Banana Cake with Streusel

This is one of my favorite cakes as it has so many things I love - Chocolate, Walnuts, Cinnamon.. What’s not to love right? When I was in Mlore, we had a lot of ripe bananas (from our very own tree) in the kitchen and my mom asked me to make something with them or eat them!! Eeks! I am not a big fan of the fruit and eat it rarely. So I quickly logged onto the net and got this recipe (unfortunately I don't remember the source). Luckily, we had all the ingredients on hand and off I went. I was hesitant that the cake would have a prominent banana flavour but the amount was just right and the cinnamon added a perfect balance. I also added some chopped chocolate for good measure :)
After I came back to Dubai I made this once more for my hubby and this time I included a streusel topping which took it to whole new level. Yum!! I saw the streusel recipe on one of my fav foodie blogs Brown Eyed Baker and used it in this cake.
So if you have any unloved bananas lying around in the kitchen, take them lovingly in your hands, peel them gently, mash them up and bake this wonderful treat!!

Recipe - Streusel recipe from Brown Eyed Baker, Cake recipe from the internet.

Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 1/2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Stick (1/2 cup or approx 100 gms) Unsalted Butter
1 Cup Sugar (Granulated is fine)
1 Tsp Vanilla Essence
1 Large Egg (At Room Temperature)
2 Very Ripe Bananas, Mashed (1 Cup)
2 Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Plain Yogurt
1/4 Cup Semi Sweet Chopped Chocolate or Chocolate Chips (Optional)
For the Streusel:
1/4 Cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 Cup All-purpose Flour
1/4 Tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Cold Unsalted Butter
3/4 cup Chopped Walnuts

To make the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts and keep aside.
Preheat oven to 170 degree C. Grease and flour a tube pan or a 9X13 rectangular pan. Sift the flour, soda and salt and keep ready. In a bowl cream the butter and sugar till mixed well. Add the egg and beat at high. Add the vanilla, ground cinnamon and the banana mash. Mix in half the flour amount and mix well. Add the yogurt and then the remaining flour and mix well. Stir in the chopped chocolate.
Pour half the batter into the pan and add a layer of the streusel. Pour the remaining batter and top with remaining streusel. 
Bake for 45 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean. This cake rises a lot so be sure to use a pan with tall sides.
Let the cake cool and invert onto serving plate.

Happy Eating!!