Mom’s Tennessee Banana Black Walnut Cake

This homestyle cake is a family recipe made of two soft banana layers loaded with black walnuts. Old fashioned caramel frosting makes it a true southern favorite. 

Here it is, my favorite homestyle cake – my mother’s recipe. The last time I had a large family dinner (remember those?) I made a different black walnut cake from a fancy cookbook, and from the author’s confidence and praise of her own cake, I felt so sure it would be just as good as this one. It was not. 

I often spring new recipes on my family, and some are better than others, but this time I was embarrassed. The cake looked beautiful on the outside but it was a huge disappointment flavor-wise and dry.  Sooo dry.  I already had the best black walnut cake recipe from my mom, and I should have just made it instead. 

Black walnuts are harvested as a fall crop, but as a southerner I can tell you they are never out of season in our kitchens. They have bold, earthy flavor and one whiff of their robust fragrance brings to mind all the special confections my family makes with them. (Aunt Pammy’s peanut butter fudge and Aunt Grace’s Easter fondants, to name two.) 

Thankfully, black walnuts are available for year-round, so they can remain on our tables in spring and summer months. I’ve had Easter on the brain lately, and I think this cake would be so delicious and special as the last course, but it is also so appropriate for a Thanksgiving dessert.

The caramel frosting is easy enough to whip together, but it is prone to set up quickly. I found myself intermittently whipping more heavy cream into it so it could be spreadable on the cake. The good news is, you don’t have to worry about getting the frosting perfectly even because it will be completely covered with more black walnuts.

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There is one addition to this recipe from me, and that is a few swirls of cream cheese frosting on the top edge of the cake. This makes it look pretty, and it’s really delicious, too! 

I suppose the “Tennessee” part of this recipe could refer to the black walnuts, or maybe the old fashioned caramel frosting – which is truly something that all southern, church-going, potluck-attending grannies have made to cover a special cake. I can only tell you for sure that as a born-and-raised Tennessean, this cake is the real deal.

The interior of this cake is so soft and tender that I’m pressed to find the right words to describe it. I’d almost call it damp, which may be a questionable description for food, but it is indeed super-moist and so flavorful with the addition of four overripe bananas. 

(Thanks for the recipe, mom!)

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