Banana Crumb Cake

I'll start by apologizing for two things. First, I can't believe it's been over two weeks since my last post! Time flies when you're having fun...or just when you're so busy that you haven't had time to go to the grocery store to buy sugar and bake. But even though my life just got exponentially busier I promise I'll be better about keeping up with my posting. I have a ton of recipes I love, but I don't love the pictures I've taken of the final products so they fall into the abyss that is my iPhoto collection. I've decided there's no use keeping a good recipe from you, bad picture or not. That brings me to my second apology: banana crumb cake.

I sincerely apologize for keeping this cake all to myself (and those who live in my vicinity) these past few weeks. It's not like in the 15 times I've made it in the past month that I couldn't photograph it again to get decent pictures. So, here it is – my new obsession. I have ditched every other banana recipe I thought I was loyal to for this delicious, easy cake. It's become a house favorite in such an extreme way that last time I made it I made two 9 x 13-inch pans of it because I knew we'd go through the first so quickly. Yes, 9 x 13 in just a little over 24 hours. Four college girls.

My favorite part is the brown sugar topping/filling. It's the perfect touch to add to the cake's otherwise simplistic flavor. I admit that I've never met a crumb topping I didn't like, but this one, with this recipe, is just perfect. I ate my usual peanut butter and banana sandwich today and honestly was upset with myself for wasting a banana that could have gone into this cake.  I can't decide which is worse, the fact that I combine bananas with mass amounts of peanut butter and call it lunch, or the fact that I now combine bananas with mass amounts of sugar and call it breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Banana Crumb Cake
Recipe from Christy Jordan's Southern Plate

Ingredients

3 bananas, peeled
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine - I used butter
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped nuts, optional - I opted out
2 cups self rising flour*
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Crumb topping
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine - Still used butter
! cup brown sugar (dark or light)
1 cup flour (self-rising or all-purpose, whatever you have on hand)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 8 x 8 inch pans with cooking spray (or one 9 x 13-inch).Place the bananas in a large bowl and add the sugar. Mix until the bananas are liquefied. Add the margarine and mix until creamed together with the banana mixture. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.
In a medium bowl, combine all the topping ingredients. Cut together with a long-tined fork until well-blended. Pour one quarter of the batter into each pan and top with 1/4 of the crumb mixture (or half of the batter/topping into the pan if you are using the 9 x 13-inch). Pour the remaining batter over and top with the remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve from the pan.

*If you don't have self-rising flour you can make your own! Add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt for each cup of all-purpose flour.