When the weather reports first called for snow, I honestly didn’t believe it.  I mean, it’s nearly Spring and all.  But snow it did and it’s still coming down.  I woke up this morning to the news that school was closed, and since my husband is an essential employee at the state lab, I got to be the one to stay home.  Snow day!

We had breakfast, we watched some tv, we played, we colored.  Then we got bored.  I added recipes to my Paprika app (my absolute favorite cooking and recipe app EVER) and came across one for peanut butter and banana cake.  I knew we had some overripe bananas in the fridge, so I figured I’d give it a go.

The first step was to make the jam, or banana filling.  Since I only had three bananas, I halved the original recipe and mushed them into a saucepan.  Then I added the sugar, water, vanilla (I used liquid vanilla extract rather than a vanilla bean because that’s what I had on hand) and lemon juice, then turned the heat to high.

 

Once the mixture came to a boil, I turned it down to simmer and started on the cake batter.  The cake is a peanut butter cake to be built in layers with the banana jam/filling between each layer.  I mixed the flours, using my trick to make my own cake flour since I didn’t have any.  While I was working on the cake batter, I stirred the banana mixture and smushed the larger chunks of banana with my spatula every few minutes.

 

Once the flour was mixed well with the baking soda and salt, I stuck the butter and peanut butter in the microwave to soften.  While that was in the microwave, I made my own buttermilk by adding 1 tbsp. of vinegar to 1/2 cup whole milk and let it sit to thicken.

 

I added the sugar and creamed the mixture together using my electric mixer.  Next, I added the egg and vanilla, then added the hot water to the “buttermilk” I made and began mixing the dry and wet ingredients well, alternating and finishing with the dry.

 

Next I spread the batter into a greased square baking glass baking pan and baked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Once that was in the oven, I checked the thickness of the banana jam and pulled it off the stove, letting it cool for a few minutes before putting it into a container and sticking it in the fridge to chill and thicken.

When the cake came out, I checked it for doneness (it stayed really moist but was totally done) and let it cool for a bit.  I slid a knife around the edges, then put a paper towel over my hand and flipped it out onto my hand, then set it down on a flat baking sheet.  I cut the cake into four equal-sized square pieces, then assembled the cakes (more like mini cakes) by placing one square piece on the bottom, covering it with a good amount of the chilled banana jam, then another cake piece on top.  I topped it with some more of the banana jam, then let it sit and did the other mini cake.

 

I had some chocolate frosting in the fridge that was leftover from another dessert, so rather than make the white frosting the recipe called for (and because I’m a chocoholic), I stuck the frosting in the microwave until it was thin and smooth, then dumped it over the top of each cake, spreading it and allowing it to drizzle down the sides.

 

And then I ate it!  Well, not all of it.  And not by myself – I had the help of my two boys, who also helped me lick the batter from the spoons and mixing bowl.  And it is the bomb.  My husband tells me people don’t actually say things are the bomb anymore, but I can’t help it.  That’s what it is.  Also, he’ll be lucky if there’s any Elvis cake left when he gets home!