I had one banana in the fruit bowl which had seen its better days. It was more black than yellow. Nancy will have no part of a banana just beginning to turn, much less a black one, but I remember my Daddy loving overripe bananas, especially in Banana Pudding. I like ripe bananas, too, because the blacker they turn, the sweeter they get. That one banana, though, inspired me to cook something with ripe bananas, which turned out to be a Banana Crumble Cake. It was delicious and fairly easy to put together.
Begin with 5 large bananas, the riper the better. I had to go to the store and hand pick 4 additional bananas to go with my one dark yellow friend.
Put three of the bananas in the bottom of a greased 10×13 dish. Use a potato smasher (or a fork) to smash the bananas on the bottom for a mushy crust. Next take the remaining two bananas, slice them in ¾ inch thicknesses and spread them facing up over the crushed bananas. Pour 1 C whole milk over all the bananas and sprinkle ½ C chopped walnuts over the milk. Now, evenly spread a box of yellow cake mix over the milk and bananas. Place and distribute 1 stick of butter pats over the cake mix. In a small bowl, add ½ C light brown sugar and 1 t cinnamon and stir to combine. Sprinkle the mixture over the pan. Don’t sir or mix the ingredients. The layers will meld and combine perfectly in the oven as the cake bakes. Bake in a 350 oven for about 50 minutes or until the cake is a deep golden brown and the liquid along the edges is bubbling.
Remember, the darker the bananas, the sweeter the cake.
Banana Crumble Cake
5 large, ripe bananas
1 C whole milk
½ C chopped walnuts(optional)
1 box yellow cake mix
½ C light (or dark) brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 stick cold butter
