Banana Coconut Cake Recipe
by Brenda Langton, Tastemaker in Residence - Spoonriver Cookbook
This is a heavy, moist cake. Serve it with honey-sweetened whipped cream or a light cream cheese frosting. Serves 10 to 12.
Ingredients
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups honey or 1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs, separated
3 to 4 large bananas, mashed (2 cups)
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup dried unsweetened coconut
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° Butter and flour two 9-inch cake pans or one 9 x 13-inch pan.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.
- Combine the oil, honey, and vanilla in another bowl and beat until well mixed. Add the egg yolks and beat until they are incorporated. Stir in the bananas, raisins, walnuts, and coconut. Add the flour mixture and stir well.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter with a rubber spatula until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans, dividing the batter equally between the two pans.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness after 30 minutes: a tester (toothpick) should come out clean and the top will spring back from a light touch. Cakes made in a single large pan will take longer to bake. Cool the cakes on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Then invert the pans to remove the cake layers. Let the cake cool completely before frosting it.