Ingredients

For the best tasting cake, use only very ripe bananas.

3 cups all purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups ripe, mashed bananas (about 5)

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup flaked coconut

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 can crushed pineapple (20 ounces)

1 package cream cheese (8 ounces) softened at room temp

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Garnish, toasted flaked coconut, maraschino cherries, grated milk chocolate chopped pecans, and hot fudge sauce.

Combine the flour, sugar (granulated), baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Stir together the eggs, oil and buttermilk. Add the oil mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the bananas, pecans, coconut, and vanilla extract. Drain the pineapple, reserving 2 tablespoons of the liquid.

Gently press pineapple and maraschino cherries between paper towels to remove excess liquid. Chop cherries. Stir in pineapple and cherries into banana mixture. Spoon into a greased and floured 10 inch tube pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes.

Remove the cake from the pan and cool on the wire rack.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until blended. Stir in reserved pineapple juice. Pour over cake, and garnish.