Monkey Business ...

If you're anything like us... you've got more over ripe bananas than you can shake a stick at. I really hate to just throw them out, but my baking schedule doesn't always coincide with my real life schedule. So at times, it just can't be avoided. Sure, sure. Freeze them you say. Yep, been there. Done that. In the past I've gotten all kinds of unwarranted advice on banana management... the most popular being to simply throw them in the freezer, peel and all.

Auy-Yup... I tried that... with pretty disastrous results. For starters, lone nanners don't really stack very well and every time you opened the freezer door there was the looming threat of a nana avalanche. And let me just quickly interject how incredibly popular that scenario was with The P. MmmHmmm... Not So Much. Next, getting the peels off was a disgusting mess. A completely unappetizing process that didn't exactly leave me feeling hungry... or worse, in the mood to bake. However, recently I stumbled across the idea to peel, mash and freeze them in ziplocks (3 to a bag, since that's what most recipes call for)... Annnnd... {Ahem} It's Bloody Brilliant I say!

Which is awesome, since I've made so much banana bread lately that - as shocking as it may sound - we're not overly anxious for another loaf anytime soon. I've tried freezing the loaves, but they always seem a little mushy once fully thawed... perhaps there's a trick to it - that I'm unaware of?? I know, it's nearly impossible to imagine, isn't it. But no matter, this new nana method is working out beautifully. No more waste, with everything nicely stacked, dated and organized on the freezer shelves. Annnnd... when you come across an amazing recipe like this one... with nary a nana in sight... you just yank a bag from the deep freeze, thaw and bake. We're talking all kinds of Genius here folks... in addition to the fact that this cake might prevent me from ever making banana bread again. Dangerously good, while still managing to be pretty damn good for you. It bakes up with a glorious sugarized shell that maintained a nice crunch up until it mysteriously disappeared 2 days later.


Banana Coconut Cake

Ingredients:

½ stick Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
3 whole Eggs
3 Mashed Ripe Bananas
½ cup Applesauce
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2-¼ cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Allspice or Ginger

Topping Ingredients:

1 cup Shredded Coconut
½ cup Chopped Nuts
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
½ cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Allspice or Ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter with sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Then add bananas, applesauce and vanilla.
Sift together dry ingredients and blend into the banana mixture.
Grease and sugar a 9-inch tube pan or bundt.
Mix all the topping ingredients together and pour 1/4 of the mix into the bottom of your pan. Pour in half of the cake batter. Sprinkle in the remaining topping mix, followed by the remaining batter. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Next time I think I'll try a little pumpkin and some dried fruit in the mix...