As a special treat when we were growing up, my mother would take bananas as they ripened and make banana bread. The only difference between it and cake was she baked it in a bread pan. The smell as it penetrated the kitchen, house and even outside brought all of us together to enjoy a fabulous warm, moist rich in banana treat.

In honor of her recipe we make this wonderful Brown Sugar Banana cake following her tradition of using ripe whole bananas in a moist cake with a rich tradition of spices. We top it all off with an old fashion simple brown sugar topping.