This two layer banana cake is swirled in a light a fluffy vanilla buttercream and it just so happens to be vegan, low fat (cake, not frosting) and super moist! Since one of Rich's favourite cakes is banana, is was a no brainer as to what kind to make him for his birthday.
I absolutely adore frosting cakes.
The frosting I used is based on a recipe stemming from The Depression Era. It's been called cooked frosting, flour frosting, poor man's frosting, ermine icing just to name a few! The reason I chose this recipe, is due to it's minimal use of butter (vegan butter, in this case), which means it contains less fat. I also love the wonderful texture and flavour the final result ends up with; it's very much like a whipped cream, but more stable.
There are many variations of ermine frosting, but I like to modify the ingredients depending on the weather and of course, cake. For this particular project I used 2/3rds vegan butter and 1/3rd butter flavoured shortening. The shortening makes the frosting's ability to withstand warmer tempuratures, which is extremely important for super humid and hot July days!