I just found this article from Good Housekeeping where they presented their ranking of the best yellow cake mixes. I haven’t used the King Aurthur brand (the top rated mix) before, but think it’s available in Colorado? Anybody know?
Anyway, I love to cook but I am not a great baker. In fact, I can count the times I’ve made a cake from scratch on one hand and since living in Colorado! I’ve only tried to make a cake from scratch twice (and both times they tasted ok but didn’t look that hot until I spread TONS of icing on them to hide how much they had fallen!-Still haven’t got the high-altitude baking thing down!) But I do like to “doctor” my cakes made from a mix so they seem a little more special…..and when cake mixes are on sale (Betty Crocker and Pillsbury can often be found on sale for $1.00) they can be a cheap but tasty dessert.
Here’s a recipe (from an old friend) for banana loaves using yellow cake mix that I have made many times. I actually use this recipe when I have leftover buttermilk that I bought for another recipe and need to use it up before it goes bad.
Banana Loaves
Makes: two 9-inch loaves
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 40 to 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
- Flour for dusting the pans
- 1 package (18.25 oz) plain yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 very ripe medium bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 cup)
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
Place rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 9-inch or 10-inch loaf pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.
Place the cake mix, brown sugar, mashed bananas, buttermilk, oil, eggs, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low-speed for one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and increase the mixer speed to medium and beat two minutes more, scraping the sides down as needed. The batter should look well blended, and the bananas should be well pureed. Divide the batter between the prepared pans and place them in the oven side by side.
Bake the loaves until they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place on wire racks to cool for 20 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each pan and invert each loaf onto a rack to cool on its side for 30 minutes more. Slice and serve.
*You can freeze these, wrapped in foil, for up to 6 months. Thaw the loaves overnight on the counter before serving.
So I love Betty Crocker and Pillbury cake mix. What’s your favorite cake mix?