Banana Split Cake, Hancock Elementary

My Great Grandmother was born in Hancock in 1915. I guess that’s what drew me to pick up the 1970s or 80s era “Hancock Elementary School Cookbook.”

Hancock is a small town with one main road (Main Street), but it’s an important way stop in Western Maryland and has been for centuries.

In the 1730s, hunters and trappers began settling around the area, then known as the Northbend Crossing Settlement because it is on the northernmost bend in the Potomac Rover.

The town was later named for revolutionary warfighter Edward Joseph Hancock, Jr., whose family operated a ferry nearby.

The building of the C&O Canal brought a lot of workers to town, Welsh and Irish immigrants among them. According to Mike High in “The C&O Canal Companion,” “by the time the canal made it to Hancock in 1839, the painted signs hanging over the doorways on Main Street already showed the influence of the passenger trade” from the National Road. “Early taverns and hotels included the Sign of the Cross Keys, Sign of the Ship, Sign of the Green Tree Tavern, Sign of the Seven Stars Inn, the Bee Hive, and the Union Hotel.”

Starting in 1886, E.P. Cohill planted orchards around Hancock, building up a significant fruit industry that thrived through the 1970s. Abandoned fruit trees can still be seen along the hillsides.

Hancock Elementary School seems to have existed since the early 20th century. A new building was built around 1978. I get the feeling my cookbook was associated with that effort.

Although one of the school’s listed staff members is probably a distant relative of mine, I made one of the many uncredited recipes, which I assume were contributed by parents of students.

The recipe struck me because it seemed like a novelty, yet it was surprisingly involved. A search of my database turned up many “Banana Split” cakes but none from scratch like this one. Overall, few recipes in the cookbook use cake mix, which is notable for the time it was published.

*Round Top Cement ruins, James Finster on flickr*

Banana Split Cake has you make two chocolate sauces and a cooked custard topping. The payoff is pretty good if you appreciate that cooked banana flavor. I’d swap out the shortening for coconut oil if I made it again.

I added a little yellow food coloring to the custard topping to offset the brown of the bananas, and I sprinkled the walnuts on top rather than mixing them into the custard.

I believe this cake should be baked in a dish pan but I don’t currently have one. I put the extra custard in the middle of the cake.

The area around Hancock is well worth exploring, especially the Canal. The Round Top Cement factory ruins offer a glimpse into a past of industry. The overgrown orchards and fallen telegraph lines are like a meeting of history and nature, the intrigue of beautiful, wild Western Maryland where the mountains loom large.

Recipe:

Cake:

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
.25 Cup water
2.5 Cup flour
1.5 Cup sugar
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
.666 Cup shortening
.75 Cup or sour milk buttermilk
1.5 medium size ripe banana, sliced (remaining half goes in topping)
3 egg

Melt chocolate and water over hot water. Cool. Generously grease bottom only of 13×9-inch pan. In large mixer bowl, combine remaining cake ingredients. Add melted chocolate. Blend at low speed until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading to edges. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes until top springs back with touched lightly in center. Cool. Spread with Banana Cream Topping.

Banana Creme Topping:

.75 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoon cornstarch
.75 Cup milk
2 Tablespoon butter
1 slightly beaten egg
.25 Cup chopped nuts
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
.5 banana

In medium saucepan, combine brown sugar and cornstarch. Blend in milk; add butter. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils and is thick and smooth. (Mixture may look curdled during cooking but becomes smooth as it thickens.)