I've been a bit absent from the internet since last week. I'm alive, don't worry!

Last weekend was the beginning of my much needed spring break. I know I've said it before, but this semester has been absolutely terrible for me. (Leave it to me to start off a blog post bitching!) But honestly, I have never been as stressed as I have been in the past few months. I keep telling myself that all of my hard work and crazy long days are going to pay off. That's how it goes, right?

Anyways, I've been working like a machine since January and desperately needed time to just be. That's exactly what I've done — absolutely nothing. None of my friends have the same spring break at me, and my house is pretty empty most days, so I've been pretty much alone all break. With that said, I should probably be working on the two papers, homework assignments, and projects I have due next week, but what's the fun in that?

I even tried baking a bunch of new recipes, but nothing really stood out enough to post. That should be a good indicator of the funk I'm in right now. That was until I made this.

So I've recently become totally obsessed with ice cream. I've never been that head over heels for ice cream; I'm a much bigger froyo and gelato fan. But for some reason (that reason being my new tradition of monthly trips to Creole Creamery, New Orleans' best ice cream parlor), I've found myself totally infatuated with ice cream.

Being the obsessive/addictive personality I am, I naturally decided to order my own ice cream maker and three special cookbooks at midnight a few days back. Yolo??? (If you have any amazing ice cream recipes, please send them my way!)

Anyways, ice cream has been fresh on my mind for the past few weeks. I've been itching to bake something ice cream-inspired. Thus, the banana split cake was born!

This cake is indulgent in every sense of the word.

The base is made up of one of my absolute favorite cakes ever. This banana cake is crazy moist and always delicious. The frosting though. That's some good shit. Vanilla bean paste + half and half are added to butter and powdered sugar to make the most amazing vanilla bean buttercream that tastes like melted ice cream. In between each layer is fruit (either strawberries or pineapple), hot fudge, crushed nuts, and waffle cone pieces. If that wasn't enough, I covered the whole cake with even more hot fudge, whipped cream, and maraschino cherries. Can you say sugar coma?!

banana cake

adapted from Food.com

1 1/2 cups bananas, mashed, ripe
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of ground nutmeg
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/8 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 275°. Grease and flour three 9" round cake pans.

In a bowl, mix together the mashed bananas and lemon juice. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla.

Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Mix in the banana mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick placed into the cake comes out clean. (Note: the cake make take a little more or a little less time to bake depending on your oven. The best bet is to check it 5-10 minutes before just to make sure it's all good!) Cool.

vanilla bean buttercream frosting

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch of salt
3 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tsp. vanilla bean paste
2 tablespoons. half and half

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and salt until creamy. Gradually mix in sugar. Once all sugar is incorporated, add the vanilla bean paste and half and half. Mix.

sundae extras + assembly

1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup pineapple, sliced
1 banana, sliced
hot fudge, storebought or homemade
chopped nuts — I purchased a "Nut Topping" mix intended for ice cream sundaes.
waffle cone pieces
whipped cream
maraschino cherries

Place one cooled cake layer on serving plate or cake stand. Spread the layer with prepared frosting. Top layer with sliced strawberries, nuts, and hot fudge.

Place the next layer on top. Frost. Top with pineapple, nuts, and hot fudge.

Place the final on top. Frost the entire outside of the cake. Once frosted, top with hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, cherries. Serve slices with extra nuts and waffle cone pieces.