Tropical Pound Cake

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3 eggs
4 1/2 cups all-purpose 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 plantain chips, crushed
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the coconut in a shallow pan and bake for 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, baking soda, sour cream, vanilla extract, 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.)

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 wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and slice.

Yields 10 to 12 servings.