Banana-Whipped Cream Refrigerator Cake

2 cups heavy cream
4 TBSP sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla
3 cups chopped ripe bananas (speckled or even very speckled!)
1 pound gingersnap cookies

• In a large bowl, beat the cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form.
• Add the sugar and vanilla and beat once more, until just combined.
• Fold in the bananas.
• Place a layer of gingersnap cookies in a 9 inch spring-form pan.
• Spread 1/2 of the banana mixture over the cookies.
• Top with another layer of cookies.
• Spread remaining banana mixture over the cookies.
• Top w/ a final layer of cookies.
• Cover w/ plastic wrap & place in the fridge at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Release side of pan to serve.

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SIDE NOTES:

~ Been making this on & off for the kid’s birthdays for about 10 years. It’s very rich & sweet, though you can adjust the sweetness w/ how much sugar you use & how speckled the bananas are. Extremely easy to make. I have to say that I find it hard to understand why sometimes the grown-ups like this more than the kids. What’s not to like about cookies, fresh whipped cream & bananas!!?? Personally, I can’t stand regular birthday cake. In fact, aside from this rare treat, the only other cakes that will make my eyes open wide are tiramasu & carrot cake – so I guess I’m a bit of a cake snob!

~ Make sure you check the quantity on the cookie box, as you may need 2 boxes to make a pound (or of course, you can make your own GINGERBREAD-COOKIES – just keep them on the smaller side for this cake).

~  Chocolate chip or plain chocolate cookies work equally as well for this cake!

~ Before I put anything on the pan, I like to lay down a piece of parchment paper. This way, once you need to put leftovers away, it’s easier to transfer the cake into a container. So once you tighten the spring to get started layering, the paper will be tightly in place, and the edges hanging out on all sides. If you’ve never worked with a spring-form pan before, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about, but trust me, this makes things easy! (Make note – I cut a lot of the excess parchment paper off for the photo, but it’s best to leave quite a bit of it hanging around all sides)

August 2001

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