bananas

I had a lot of overripe bananas at my house and that means one thing in my mind. Time to make some Doctor Bird Cake. This is a recipe that my mom found years ago in some magazine. I have changed things a bit, mostly reducing the amount of oil (by 2/3) and adding some whole wheat flour. I was mixing up the batches while trying to make supper and keep my kids in the house and realized when I was stirring everything together that I actually forgot the whole wheat flour. So, the finished cake will look a bit different if you follow the recipe below. Last night I doubled the recipe and used a tube cake pan and a bundt pan. When the cakes were cooled, I cut them in half, popped them in large freezer bags and froze them to be enjoyed later.

Doctor Bird Cake (Banana-Pineapple) - makes one cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
8 ounces crushed pineapple (undrained)
**note-when I doubled the recipe, I used a whole 19oz. can and divided it in half
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups diced or mashed banana

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease tube cake pan. Sift together dry ingredients. Mix undrained pineapple, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs and bananas in a separate bowl. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until blended. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for one hour and 20 minutes. (I started checking at one hour, 10 minutes). Cake will crack slightly on top. Cool in pan on rack for 15-20 minutes then turn out and cool completely on rack.