Beatty Zimmerman's Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

This is a recipe you need to know and make! It will bring you praise, because it is delicious, and  it comes with a story which is kinda handy for wherever you're taking it. (Clue: the story is in the name.)

I am no cake maker. I have made fewer than half a dozen in my life and unlike a lot of really good bakers I don't particularly enjoy it. Except for this one. And there are two reasons...

Firstly, it's really easy and never goes wrong. Secondly it's a recipe from BOB DYLAN'S MOTHER. That's good enough for me and there's your easy conversation point for all occasions right there!

Yep, Beatty had a son called Robert Zimmerman who changed his name and, well, the rest is history. That's her on the right. And Beatty was cool. She even appeared on stage during the famous 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue (see the pic below).

This recipe came from one those community cookbooks put together to raise money for a good cause and it is simply brilliant. I make it. Jan makes it. Jan's mother makes it. Everyone who has tried it makes it and everybody who has made it loves it. 

Don't for a minute think the lack of anything unusual about this makes it ordinary. Make it and you will have a lot of happy friends (if there's enough left over to share with them...) 

BEATTY ZIMMERMAN’S BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE  

(Beatty calls it "loaf bread")

NOTE: You can always make one bigger one rather than two smaller ones. The recipe seems pretty foolproof, even for a cake novice such as me.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup white sugar
• 120g butter or margarine, softened 
• 2 eggs 
• 4 Tbs sour cream 
• 2 –3 ripe bananas, mashed 
• 2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 180g chocolate chips (or up to 360g - go wild!) 
• 2 medium disposable foil loaf pans (about 20-by-8-by-5 cm)
  

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cream together the sugar and butter. 
• Add the eggs and beat well. 
• Add the sour cream and ripe bananas - mix well. 
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. 
• Add the dry mixture to the sour cream mixture, then fold in the chocolate chips. 
• Divide the batter between two greased loaf pans. 
• Bake for about 50 minutes.Check if an inserted skewer comes out clean
• Turn the loaves out on to cooling rack or aluminium foil as soon as they are done.