Almost every Friday evening I share an early dinner with friends from Groton and Noank at Sneekers. As I have mentioned before, the food is really good and the prices are easy on the wallet.

The two owners, Annie and Rhonda, have been friends for years and they opened Sneekers over 30 years ago. They and our favorite waitress, Kelsey, take good care of us and all of their customers.

Rhonda and Annie never reveal the sources of their desserts, but the cakes are always three layers, often creamy, sometimes fruity. The fillings are heavenly and the frosting ethereal.

The plate is decked with whipped cream and maraschino cherries.

Recently, they served a cherry lemon cake. Kelsey gives us four forks, and we share one slice. As we talked, one of our group mentioned a cake her mother made, with Cool-Whip, pineapple and cherries, similar to an ice box cake. I have a similar recipe, too, and it contains bananas.

When I got home, I found the Cool-Whip recipe in my files. It requires no baking and is incredibly easy and yummy. I rarely use Cool-Whip, but it works well with this dessert. Do feel free to use real whipped cream.

(By the way, if you add a scant teaspoon of dry instant pudding to the whipped cream, it will stay whipped for a couple of days without weeping.)

Banana Split Cake

I think this recipe was given to me by Barb Boynewicz of Stonington. It is an incredible dessert.

Yield: 12 to 14 servings

3 sticks (each 8 tablespoons) butter, preferably unsalted, separated

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, drained and squeezed

4 bananas, sliced

1 large container Cool Whip

1 cup walnuts, chopped

10 maraschino cherries, halved

Melt 1 stick butter and add graham crumbs. Form a crust in 9- by 13-inch baking pan.

Put 2 sticks butter, confectioner’s sugar, eggs and pure vanilla extract in a bowl and beat at high speed with an electric mixer for 10 minutes. Spread mix over graham cracker crust.

Spread crushed pineapple over filling. Place sliced bananas over crushed pineapple. Cover with container Cool Whip, Sprinkle top with walnuts and place cherries on top.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerator for 16 to 20 (or somewhat more) hours.