Aunt Carol’s Banana Nut Cake – Easy And Delish

My Aunt Carol was truly one of a kind. She always seemed flustered and she talked a mile a minute, and I swear she never finished a sentence in her entire life. Just picture the conversations of “Floyd The Barber” on the Andy Griffith Show. (I think she even looked a little bit like Floyd!) 

It was pretty obvious how she got her name. She was born on Christmas day, so what else could she be called besides Christmas Carol?

Here she is with her hubby (my Uncle Lloyd) enjoying a slice of “birthday pie” baked by my mom. It looks like either a mince meat pie or a sour cream raisin slice…two of Carol’s favorites. (You can find Mom’s famous Sour Cream Raisin Pie recipe right HERE.)

Aunt Carol was a liberated woman long before her time. Back then she was the only woman I knew who went to a BARBER shop to get her hair cut! (I bet she gave those guys a run for their money on THOSE visits!)

The candy dish was never empty on her coffee table. I can still see lemon drops or those pink mint candies in my mind. And nobody cooked a Christmas goose with sauerkraut like dear old Aunt Carol! What a delicious memory to this day.

She was also famous for baking any cake or pie containing nuts. I can still see her sitting with a bowl in her lap as she picked the shells from locally grown walnuts and hickory nuts. And visiting relatives from Arkansas would bring bags of their home grown pecans to share with all of us too. So I guess it’s no wonder that lots of “nutty” baked goods appeared on our dining tables.

Recently I came across this recipe card for Aunt Carol’s Banana Cake and I thought you might enjoy a delicious blast from my past. (That’s MY handwriting…back when I wrote somewhat legibly!) As you can see, that card has many miles and spills on it. I’m guessing it’s at least 50 years old!

Here are some of the ingredients I assembled before I began, and I preheated the oven to 350 degrees.

I started by creaming together the sugar and butter in a mixing bowl. (The recipe said shortening but I almost always use butter in my baking.)

Next I added  three ripe bananas…

Next I added two eggs.

I added the vanilla and the sour milk. (Just add a teaspoon of vinegar to the milk in your measuring cup and let it sit for a few minutes and it will curdle. And curdled milk is a GOOD thing in this case!)

In a separate bowl I combined the dry ingredients…starting with the flour. I don’t sift flour any more, but I make sure to scoop it lightly into the measuring cup and I level it with the back of a knife.

I added baking soda AND the baking powder…(This recipe uses BOTH!)

And salt…

I combined all those dry ingredients with a whisk and I added them to the wet ingredients. 

And what about NUTS? The recipe says they are optional, and I think Aunt Carol would have probably used walnuts in this cake, but I had pecans in my freezer so that’s what I used.

MEEMAW’S “NUTTY” TIPS: When chopping nuts always use a serrated knife. Those nuts will stay on your cutting board instead of flying all over your kitchen floor.

Always coat those nuts with a dab (maybe a Tablespoonful) of extra flour before adding to your batter. It will help to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.

Just stir them into that flour…

And gently fold them into the batter right before baking.

I baked in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes…and here it is!

You can top with any icing but I made my signature cream cheese version…

Yes, Dear Readers, my Aunt Carol was one of a kind. She may have never finished a sentence…but her finished recipes were top notch!