Double Nut Banana Bunt Cake

So I had an extra batch of banana bread ingredients the other day, and decided to try something new. It wound up both looking kinda yummy, tasting great, and only adding a few extra calories to my daily intake (if you only take one bite a day, that is). Here's the recipe, for all my inspired fans who asked for it. ;-)

CAKE

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 cup crisco
• 3 eggs, warmed to room temperature (or thereabouts)
• 1 3/4 cups mashed bananas (they work best if you mash them by hand so there are still some lumps)
• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (1 1/4 cup milk + 1 tablespoon vinegar), warmed to room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (or a tiny bit extra for flavor)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup walnuts (crushed or small pieces, however you want them)
• 1/2 cut pecans (crushed or halved, however you want them)

TOPPING

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup buttermilk (1/4 cup milk + just a little bit of vinegar, maybe a pinch?)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup crushed walnuts and/or pecans (crushed really small)

CAKE

1. Cream sugar and shortening.
2. Sift dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, to shortening mixture.
4. Add bananas and vanilla to shortening mixture, mixing well but not too well.
5. Add dry ingredients alternatively with milk and mix. Avoid overmixing.
6. Add nuts.
7. Grease (I use PAM) a bunt cake pan.
8. Bake at 350 degrees until knife put in center of thickest part comes out clean. Mine took about 70 minutes, but I'd check it at 50 minutes and then every 5-10 minutes after that.
9. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes while you prepare the topping.
10. Pour the topping mixture over the top of the cake.
11. Sprinkle the remaining nuts from the topping on top as a kind of crumbly topping to the topping.
12. Let it stand for about 5 more minutes to soak in and set up a little bit, and then remove the cake from the pan (if you can) so it can run down the sides and look really cool.

TOPPING

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
2. Stir in the sugar, buttermilk, baking soda, and about 1/4 cup of the nuts (you'll have 1/4 cup left over for later).
3. Bring it to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.
4. Boil for one minute.

There you go!