sugar. If you have gone to far adding the confectioner sugar and the frosting becomes too stiff to spread easily, sprinkle cold water into the mix until it is manageable again. A little water goes a long way. Spread frosting on completely cooled cake.