There's this little thing called "winter" in the 'Burgh. It lasts from November until early April, and features gray skies, gray branches, gray goop dripping from the skies, and an unfortunate number of gray moods. Fortunately, in the produce section it's the season of orange, lemon, kiwi and banana. In my world of self-imposed restrictions about where my food can come from, it seems ludicrous to eat a banana in August, when the orchard trees are drooping from the weight of their fruits. Why would I eat something from halfway around the world when I can get plenty close to home?

But in the winter, when a blanket and a warm cat are my fashion statements, and peaches are a fading memory, bananas are the perfect fruit. Their heavy texture stands up to hot oatmeal and their tropical scent brings a little sun into an otherwise dreary day.

As the weather improved - finally! - these last two weeks, I looked at the browning bananas on my counter with bittersweet feelings. Springtime means fresh greens and strawberries and peas out of the pod, some of my favorite things. But the end of winter also means the end of steaming, silky soups and cream sauce binges and eating chocolate with reckless abandon, and I love those things, too. It's why I could never live in the South: I need seasons!

So although I'm happy to say "so long" to cold weather, I did sneak a smile when things cooled off this weekend, because it meant that I could say goodbye to bananas with my new favorite banana recipe. This moist, tangy coffee cake matches the heavenly texture of mashed bananas with a favorite Pamela's pancakes sidekick: chocolate chips.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate-Almond Streusel
Adapted with liberal changes from Epicurious

1 1/4 cups good quality chocolate chips
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup butter (one stick), melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large, very ripe* bananas, mashed
1/4 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8"x8"x2" baking dish.

To prepare the streusel, combine chocolate chips, brown sugar and sliced almonds in a small bowl. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the cake.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice. In a medium bowl, mix together melted butter and sugar. Once combined, add the egg and vanilla extract, followed by the banana mash, then the sour cream. Mix in the dry ingredients in three additions, stirring well between each.

To assemble the cake, pour half the banana batter into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle just less than half the streusel mixture over the batter, taking care to cover each corner. Gently spread the remaining batter evenly over the streusel, then top with the remaining streusel. The brown sugar is going to melt partially into a slightly crunchy crust, so be sure that the cake is completely covered.

Put the cake in the oven, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. Bake for 60-75 minutes, until cake has evenly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center** comes out crumb-free.*** Delicious warm from the oven or cooled.

*If your bananas are ripe before you're in the mood to bake, toss them in the freezer. They keep for what seems like ages, turn totally black, and defrost in minutes to a delightful glop that's perfect for baking.

**Try not to stab a chocolate chip with your cake tester. Having melted chocolate all over your toothpick makes it difficult to gauge the cake's doneness. Based on my experience, it's the top layer that cooks more slowly, so don't worry about stabbing your toothpick all the way to the bottom of the dish.

**If you get impatient and decide to take the cake out before it is done because you have, in fact, stabbed too many chocolate chips, you may find that the top half of the center of the cake is completely raw. If this happens to you, and you've already eaten a piece or three fresh out of the oven because it smelled so darn good... just put it back in the oven at 325 degrees for about 15 more minutes. Between the bananas and the sour cream there's so much moisture in this cake that it's practically impossible to overbake. And as it turns out, the double-bake method works just fine.