BANANA DREAM CAKE

After having such great result with my last effort in the kitchen make the Slow Cooker Chicken Extraordinaire, I thought I would make something sweet since it has been so long. We really did enjoy the chicken dish and it made enough for us to enjoy three meals from it. (RECIPE)

Now for a dessert. One with not too much sugar added but we wouldn't feel guilty eating it for a while.

I had four bananas that were getting ripe and needed to be used or frozen so that's where I first started looking -- recipes using bananas. I didn't want to make a quick bread. And I didn't really want to make muffins. So that just left cake or pie. I saw a recipe for a banana and something pie, but I don't really like bananas in pies. I almost decided to make a banana pudding, but the bananas were more ripe than I like to eat them and you really taste the bananas in banana pudding. 

Beside my glider on the (enclosed) back porch was a thin family cookbook collection from a dear friend Linda who played handbells on my right in our handbell choir. There was no index in the back so that meant I had to find the categories. 

It didn't take me long to find this recipe for Banana Dream Cake. I loved the story that went along with the cake. "Carolyn Shelton - When my brother-in-law was stationed with the Marines in Vietnam, I sent him this cake along with a can of ready to spread frosting. When the package arrived, him and his buddies didn't take time to frost the cake. They quickly devoured it then passed the can of frosting around."

Anytime I see a recipe that uses a yellow or white cake mix, I get excited because I know I can use a sugar-free yellow cake mix. The Dream Whip only has 2 grams of added sugar and I can use unsweetened coconut. The bananas will have natural sugar. Carolyn's Banana Dream Cake was definitely going to be my first attempt in quite a while for making something "sweet" to eat. She sprinkled the top with powdered sugar and even though that wouldn't have added much sugar, I decided not to do that. That is what I usually do instead of icing a cake to reduce the sugar though.

As with all of my recipe that I share with reduced sugar, you don't have to use sugar-free products or sugar substitutes as I do. But I know that are a lot of people who do have to watch their intake of sugar that read my blog.

PRINTABLE COPY OF JUST THE RECIPE

BANANA DREAM CAKE

1     pkg white or yellow cake mix (I used a sugar-free yellow cake mix)

1       envelope Dream Whip

4       eggs

1       cup mashed bananas (2 large ones)

1       cup flaked coconut (I used unsweetened coconut)

3/4    Tablespoon water

1/2     teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10" tube pan. Set aside.

Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and

blend until all ingredients are moist.

Beat mixture for 4 minutes.

Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Pour batter into  pan.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Cool in pan for 15 minutes on a wire rack.

Turn out cake on a cake rack or plate to finish cooling. May sprinkle with powdered sugar, if like.

Delicious served with fresh fruit and a scoop of ice cream if you choose.