2/3 C Butter Softened
1 2/3 Cups Sugar
2 Large Eggs (room temperature)
1 1/4 Cup Mashed Ripe Bananas
2 1/2 Cups Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
2/3 Cup Buttermilk*
1 Teaspoon Vanilla

*If you don't have buttermilk, add 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 2/3 cup milk and let it stand for 5 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add banana. Mix well. Stir flour, salt, baking powder and soda together in small bowl. With mixer on low, alternately mix flour in fourths and buttermilk in thirds into batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Add vanilla and beat 1 minut on medium. Divide batter into 2 greased and floured cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Cook and frost with caramel frosting. Top with chopped pecans or walnuts.

BROWN SUGAR FROSTING

1 Cube of Butter or Margarine
1 Cup firmly packed Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup of Milk
3 1/2 Cups of Powdered Sugar
1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Walnuts or Pecans sprinkled on top (optional)

Melt butter (or margaine) in a sauce pan. Add 1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar. Stir and cook until it starts to bubble. Take pan from heat and add 1/4 cup of milk. Use a wooden spoon to quickly stir until mixture is smooth. Add 3 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Keep stirring with wooden s poon until spreading consistency. If desired, when frosting is spread on cake, sprinkle about 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts or pecans.

NOTE: This was a special recipe of my Mother's that she would make when my sisters and I were little girls. She would make it every year for my sister Carolyn's birthday.