My mom used to make banana cake with yellow cake mix when I was younger. For all of our birthdays, my brother, sister and I, she would make this cake. She would also make the cake whenever we had bananas that were getting old to not waste them. I would always beg her to make the cake because I loved it so much. She finally taught me how to make it when I was about 10 years old. After I learned I made it often for myself and for many family get-togethers at our home. Everyone was always very impressed that I could bake at a young age, to which I responded that I loved deserts and the way it tastes which is how I learned. I also learned how to make brownies and cookies soon after learning about cakes. None of the baked goods I made were from scratch, because I really like the taste from the box or making cookies from the dough, especially because I can eat the dough raw while baking them. Of course, this resulted in many iterations of cakes and brownies, like nuts in both and raw oatmeal in brownies to make them chewier.

The way I was taught to cook and bake was without measuring cups. It is a source of pride for my family and other families of Persian background to cook without measuring and without following strict instructions from a cookbook. This way every family has a unique way of cooking and baking and recipes are shared verbally at the dinner table at events and family get-togethers. It is important to compliment the hosts on their way of cooking/baking, but also share your methods of cooking/baking the same dish. Each person sharing their recipes promises to try the other’s way, but mostly to be polite. No one quite remembers or is willing to give up the way that works for them and how they like the food to taste.

Bananas are a good source of potassium. I know this because I used to get leg cramps often and my parents told me to eat bananas to stop getting the cramps, and it really works! When all the ingredients are mixed in, I know it is not a healthy mix at all. But I don’t frost the cake because I prefer the authentic taste of banana cake by itself without frosting.

Most organic bananas are being grown in Central America and imported into the United States. This is because some of the arable lands for organic farming comes from farms which used to be rainforest. When clear cutting the rain forest with fire, nutrient-rich soil results which can be used for organic farming. Not all organic farms use this method, and farmers had to relearn how to plant crops because they were used to monocropping.

Hope you enjoyed my post and trying the banana cake during my presentation. It felt very nice to share an intimate detail from my family with everyone through food. I also really like hearing about the other foods and desserts that people bought and look forward to the next few weeks when others will share.