Lest you being to think I’m the mom who force-fed my children kale from birth, I’ll have you know I am a big fan of cake or puddings for breakfast.  First of all, this makes my life fairly easy in the morning.  Second of all, CAKE FOR BREAKFAST!  There’s nothing magic about scones or muffins and often their sugar content is more than the cakes I make.

My Grandma Ruth was a baker.  She liked to make everyone their favorite desserts and banana cake was my older brother’s choice.  However, he had trouble choosing between banana flavored things and lemon.  Naturally, Grandma Ruth wanted to please her firstborn grandson and yet she was a practical woman.  Two desserts?  I don’t think so.  Why not combine them,she thought and thus the banana cake with lemon icing was borne.  Many a summer I sat on her counter sneaking bits of tangy icing.

Not all tastes translate, though.  And now, while I’ve tweaked her cake recipe (and I did so while she was still able to try it), I’ve left off the lemon icing.  When my brother comes to town I’ll slather it on.  But for now, this multi-layered cake has vanilla icing (thin, more like a thick glaze) and two layers of thick chocolate to encourage monkeying around.  Especially in the morning.