Four Forum cooks dropped everything and raced to their recipe repositories the minute they read Mukilteo reader Betsy Snoey’s recent request for a good and easy banana bread with a cake mix base. She told us, “I am hoping someone out there knows what I need and is willing to share. Otherwise, I’ll just keep putting these old bananas in the freezer and never make banana bread again!”
Bonnie Johnson shares the first recipe, which, happily, makes not just one, but two standard loaves.
The second recipe produces a snazzy, frosting-drizzled bundt cake, and comes to us courtesy of Everett cook Jan Benson. “This recipe is out of ‘101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix,’” she says.
Ripe banana loaves
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix
½ cup light brown sugar
2 very ripe medium bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 cup)
¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup oil (canola, corn, safflower, soybean or sunflower)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Place rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two, 5-by-9-inch loaf pans; set aside. Turn all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again, if needed. The batter should be well pureed. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and place them in the oven side by side. Bake the loaves until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool for 30 minutes or more. Slice and serve.
Store the loaves covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature, for up to 1 week. Or freeze, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw loaves overnight on the counter before serving. Makes 2 loaves.
Banana bundt cake
2 bananas, peeled and mashed
1 package (18.25 ounces) white cake mix
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/3cup water
2 tablespoons oil
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 can (16 ounces) white frosting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan; set aside. In large mixing bowl, combine bananas, cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, water, oil and baking powder. Mix just until dry ingredients are moistened and pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 45 to 50 minutes, until cake tests done. Remove from oven, invert cake onto a platter and let cool. Place frosting in microwave for 10 to 15 seconds to soften, then stir and drizzle over cake. Makes 1 bundt cake.
The next Forum will appear in Sunday’s special Thanksgiving Food section.
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