Brown Sugar Banana Cake

Last night I spent my evening with a great group of woman supporting the nonprofit organization Dining for Women. This months featured program was the Children of Vietnam. In a nut shell everyone brings a tradition dish to pass from the country that we are supporting. While we eat, we learn about the county and what our money will do to help support the women and children. At the end of the meeting you have the opportunity to donate if you feel so inclined. There is also wine and mingling, which is always good in my book!  If you don’t know much about this charity follow my link above. It’s a great organization that donates to a deserving cause each and every month.

With all the great food that was shared last night, I was inspired to get into the kitchen. While this recipe is far from ethnic I felt it was perfect for my day off.  And with a slight chill in the air I knew I needed to get my oven fired up. I also had 3 bananas that are about to go bad, so that was really the driving factor 🙂

Ingredients (Makes 8 servings)

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Topping

• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Stir to combine

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour  a 9in pie dish.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into your prepared pan and top with brown sugar and cinnamon topping.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Slice and top with a slab of butter and enjoy

Recipe was adapted from foodnetwork.com