Name: Espresso Banana Cake Recipe
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 12 to 14
Ingredients: 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature; 1/4 cup shortening, plus more for greasing; 2 1/4 cups sugar; 4 eggs; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 cup Kahlua; 2 cups mashed bananas (3 1/2 to 4 bananas); 3 1/2 cups flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional; 4 ounces cream cheese; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder; 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, or more if necessary; Water; About 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

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By Marcy Goldman

March 22, 2000

Most people approach coffee or tea and an accompanying treat in one of a few ways. Either you are (a) the dainty sip-and-nibble sort, (b) the expedient bite-and-gulp variety or (c) an eat-first, wash-it-all-down-later type.

Where we converge is in agreeing that the ritual of the coffee break or tea time makes the mundane marvelous.

Always a welcome pause, the coffee or tea break is a poor man’s or woman’s urban jungle Club Med, a virtual oasis unlike anything else in our jam-packed lives.

Best of all, it is a ritual that calls for the best in homey little treats. Miniature cheesecakes, delicate scones, buttery rugelach, lavishly swirled marble cake are just some delights that are perfect for a coffee hour recipe collection.

All are easy; none is cloyingly sweet or heavily frosted. These are wonderful just warm from the oven or even a day or two later. This is the type of baking that is solidly rooted in the home kitchen.

So bake a batch of something and brew a pot, then sit back and anticipate that small endorphin rush. Second cup is on the house.