Banana Crumb Cake (and the name of my home)

If you enjoy Southern Plate, please tell a friend!

This is the second tutorial photographed at my new home. I just love photographing things in the sun room. Yesterday I opened a few windows out there and had the most wonderfully scented early summer breeze flowing through as I prepared this cake and later worked on some emails and such in a chair by the window. I ended up spending just about the entire day there, even moving kitchen appliances in as I needed them!

This is a recipe I threw together and has been all the rage at my house! I love crumb cakes. Not too sweet, more filing than regular cake, and with that delicious crumbly topping, you just can’t go wrong. In my eternal quest to not waste food, I did this one up as a twist on the old tried and true banana bread as a way to use up those almost-too-ripe bananas. It has been a huge hit at my house and just about flies out of the pan the moment I remove it from the oven. My husband is completely over the moon when I make it now and Bradybug drives me bat crazy wanting to know when it is going to be done baking. I’ve made it twice this week, and it’s only Wednesday!

I try to bring you recipes first and keep my initial tangents to a minimum. However, after I bring you the recipe it’s Katy Bar The Door! on tangents so read down at the bottom to see the name of our new home and how it came about!

You’ll need: Sugar, bananas, milk, self rising flour*, brown sugar, margarine, eggs, and vanilla.

Banana bread is great for using up those darkening bananas. That is why we tend to make it so often! Bananas start getting good and ripe and no one wants to eat them anymore but they are super sweet and soft and just begging to be baked with!

You can use light or dark brown sugar, whichever is your preference or whatever you have on hand.

We’re not picky ’round here. 🙂

If you have bananas going bad and don’t want to make banana bread right away, just peel them, smoosh them up with a fork, and freeze them in sealed baggies. Be sure you write on the bag how many smooshed bananas are inside! When you’re ready to make banana bread, let them thaw a bit and toss them in!

*If you don’t have self rising flour, see my FAQ page on how to make your own.

Peel dem nanners!

I am using four bananas but you can use just three if you like. Now most people mash their bananas up with a fork for this but we want our crumb cake to be positively infused with banana flavor so we’re gonna liquify these puppies!

Place your bananas and sugar in a bowl and turn it on for a few minutes, until you have complete banan-owy liquid.

ooh yum.

Place your softened margarine in with the bananas and beat that up really well.

Its important that your margarine be softened at room temp for a bit before making this.

Of course, if you look at my mixture after I beat my margarine into it you can see globs of margarine because I didn’t soften mine one little bit! Just took it straight from the fridge and plopped it in there.

Eh, I’ve done worse. 🙂

Now we’re going to toss everything else in there. Add flour and eggs…

milk…

And some cheapie imitation vanilla. Mix all of that up until well blended.

Spray two pans with cooking spray. I am using square pans but you can use two loaf pans, a 9×13, or whatever cranks your tractor :).

One of the pans I am using is an 8×8 disposable aluminum pan because whenever I make this, I like to give one of them away. I made these yesterday and took one to a family that I’ve been campaigning to get adopted into for the past nineteen years :).

I don’t reckon I won ’em over yet but they sure did like my crumb cake and I spent the afternoon chasing geese and running over ant hills in their golf cart so I reckon I’m family enough. I also massacred a coke can in their back forty with a 22.

It’s fun to be a kid again. I didn’t have ammunition the first go around…

Back at the Duke place Daisy was a busy mixin’ up the crumb topping ingredients…

Place a cup of flour, a stick of margarine (1/2 cup) and a cup of brown sugar in a bowl.

You just take a long tined fork and moosh it all up together.

Keep stirring and mooshing. I like this part because its the time I go sit down and watch a little tv :).

Check the news to see which side is winnin’ today…

Here is your finished product. Now at this point, it would be awesome if you added in some chopped pecans or walnuts.

I very seldom include nuts in my recipes because it adds a lot of expense and around these here parts, the sheriff (that’d be me) is a cheapskate.

~winks and grins~

Pour about 1/4 of your batter into each of your pans and top with 1/4 of your crumbs.

Get happy with it. You can always make more if you run out…

Top with the rest of your batter

Then cover with the rest of your crumbs. Bake this at 350 until done.

