Making a banana roll is a great way to use those over-ripe bananas that seem to appear out of nowhere replacing what where freshly brought bananas two or three days ago. If your place is anything like ours then you will know that the kids will never eat these bananas. That is unless you disguise them as ingredients in another treat that they will eat.

One way of course is to make banana smoothies. Unfortunately the kids seem to tire of banana smoothies long before the last over-ripe banana is consumed so we will have to try something different and this is where making a cream or cream cheese filled banana roll enters the picture.

In short a banana roll is basically a banana sponge cake spread with cream or cream cheese or even both and possibly some jam as well and then rolled up into one tantalizing mouth watering package. I find that strawberry or raspberry conserve works well here. So let’s start the ball rolling by getting our ingredients lists under control.

Ingredients

• 3 Medium-Sized Bananas (the over-ripe ones)
• 3 Eggs
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• ¾ Cup of All-Purpose Flour
• ½ Teaspoon each of Baking Powder and Baking Soda
• ¼ Teaspoon of Salt
• Extra Powdered Sugar for Sprinkling

Filling Ingredients:

• 8 Ounces of Softened Cream Cheese
• 1 Cup of Powdered Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons of Softened Butter
• 1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Grease a 15×10 inch half sheet (jelly-roll) pan and line with parchment or waxed paper. Grease and flour the paper and then set aside.
3. Lay out a clean, thin dish towel that is larger than the half sheet pan on your work counter then sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar (using a mesh strainer is probably the easiest way to do this)
4. Mash the bananas and sift the powdered sugar to remove all lumps
5. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and the baking soda
6. In a large bowl combine the eggs and the sugar beating until thickened. Now add the mashed banana and beat until well mixed and all ingredients are evenly dispersed throughout the mix.
7. Now stir the flour mixture into egg mixture. Once both mixes are uniformly combined it is time to spread the batter evenly into the half sheet pan you prepared earlier. Using a spatula carefully ease the batter into the corners.

Cooking

1. Bake – Place the half sheet pan and batter mix into your preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes until the center springs back nicely when lightly touched.
2. Remove from Pan – Once ready take the cake and half sheet pan out of the oven then immediately loosen the cake from the edges of the pan. Now invert the cake onto the dish towel that you prepared earlier (dusted with powdered sugar). Remove the pan from the cake and carefully peel off the paper.
3. Rolling the Banana Sponge Cake – Whilst the banana sponge cake is still hot roll it up in the dish towel. Start with the short side (10 inch). Place the banana sponge cake rolled up in the dish towel onto a wire rack and let cool for at least one hour.
4. Making the Filling – When the banana sponge cake is nearly cooled prepare the filling. Take a small mixer bowl and add the cream cheese, the powdered sugar, the butter and the vanilla extract. Beat the mixture until smooth.
5. Filling the Banana Sponge Cake Roll – Once the banana sponge cake has cooled completely unroll it and spread the filling over the inside surface. You may wish to substitute a cream cheese frosting.
6. Re-Roll Banana Sponge Cake – Once the filling has been spread evenly across the banana sponge cake re-roll the cake. Immediately wrap the rolled up cake in plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator. Let stand in refrigerator for at least one hour. Overnight would be ideal.

Serving

When ready to consume take the banana sponge cake roll out of the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap. Place the roll onto a cake serving plate. Now is the time to sprinkle it with the additional finely powdered sugar (use a metal strainer). Top with halved strawberries. Cut into serving slices and dig in.

Additions

• Additional Powdered Sugar and Whipping Cream (if you are going to be adding some whipped cream to the filling or as a topping)
• Chocolate icing and fresh strawberries do compliment a whipped cream/creamed cheese filling handsomely
• You may also consider sifting ¼ cup of powdered sugar to sprinkle over the finished banana roll to add that something special