Banana Walnut Cake

Cake
2 Preheat the oven to 375F.
3 Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
4 Set aside.
5 Cream together the sugar and butter.
6 With mixer on low speed add the eggs, beating well to completely mix them in.
7 Blend in the banana and vanilla.
8 Stir dry ingredients together until well blended.
9 Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
10 Spoon the batter into the pans.
11 Bake in 375°F oven [timer minutes=0]25 minutes[/timer], or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Filling
14 Combine sugar, flour, butter, and cream in a heavy saucepan.
15 Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.
16 Add the nuts, vanilla, and salt.
17 Cool .
18 Spoon between the layers of cooled cake.
Frosting
21 Beat the cream cheese, butter, and cream until well blended and fluffy.
22 Add the confectioner’s sugar and instant pudding; continue to beat until smooth. You may need to add a bit more or less than specified to get the proper texture.
23 Beat in the vanilla.
Assembly
26 Spoon the walnut filling thickly on top of one of the cooled cake layers.
27 Cover with the second layer, pressing down gently.
28 Frost thickly with the whipped cream cheese frosting.
29 Sprinkle more walnuts on top if desired.
30 Store in the refrigerator.