Mekupelet Crumbed Banana Cake

 As I mentioned in some earlier post, last week was Purim. With it came an excess of junk that I didnt know what to do with. All of the madrichot pooled together all the junk and placed it on our table for the girls to take as they wanted. The only thing I took for myself were the famed Israeli chocolate bars, the Mekupelet. Between me and the other madrichot, we got a ton of them, many of them mehadrin. Having recalled a Mekupelet cake in one of my Israeli cookbooks, I collected many of them. This cake before you is not the Mekupelet cake (I will get around to making it soon!) but rather the delicious Mekupelet Crumbed Banana Cake. You see, at the same time that all the Purim craziness was happening, I had three overripe bananas sitting in my fruit bowl, waiting to be used. Marcy Goldman had a recipe for a banana toffee crumb cake in her oft used A Passion for Baking. I had everything except the toffee so I decided to swap in crumbled Mekupelet. Brilliant! (If I may say so myself...) I knew this cake would be a hit and indeed it was from the very first bite. Extremely moist banana cake (love using sour cream!) topped with a chocolatey crumb- what could be bad? I finally employed the technique of applying the crumble when the cake has already set up on top and guess what? Works like a charm! No sinking crumble! Leaves you with a cake that not only tastes delicious but looks beautiful, too. Feel free to use toffee bits, crumbled chocolate bars, whatever ya got- be creative!

Mekupelet Crumbed Banana Cake
adapted from A Passion for Baking

Topping:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 tbsp margarine, softened
3 small mekupelet bars, crumbled

Cake:
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup overripe mashed bananas
1 cup sour cream

Grease a ten inch springform pan. Set aside. Preheat your oven to 350.

 In a small bowl, place the sugar and flour.

 Add in the softened margarine,

 and cut in until both large and small pieces remain.

 Add the chocolate,

 and toss to combine. Set aside.

 Sift together all of the dry ingredients. Set aside.

 Place the margarine and sugar in a large bowl.

 Cream for about five minutes.

 Add the eggs and vanilla,

 and beat to blend.

 Add the bananas, sour cream and dry ingredients.

 Beat to form a uniform batter.

 Spread evenly in the pan. Bake for fifteen minutes or until the top looks firm.

 Carefully pull the cake out of the oven and top evenly with the crumb topping.

Continue to bake for about 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for about fifteen minutes before unmolding. Cool completely.