Saturday, November 14, 2009

Crazy Good Banana Pound Cake



I don't know about you, but I am a recipe hoarder. I cut them out of magazines and newspapers and file them in the pages of cookbooks or in between piles of old bills. Every once in a while, I will run across one of my treasures and will actually give it a try. Such was the case for this lucious Banana Pound Cake. I had actually cut it out of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune several years ago, tucked it away and forgot about. When I re-found (is that a word?) it a couple of months ago, the list of ingredients really sounded good---bananas (of course) with a little ginger and little orange zest. It turns out this one is a keeper. I have made it several times now, and I like it so much better than a banana bread. This is truly a pound cake, but lighter in flavor and texture than some (think Sara Lee) At any rate, here it is:

Banana Pound Cake (adapted from the Star-Tribune)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 medium, very ripe bananas, mashed not too smooth with a fork (3/4 cup)
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; Spray 2 9x5 loaf pans with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an over-hang on the long sides of the pans.

Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating at low speed, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy.


When you beat the heck out of the butter and the sugar, it will become a beautiful, light lemony color....

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl sides after each addition. After all eggs are in, beat several minutes at high speed until the mixture is smooth and very pale. Beat in the bananas.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and ginger. combine the milk and vanilla. Beating at low speed, add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk mixture. Stir in the orange peel.


(I'm a whisker, not a sifter...)

Pour the batter into 2 9x5 loaf pans, spreading evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake pulls away slightly form the sides of the pan and a toothpick or cake tester inserted near the center---and nearly all the way down---comes out clean.


Have you seen this stuff? Love! I sprayed the pans, then lined with parchment and sprayed again.


Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a knife, invert onto a rack, invert again and cool completely.





Certainly, you can bake this in a tube or a Bundt pan. If so, be careful not to overfill the pan--there may be a bit of batter left over. The bake time would be a bit longer as well, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cover with foil to prevent over-browning after about 45 minutes.


The hint of citrus and ginger is perfect!

If you really want to jazz it up, serve a couple slices with some ice cream, bananas, and homemade hot fudge. Need a recipe for the hot fudge? Find it right here: Dark Chocolate Hot Fudge




Or add some strawberries and pineapple to make a banana pound cake split!

10 comments:

  1. oh yeah!! cuz as much as I like banana bread, I was kinda getting sick of it and needed something new to do with these left over naners. And I'm like you...I have a gazillion recipes to "try" and I can't bring myself to throw any of them away even tho I've had them for years and years, just waiting for that "someday".

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    1. PLEASE READ. Recipe Problem: Notice that in her description, she stated "orange zest" but when writing the recipe, she wrote orange peel; this will make a HUGE difference if you use peel and not zest. Zesters are on the sides of many graters but I find they are too small. I bought one from King Arthur flour that I love because the holes are larger and I get zest without it being too tiny and I am not zesting forever. Look for this detail when buying one.
      I am about to make this recipe but intend to split the batter for two loaves and try ginger in one and cinnamon in the other, I am also thinking of sprinkling nuts on the top (which I love). Being on the top, they can be removed by people who can't eat nuts... I posted this below to someone who had a problem but feel it is important for you to know BEFORE you start. ;-}

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  2. This sounds DELICIOUS!!!!! YUM! I am gettin tired of Banana Nut Bread too... I have to try this...

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  3. Super yummy recipe. 1/2" wasn't quite enough room to leave in my pans. It rose more, and overflowed a lil bit. But thanks so much! Delicious!

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  4. ok...this is funny cuz i know I saw this before (the comment is the proof) but I never made this.. I really really need to!! I'm going to print this now so I have a daily visual reminder (ya, i'm at that stage in my life LOL)

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  5. OMG! I have bananas that are ready for a new recipe tomorrow! thank you for the inspiration!

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  6. delish. I left out the ginger & used cinimon & nutmeg instead. Obey the recipe for stirring the orange peel in... I did not & the beaters caught all the peel.

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  7. amazingly good!!! leftout the ginger but used some chopped pecans i had lying around, turned out delicious!

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  8. I was looking for a different recipe for bananas and decided to go with this one. I used white wheat flour, 1c rapadura sugar, 2 bananas, and 1/3c dark chocolate chips. I baked it in a bundt pan and served it when company came over - a big hit! The ginger and orange peel were very subtle; I could see changing up the spices for variety.

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  9. Yum--I'll bet this is really good with chocolate chips...I love orange and chocolate. And bananas and chocolate. Really, most anything and chocolate. :)

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