Recipe(tried): My Mom's Banana Cake

Eric, I hope you're still looking for a good recipe. I don't like dense banana bread, either. Try this recipe, which has been a favorite of mine since childhood. It is technically not a quick bread, but is mixed like a cake. It has a fluffy but moist texture that needs no frosting, which can easily be sliced and eaten out-of-hand, like a bread. I know you won't be disappointed with it.

MY MOM'S BANANA CAKE

3/4 cup solid shortening
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups sifted flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon soda
6 tablespoons sour milk*
1 1/2 cups very ripe** bananas, mashed smooth with a fork (about 3 medium size, or 5 small)
3/4 cup chopped pecans or English walnuts

*To make enough sour milk for this recipe, add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1/3 cup of milk and let stand at least 5 minutes. If buttermilk is on hand, it can be used instead, but fresh buttermilk works better than dry powdered buttermilk.
**For absolute best flavor, use only bananas that are deep yellow in color with lots of brown speckles.

Cream together the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

Sift together the dry ingredients; add alternately with the sour milk and banana. (I add about one-fourth of the dry ing's, then a third of the milk, a third of the banana; repeat twice, ending with the last fourth of the dry ing's.) Stir in the nuts.

Bake in a greased and floured tube pan in 350-degree oven for about 65-70 minutes, till a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan to a rack to finish cooling.
This amount of batter can be divided in half and baked in two 9"x5" loaf pans.

To make a smaller cake, reduce the recipe by one-third of the ingredients. Bake in a 9"x13" oblong cake pan for about 40-45 minutes; or in two 8" or 9" layers for about 30 minutes.