A Sweet "Tooth" Sunday

Here's another recipe post.  The title is in reference to the discovery of my baby girl's first tooth poking through today.  I found it quite exciting since Connor didn't have any teeth until he was almost a year old.  

Back to the topic of recipes... I am going to try making Sundays my recipe day since I usually have more time to cook/bake on weekends and it'll keep me motivated to try new recipes.  I am posting two versions of the recipe.  The first is the original passed on to me by my university professor.  She shared this cake with us at our class last week.   Yep, my professor brings us cake.  She's awesome.  The recipe she sent is full proof and, if you make it,  you will have yourself a wonderfully delicious banana cake.

I loved the cake and asked if I could have the recipe.  She agreed and sent it to me via e-mail.  As per usual when I request a recipe, I discovered that it was laden with sugar and fat...probably what made it so delicious!  I decided to make my own banana cake but with a few changes.   I also added a couple other ingredients that I am used to including in banana bread recipes in hopes that it might add some taste and make up for the lack of sugar and fat.

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Meredith’s Banana Cake 

2 and ¼ cups flour 

1 and 2/3 cups sugar 

1 and ¼ tsp baking powder 

1 and ¼ tsp baking soda 

1 tsp salt 

2/3 cup buttermilk 

2/3 cup salad oil 

3 eggs 

1 and ¼ cups mashed bananas 

Measure everything into a large mixing bowl and stir the ingredients together. 

Beat on high speed for three minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, and put into a greased and floured bundt pan.  

Bake at 350 degrees about 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Cool in the pan ten minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and unmold.  

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Meredith’s Banana Cake (Trudy's Revisions)

1 cup all purpose flour 
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup oat bran

1/2 cup sugar 

1 ¼ tsp baking powder 

1 ¼ tsp baking soda 

1 tsp salt 

1  tsp ground cinnamon 

3/4 cup buttermilk  * I used 1 tbsp of vinegar with 1 % milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes

1/2 cup oil 

3 eggs 

1 1/2 cups applesauce 

1  tsp vanilla 

1 ¼ cups mashed bananas (3 medium)

Optional: You may choose to add some walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins or even pecans.

Measure everything into a large mixing bowl and stir the ingredients together. 

Beat on high speed for three minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, and put into a greased and floured bundt pan.  

Bake at 350 degrees about 50-55 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Cool in the pan ten minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and unmold.  

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I taste tested my banana cake once it cooled a bit and it actually tastes pretty good.  It's not quite as light and fluffy as the original though.  I used 4 medium bananas and 3 bananas would have been enough and probably lightened it up a bit.  I also recommended that the baking time be lengthened to about 50-55 minutes for my recipe.  If I made it again, I would like to try adding some walnuts or a few mini chocolate chips.