Banana Pound Cake with Caramel Glaze

Banana Pound Cake with Caramel Glaze

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
4 ripe bananas, mashed
5 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tbsp Praline Liqueur
1/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside. Grease and flour a fluted tube pan.

Beat 1 cup of butter, shortening, 2 cups of brown sugar, and 1 cup of white sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color. Add the bananas, followed by the eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Beat in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract with the last egg. Pour in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the pecans; mixing just enough to evenly combine. Pour the batter into prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Heat 1/2 cup of butter, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of white sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously until the sugars have dissolved, then gently simmer for 1 minute. Slowly pour half the glaze over baked cake while still in the pan. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack, and slowly drizzle remaining glaze over the top.

Adapted from allrecipes.com. This is AWESOME! John says on a scale of 1-5 this is a 10!