How long it takes will depend on the type of pan you use but to check for doneness just insert a toothpick. If it comes out clean, you’re good to go. If it comes out covered in cakey batter, let it cook a bit longer.

I baked my 8×8’s for forty five minutes.

My son just about drove me crazy. “Mama, is the banana cake thing done yet? Can we eat it yet?”

“I’m starving having to smell it!”

It is awfully good.

Banana Crumb Cake

This is a recipe I threw together and has been all the rage at my house! I love crumb cakes. Not too sweet, more filing than regular cake, and with that delicious crumbly topping, you just can't go wrong.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: banana

Servings: 4

Calories: 404kcal

Ingredients

For the Crumb Cake:

• 2 C sugar
• 1 C milk
• 1 C chopped nuts optional
• 2 C self rising flour
• 1 stick margarine
• 2 eggs
• 3 bananas
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1 stick 1/2 c Margarine
• 1 Cup brown sugar dark or light
• 1 cup flour self rising or plain, whatever you have on hand

Instructions

• Spray two loaf or 8×8 pans with cooking spray.
• Place peeled bananas in mixing bowl, add sugar. Mix until bananas are liquefied.
• Add margarine, mix until creamed together with banana mixture. Add all other ingredients and blend well.
• In medium bowl, place all topping ingredients. Cut together with a long tined fork until well blended.
• Pour 1/4 of batter into each pan, top with 1/4 crumb mixture.
• Pour remaining batter over and top with remaining crumb mixture.
• Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350.
• Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutrition

Calories: 404kcal

Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

Give one to a friend. Never hurts to be neighborly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naming My Home

I have been tossing around a name for my new home for some time, ever since I first asked y’all for suggestions. I have loved every single one of the names you have suggested (Especially Southern Cabinet, because it’s the home of Southern Plate!) but the house didn’t seem to respond to any of them.

Now don’t go thinking I’m crazy because I wanted the house to respond. There are plenty of more valid reasons to doubt my sanity anyway. I just figured that when I came across the perfect name, it would kind of let me know.

The second night I slept in our new home, I was taking a shower and a name came to me. I get some of my best thinking done in the shower because that is about the only place the kids don’t follow me into, if I’m lucky. My son has come in a time or two to talk to me while I showered (I was behind the curtain!) and I have learned how to make him scatter real quick. I say “Alright, I’m done now. If you don’t want to be scarred for life you better get outta here”. ~snickers~ Boy does he ever leave a dust trail!

Anyway, I was trying to come up with a name and thinking about all of the wonderful things here at this home and how many wonderful things which have happened in my life lately. I remembered this old movie from the eighties called “A Trip To Bountiful” and it hit me just like that…”Bountiful”. It was like the name was spoken to me.

However, rather than trust that inner voice, I gave it the third degree, as we are prone to do. “I don’t think Bountiful works really. Maybe some play off of it though or something to do with Bountiful or Bounteous.” I went to sleep tossing the word around in my head, unable to let it go but unable to fully accept it at the same time.  The very next morning I had an email from a reader named Tina ~waves at Tina~ and it absolutely stunned me.

I happily found your site when I was looking to perfect my sweet tea. My tea had a taste that must have been the scalded sugar. Thank you… my tea is now delicious! I have since tried many of your wonderful recipes. They evoke many wonderful memories!

When I read about your new home needing a name, the word that popped into my mind was “bountiful” for the delicious bounty that will come from within!

Blessings to you and yours,
Tina

Next time I’ll pay more attention to my inner voice and not require so much divine affirmation.

Bountiful it is.

The bounty just keeps on coming each day, too. I’ve always wanted hydrangea bushes and there are six of the most gorgeous hydrangea bushes I’ve ever seen right outside my windows in the back.

This one is directly beneath my bedroom window.

I have been anxiously waiting to see what color the blossoms were going to be. I know you can alter the color by adjusting the acidity of the soil but I wanted to see what I had to begin with. My hope was for blue. Blue hydrangeas are my absolute favorite… This week I found out what I had…

I think we got a good thing going here, Bountiful.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor in the morning the devil says “Oh crap, shes up again”

Today’s quote was submitted just yesterday by Mary Jo. I’d just love for you to submit your motivational or uplifting quotes by clicking here. Thank you!