Banana Crunch Cake with Praline Topping

Don’t ask me why (really, I mean it, don’t ask) I think of banana cake at Easter time. I know, I know, the Easter bunny eats carrots (Well, who knows? He may eat bananas as well.), and carrot cake seems to be the norm, but today I made a banana cake, and it is sensational! Seriously, I think this kicks carrot cake to the curb (Except for my Secret Ingredient Carrot Cake, of course!). It would work equally well at your Easter brunch or dinner, and the beauty of this cake is that it needs to be made the day ahead of serving. It tastes just fine and is certainly serve-worthy shortly after baking, but the flavors have a chance to meld if left to set at least eight hours.

While it needs to be made ahead, it also doesn’t keep well, so if it isn’t completely consumed the following day, put it in the freezer. It will last, frozen, for up to three months.

Obviously, this isn’t your normal banana cake if you take a look at the spices and flavorings, but the topping is what truly makes it out of this world! The secret ingredient is Melissa’s Clean Snax. Not only does it pack a nutritional wallop, but the delightful flavor and intense crunch make this praline topping incredibly good. Melissa’s has a wide variety of flavors of Clean Snax, including banana and cacao, but I did not want a trace of chocolate flavor in this cake, so went with almond. If you want to kick up the spice a bit, try their Hatch Chile Clean Snax (it’s impossible to stop eating, be warned.)

Banana Crunch Cake with Praline Topping

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup butter, softened
2 large bananas, mashed
¼ cup peanut butter
1½ tablespoons rum extract
1 large egg
1¼ cups of flour
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon cloves
¼ cup pecans, chopped

Praline Topping

¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
¼ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 tablespoons milk
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
½ cup Melissa’s Almond Clean Snax, chopped
¼ cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour (or spray with Baker’s Joy) a 9” x 9” pan.

Cream sugar, butter, and bananas until smooth. Beat in rum extract and egg.

Blend dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl; add to wet mixture alternately with buttermilk.

Pour mixture into prepared pan, smoothing top, and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until top is golden brown, cake has pulled away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick tests clean. Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Praline Topping

Bring butter and sugar to a boil in a medium/large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for one minute or until slightly thickened. Allow to cool 10 minutes. Whisk in milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Fold in Clean Snax and pecans, and pour over the top of cooled cake.

Allow cake to set, uncovered, at room temperature for eight hours or overnight before serving. This cake does not keep well, so it if it isn’t consumed the following day, freeze for up to three months.

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A not-as-sweet banana loaf is my grandmother’s Banana Date Nut Bread, a delicious family tradition.

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Hummingbird Pancakes

The other day I was watching a hummingbird at the nectar feeder and I thought, ooh, Hummingbird Cake sounds good. (For the uninitiated, a Hummingbird Cake is a moist Southern layer cake containing bananas, crushed pineapple, toasted pecans, and sometimes coconut, topped with a cream cheese frosting. As Andy Griffith used to say, “It is goo-ood.”)

Then I thought, gee, Hummingbird Cake is a lot of work. Well worth it, of course, but WORK! Then I thought, ooh, Hummingbird PANcakes, and I settled on that, first, because they are far less work, and second, because it was eight o'clock in the morning.

There are as many varieties of Hummingbird Pancake recipes as there are Hummingbird Cake recipes, and just as many different toppings. You can top your pancakes with a cream cheese drizzle, a mound of crushed pineapple, or layer your stack with sliced bananas. I prefer mine with pure maple syrup.

The recipe I use is a rather loose adaptation of an old one from Southern Living. Give it a try. It's a great way to brighten your morning.

Hummingbird Pancakes

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup mashed banana

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, undrained

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 extra-large egg

1/2 cup toasted pecans

1/2 cup coconut

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

In another bowl, combine the banana, pineapple, sugar, vanilla, buttermilk, and egg.  Whisk until just combined.

Add the wet to the dry and stir until just combined. Fold in pecans and coconut.

Pour the batter by 1/4 cup full onto a hot griddle. When the pancake starts to bubble, flip to the other side for 2-3 minutes or until browned; repeat with remaining batter.

Extra pancakes can be frozen between pieces of waxed paper for later use.

This post is linked to:

Friday Finds

Show and Tell Friday 

Friday Unfolded
Fridays Flash Blog
Simple and Sweet Fridays

Foodie Friday & Everything Else

What To Do Weekend 
The Weekend re-Treat

Speculoos Pancakes

I have been hearing a lot about Speculoos Cookie Butter lately, and have pretty much ignored most of it.  You see, I had heard a lot about Nutella® as well and, it turns out, I wasn’t wowed.  I love chocolate, and I like hazelnuts, but somehow this combination of a chocolate-like substance (Is it really chocolate?) and hazelnuts left me cold.  I know that I am in the minority here, and I accept that.  So, after buying a  jar of Speculoos Butter during a recent trip to Trader Joe’s I expected to have the same reaction.  No!  Yum!  I am talking serious yum!  This stuff is great.  I taste-tested it right from the jar, and could have been satisfied with that alone, but then the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a recipe for Speculoos Pancakes, and I was off and running.  This is pancake heaven -- slightly spicy, slightly sweet, and totally delicious.  If you haven’t decided what to make for Sunday breakfast, the decision has been made.

You can read the recipe online here, but for the sake of convenience, I have reprinted it below.

Speculoos Pancakes

 Yield: 10 pancakes

1 cup flour

¾ cup buttermilk

¼ cup whole milk

½ cup Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter, plus more for serving

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon each: baking soda, salt

1 large egg

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients except vegetable oil in mixing bowl; whisk lightly. It’s OK if there are small lumps and streaks.

Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over high heat. When hot, wipe away excess oil with a paper towel, leaving a thin film on entire surface. Reduce heat to medium-high; add batter in ¼ cup portions. Cook until bubbles appear at edges. Flip; cook other side. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil as necessary.

Serve pancakes topped with more Speculoos spread, along with maple syrup and sliced bananas, if you like.

If you can’t find Speculoos cookie spread in your grocer, there is a recipe for making your own here.

Per pancake: 169 calories; 9g fat; 3g saturated fat; 27mg cholesterol; 18g carbohydrates; 4g protein; 209mg sodium; no fiber.

Recipe adapted from “The Chicago Tribune Good Eating Cookbook” by former Good Eating writer Pat Dailey from a recipe by Ina Pinkney at Ina’s Kitchen.

  

This post is linked to:

Be Inspired Friday

Foodie Friday

Sugar and Spice

Sunday Sweeties