by Stacey Torres

Created on: December 24, 2009   Last Updated: September 07, 2010

As a rule, I am not a fan of banana cake, banana pudding or banana nut bread. In essence, I never liked cooked bananas; that is, until I was introduced to the famous Bananas Foster dessert, which is now the flagship of my dessert madness favorites. I rarely get to eat this dessert, and it is too complicated (for me) to make. There are many knock-offs and short cuts, and Bananas Foster at a family breakfast buffet just does not cut it.

But I love Bananas Foster and I love cake. How could I marry my love of this decadent dessert with my passion for cake making and cake eating? After trying out several cake combinations that failed miserably or simply came up short to my expectations, I finally came up with the perfect - well, almost perfect - Bananas Foster Cake. This is a perfect last supper dessert before embarking on that annual new year's diet.

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 large ripe banana, mashed

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup dark rum

1/2 cup melted vanilla ice cream (premium quality)

1/2 cup instant cocoa (sweetened)

Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt® or tube pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter on medium speed until light, about 30 seconds. (I prefer to mix my cakes by hand with a wooden spoon, but that is optional). Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In medium bowl, mash banana. Add sour cream, milk, vanilla and rum; stir to combine. Add dry ingredients alternately with banana mixture to creamed mixture; beat well after each addition.

Reserve 2 cups of batter in two small bowls (one cup each). Fold in the vanilla ice cream into one bowl, then stir instant cocoa mix into the other bowl of batter. Spoon half of the plain banana batter into pan. Top with the vanilla (ice cream) batter. Spoon more plain batter over this. Top with cocoa batter. Bake at 350° for 55 to 70 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan to cool completely.

Fill the center of the cake with the following filling.

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup mashed bananas

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup banana liqueur

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

 Dust the cake lightly with powdered sugar. When serving, drizzle each slice of cake with a bit of dark hot fudge syrup warmed in the microwave.

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