Banana Crumb Coffee Cake

There are always going to be those times when you buy more bananas than you or your family are going to eat. I usually just pop the ripe bananas into a freezer bag and put them in the freezer, the problem is your freezer can start to be overrun with frozen bananas. Eventually you get to the point where you need to use the frozen bananas or throw them out, which is exactly what you were trying to avoid in the first place by putting them in the freezer. Sure you could make banana bread, but if you want to make something a bit more special why not try this delicious banana crumb cake. The cake itself is not too sweet, but it does have a sweet and buttery crumb topping. They compliment each other nicely and if you are anything like my husband you could almost just eat the crumb topping. I made this in a 12 cup bundt pan, but you could use a regular tube pan which would allow you to keep the crumb topping on the top. Once I flipped mine out of the pan I kept the crumbs on the bottom since the cake part was so pretty.

Crumb topping Ingredients:

• 8 1/2 oz unbleached all-purpose flour
• 8 3/4 oz sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 8 oz unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cake ingredients:

• 8.65 oz (245 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 5 oz whole wheat flour
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 4 medium bananas (about 1 1/2 – 2 cups), mashed

Procedure

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with the rack positioned in the lower middle position. Butter and flour a 12 cup bundt pan or tube pan.
2. Make the crumb topping by melting the butter in either the microwave or on top of the stove. Add the vanilla to the melted butter. In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add in the melted butter and stir with a fork until all the flour is moistened. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large bowl combine the flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. In a large measuring cup combine the oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, and eggs.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until no dry bits of flour remain. Add in the bananas and stir just until they are incorporated into the dough. I like for there to be some larger pieces of bananas in the final cake.
5. Pour the batter out evenly into your prepared pan. Crumble the crumb topping evenly over the top of the cake. Place the cake onto a baking sheet (sometimes the butter from the topping has a way of coming out of the pan) and place the cake into the oven. Bake for at least 1 hour. Check after the hour is up by inserting a wooden skewer into the center of the cake. If the skewer comes out almost clean then the cake is ready, if it comes out with gooey batter on it then bake for another 10-15 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and allow it to continue to cool until it is just warm. Wrap leftover cake tightly with plastic wrap. It will keep for a couple of days, but it is best the first day.