I made this cake to use up extra-ripe bananas (always a good excuse to make cake), but also because it was on the schedule for yet another virtual baking group, Avid Baker’s Challenge. The group has been around for the past couple of years, baking monthly from Flo Braker’s Baking for All Occasions. This year, I wanted to join them in baking from one of my favorite cookbooks, Abby Dodge’s The Weekend Baker.

The group posts at the beginning of every month, and I didn’t get to this cake right away. I’m not sure I’ll still join the group, but anytime I get to bake from this book, it’s a pleasure. This cake can be made in a Bundt pan. There are two things that make it interesting – before pouring the batter into the pan, the pan is coated with butter, cinnamon sugar and chopped nuts. And the batter is separated before it’s completed to flavor one part with chocolate, then scoops of batter are placed in the pan to make a pretty swirl pattern.

This is a nice, pretty cake. The nuts stick to the outside – so a plain-ish Bundt pan works best. I love the swirl pattern that the batters make on the inside, too. The recipe is posted at Fine Cooking.

• Nut-Crusted Chocolate-Banana Swirl Cake (The Weekend Baker, p. 288)