Pecan Pienana Bread

Pecan Pienana Bread

 I just finished reading a magical and delightful book (A Corner of White, by Jaclyn Moriarty), that left me craving banana bread, pecan pie, and assorted cakes.  Please note that I have never been a fan of pecan pie either (that is, until I met the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie at Petsi Pies, but that's a story for another day, amigos).  But that Jaclyn Moriarty, mistress of words, chuckles, and quirky books turned into a tastebud tease! It seemed like half the book took place in some sort of bakery, and the other half involved meals and snacks.  Something was always in the oven and  I couldn't stop thinking about all the treats I was reading about!  

Unfortunately, as you're probably aware, my beloved hometown Boston had a rough last week.  We're a tough sort, us Massholes, and we made it through a very sad, scary Patriots Day and Boston Marathon, in addition to a really crazy, confusing, high stress multi-city lockdown with the same pluck, verve, and charm that has been beguiling New York sports teams into defeat for like, a century now.  Unfortunately, however, the bananas I left on my desk at work on Thursday to eat on Friday morning did not weather the lockdown and consequential 3 day weekend well.  But friends, when life gives you mostly rotting bananas, we Bostonians make lemonade.  Errrr, banana bread.  And because I'd been thinking about nothing else but the goodies in A Corner of White, I decided to combine the two to create a hot mess of an experimental yet magical dessert/coffee cake/hybrid that I'm calling Pecan Pienana Bread.  

I have to admit, I had no idea how this would turn out.  I've made banana bread a gajillion times, but I've never really gone in for making Pecan Pie, on account of not really liking it.  Shocking, I know.  I was hoping the topping would be a little runnier or have more of a solid crust across the top, but in the end it was more like a coffee cake. There are probably ways to alter it to really make it like a pecan pie filling sitting on top of banana bread, like waiting until the topping has entirely cooled to add the banana bread, or using some corn syrup, upping the butter, pecans, sugars, maybe even adding some rum, etc., but I like that pouring the banana bread in when it was still a little warm meant that it kind of created a crust down the sides and a ring on the top, avec un cake du cafe.  I don't have one, but imagine that it'll be easier to get the cake out (less fear of burns from hot caramelized things!) if you use a springform pan.  I often choose to use some whole wheat flour in many of my recipes because I like that it makes cakes and breads a bit more hearty, and almost lends a very light flavor of nuttiness.  That said, this will be more cake-like and a little lighter if you exclusively use all-purpose flour.  Don't worry too much about having perfectly mashed bananas, or little dark brown sugar balls; it adds some nice texture within the cake, especially as the topping and bread kind of bind together.  In a final note, I was rather distracted by the dread scourge of laundry, and overcooked my bread just a smidge.  Make sure it is a nice golden brown.  Not Tan Mom bronze, because that, friends, is hard to cut (but still tastes great!).  Anyways, enjoy this cake outside, on a lovely spring day, with a nice cup of tea and a copy of A Corner of White! 

Recipe below: