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Cakes
banana cake
Torta di Anna (Banana Cake using walnuts, orange juice and peach peel; flavored with vanilla)
Originated from: Italy and North America
Occasion: Any time
Contributed by: Anna-Maria Benvenuto

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Ingredients

7 cups flour
2 cups banana (mashed)
2 cups walnuts (chopped)
2 cups orange juice
The peel or skin of 1 peach, cut into very small pieces
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon Magic baking powder
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Original Italian Text
7 t. farina
2 tazze di banane
2 t. noci
2 tazze di arancia
1 scotolie di pesche
1 t. oglio
1 t. latte
2 1/4 zucchero nero e bianco
4 uova
2 c. te vanilia
2 c. mucco
1 c. te magich

Forno 350. 1 ore.



Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

Mix dry ingredients with wet ones.

Pour cake batter into a well-greased rectangular cake pan.

Bake until done -- about 1 hour.

Cool.






Notes

Mrs. Anna-Maria Benvenuto has collected hundreds of recipes from relatives, friends and neighbors over the years. She recorded the recipes in Italian in numerous notebooks, often naming the recipe after the person who gave it to her (The one in this entry was provided to her by her friend, Anna). Being an avid baker Mrs. Benvenuto tried out many of the recipes herself. Because of her talent and expertise, she did not feel the need to write detailed instructions as she knew how to make the recipes without them. However, when asked by this website's archivist (Mary Melfi) for details, she quickly volunteered the information. Nonetheless, as with most first generation Italian-Canadian handwritten recipes, it is understood that whoever attempts to duplicate them should have some knowledge of what they are doing (Easier said than done).... While Mrs. Benvenuto was born in the Veneto region (in 1938) and has a natural fondness for recipes that come from this area, she found that as soon as she immigrated to Montreal, Quebec in 1952 she developed an instant appreciation for all foods from her homeland.... Photo and English translation of original Italian text: Mary Melfi.

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