At holiday time, it’s good to have a full freezer. A nice alternative to honey cake is banana cake. It’s easy to prepare several loaves at one time. They keep well at room temperature, wrapped well, and even longer if you freeze them. They have the same gooey top as honey cake, but are more universally popular. (Some people just don’t like honey cake.)

For those who say it’s not worth the calories if it’s not chocolate, this cake is a great solution, since it has chocolate chips folded into the batter! Nice to have these on hand at Sukkos, or any time at all. If you have bananas that are past their prime, freeze them right in their skins in the freezer. Over time, you’ll have enough bananas to make this cake!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

Makes 3 Loaves

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large)
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (180 C).
2. Line three 9×5 inch (2 L) loaf pans with baking paper.
3. In a bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
4. In a large bowl using electric mixer, beat oil and sugar.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add bananas and vanilla, beating well.
7. Add flour mixture, beating just until smooth.
8. Stir in chocolate chips.
9. Spread batter into prepared pans and bake for 60-65 minutes or until a tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean.
10. Let cakes cool in pans on rack for 15 minutes.
11. Remove cakes from pans, let cool completely on racks.