Strawberries, Bananas and Coconut

I like using a lot of fruits for my desserts during the warmer seasons. Plus I am always on the lookout for new and different ideas for my coffee cart. I saw a recipe for a strawberry cake, but I wanted to add bananas too, because I had some strawberry-banana yogurt. Then I thought of making it even more tropical by adding coconut to it as well, again, since my yogurt was made from coconut milk. There was a bit of a theme going on, all based on that one container of yogurt. 🙂 I haven’t tried it yet, but I just know it will be good.

Strawberry-Banana- Coconut Cake

You can use either yogurt or sour cream, but I used strawberry-banana yogurt.

8 oz sliced strawberries, stems removed

1 banana, sliced thin

3 TBSP + 1 cup sugar, divided

3/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

1/2 cup + 2 TBSP yogurt or sour cream

1 tsp lemon zest

3 TBSP lemon juice

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup strawberry jam

coconut

Preheat the oven to 350* F or 180* C.

Spray a 9×13 baking sheet with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper. Make sure you have some extending over the edges of the pan too. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray as well.

Sprinkle the strawberries with 1 TBSP of sugar and a pinch of salt and set aside.

Mix all your dry ingredients together and set aside. Combine all the wet ingredients and the remaining sugar together and mix until well blended then add the dry ingredients 1/2 at a time, blending in between each addition.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pan and evenly spread out.

Add dollops of the jam all around the batter. Add a layer of the banana slices on top of the jam.

Add the sliced strawberries and then sprinkle the coconut on top of the strawberries.

Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until the cake is done and nice and golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar once the cake is completely cooled (optional) and slice.

My cake wasn’t cooled yet, so I had not dusted it with the powdered sugar or sliced it yet.

In no time at all, your taste buds will take you down to the tropics with this fruity cake. Enjoy your Caribbean trip with each and every bite.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.