It’s been so long since I opened the CNYEats Taste of Utica book.  But this past weekend, I had too many over ripe bananas and was curious to see what I could do with them.  Of course a nice smoothie would have been good but I was feeling “cakey” and after running 22 miles and Ted doing so well in his triathlon, we deserved a treat. 

In the recipe below, I replaced 2 sticks of butter with 2 over ripe bananas.  The pound cake was delicious!   It was on the dry side but if you follow the original recipe below, I am 100% positive you are going to get a super moist, delightfully sweet, cake. 

“I found this in the paper and the lady that submitted it said she is asked each week by the members of her church for the recipe.”

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A CNYEats A Taste of Utica recipe submitted by Chris.

Apple Crumbles made this recipe Gluten Free using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour Mix.   The result was a slightly courser crumb than standard pound cakes but just as good. It was dense in a good way, very sweet with a crispy but delightful top.  The way I baked this cake was most likely the result of the crispy top because I preheated the oven to 325 F and put the cake in the oven.   Baked it for 25 minutes then turned the heat to 350 F, and baked the cake for 20 more minutes, finally turning off the oven, before it was completely cooked and allowed it to continue baking while the oven cooled.  However, the directions below are for the recipe found on page 213 of our book CNYEats A Taste of Utica.  *Note:  I also used a regular loaf pan and NOT a tube pan.  Use a tube pan for the directions below or adjust the recipe accordingly for a standard loaf pan.

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  • 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
  • 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature (3 sticks) *I used 2 o/r bananas plus 1 stick of butter
  • 2 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 5 tsp vanilla (I used 2 tsp vanilla and 3 tsp almond)
  • 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • Confectioner’s sugar to finish

Butter and lightly flour a 10 x 4 inch angel food cake tube pan.  Sift flour onto wax paper and set aside.

Beat butter in a large bowl with electric mixer until creamy and fluffy.  Add brown sugar, a few TBS at a time, beating 1 and 2 minutes after each addition.  Beat in eggs one at a time and continue to beat until mixture is very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Beat in the vanilla (and almond if using) and lemon juice.

Turn mixer to low and gradually blend in flour.  Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake at 325 F for 1 hour 20 minutes.  Test with knife which should come out clean.

Cool for 20 minutes then loosen around sides with small knife.  Remove, cool completely and finish with confectioners sugar.

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We’re already half way through this loaf and it was only baked yesterday!

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Do I really need to say how very good it is?!

Do you like pound cake?

Have you ever had the Sara Lee brand pound cake you find in the freezer section of the grocery store?  I love that pound cake!  The part I like best is the brown top which I carefully cut away with a knife, eat and then leave the rest of the cake for others to enjoy or use to make a trifle.

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