South Florida Tropical Poundcake

A CAKE RECIPE FROM SCRATCH

Tropical Poundcake:
3/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups sugar
2 sticks butter, softened (1 cup)
3 eggs
4-1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon rum extract
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 (16-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained reserving 1/4 cup juice
1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped

Crunchy Topping:
1 cup dried banana chips, crushed
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325° F. Place the coconut in a shallow pan and bake 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden.

In a large nonreactive bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream sugar and butter about 1 minute or until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. By hand, blend in flour, soda, sour cream, vanilla, rum extract, lemon rind and 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice. Mix well. Blend in drained pineapple, mashed bananas and dates. (The mixture will be fairly thick.)

To make topping: In a small bowl, blend all topping ingredients together. Spoon cake batter into a lightly greased and floured 8-inch Bundt pan; sprinkle topping mixture over batter and bake 1 hour and 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and slice.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.