South Florida Tropical Poundcake

South Florida Tropical Poundcake Tropical Poundcake: 3/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut 2 cups sugar 2 sticks butter, softened (1 cup) 3 eggs 4-1/2 cups flour 1 tablespoon baking soda 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon rum extract Grated rind of 1 lemon 1 (16-ounce) can pineapple chunks in juice, drained reserving 1/4 cup juice 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas 1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped Crunchy Topping: 1 cup dried banana chips, crushed 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup chopped pecans Preheat oven to 325° F. Place the coconut in a shallow pan and bake 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden. In a large nonreactive bowl, with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream sugar and butter about 1 minute or until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. By hand, blend in flour, soda, sour cream, vanilla, rum extract, lemon rind and 1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice. Mix well. Blend in drained pineapple, mashed bananas and dates. (The mixture will be fairly thick.) To make topping: In a small bowl, blend all topping ingredients together. Spoon cake batter into a lightly greased and floured 8-inch Bundt pan; sprinkle topping mixture over batter and bake 1 hour and 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and slice. Makes 10 to 12 servings.