Banana Nutella Cake

I keep reading this recipe in my Alice's TeaCup cookbook and wanting to make it, but then save the ripe bananas to make The Best Ever Banana Bread. This time around, the ripe bananas made their way into this recipe. And am I happy about it! It is a two-layer cake, but I frosted one layer for us at home, and the other layer got frosted and sent to school, to my sons joy and excitement (without the Nutella layer to keep it nut-free)! The recipe below will describe it as a two-layer cake. 

Makes one 8-inch two layer cake

From Alice’s TeaCup

Ingredients

CAKE

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 very ripe bananas

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup / 8oz cream cheese, at room temperature

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

FILLING

2 cups Nutella

Directions

1. To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 350F. Have ready two 8-inch round pans
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the dry ingredients
3. In a large bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. One at a time, add the eggs and mix until well blended. With the mixer set to low, add a little bit of the flour mixture at a time, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla, mixing just until smooth. 
4. Use a spatula to gently fold in the bananas. 
5. Pour the batter evenly between the two cake pans, and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Set the layers aside to cool completely in the pans before frosting the cake.
6. To make the frosting: Use a mixer to cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until light and fluffy.
7. Frost each layer with Nutella and stack them. Spread the cream cheese over the top and sides.