iCook: Banana Cake

I buy my groceries to get us through 2 weeks at a time. I had a friend ask me one time, What about fruit? Meaning, fresh fruit doesn't last that long, so what do you do about feeding your family fruit? This is my fruit plan- we eat the fresh fruit first, and then we start eating canned fruit until it's time to go to the grocery store. I get the store brand, in juice (not syrup), canned fruit which is cheap and still pretty healthy.
Bananas are my nemesis, though. My family loves bananas. If I buy one bunch of bananas, they are gone in 2-3 days. But, if I go all out and buy a few bunches, we never get through them all and I end up having to throw some out. NO!!! Money...being wasted...can't take it...

So, I am mean and just buy 2 small bunches and when the bananas are gone, they are gone. Wait until the next grocery trip. One more banana thought, and I will get to the recipe. I buy my bananas at Sam's- they are 1.77 a bunch. Yes!!!

This recipe was found for this reason. The bananas were on their way to "I'm not gonna eat that one", and I refused to throw them out. Then, I had a thought. Don't most recipes ask for ripe, super soft bananas? So, I looked in my favorite baking cookbook, Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. It is an exact replica of the original Betty Crocker cook book published in 1950. The photos and tips are pretty humorous, but everything I've made has turned out great.

This is my go-to recipe when I have a few bananas that need to be used, but nobody wants to eat.

Betty Crocker's Banana Cake
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 lg. eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 3
1/2 cup chopped nuts, optional

Preheat oven to 350.

First off, I hardly ever have buttermilk. I use a substitution
Regular milk with a splash of vinegar (or lemon juice)- let it sit

Mash the bananas. I got my little monkeys to help.

Cream the shortening and sugar together first. Then add in eggs.
Sift together the dry ingredients. Mix the buttermilk and bananas.
Add the dry ingredients in alternately with the banana mixture