I kinda went bananas with bananas on this cake. lol I love the flavor of bananas but sometimes they can go gooey baby foodey like, you know? I love the heartiness of a good, dense pound cake but it doesn’t need to choke me to prove its love to me. It should be moist and soft but you should know when it’s in the room. I made this cake after having leftover buttercream from some macarons I made. I will be putting up what works for me after I can complete at least 10 batches successfully. Stella at Bravetart has been such a doll in helping me in my macaron journey!! I’m using her recipe so if you want to test your hand at them before I give you a “novice approach”, check her out! She is good! She has emailed me and tweeted me a few times! It’s like meeting the Pastry Chef version of Madonna!
She’s been featured in “Food & Wine” magazine and all! And she talks to little old me! Don’t look at me like that! #youcare lol
Okay….enough of my mini brag session, lol Back to the cake at hand!!!! Let me come back to reality because it was a cake decorator’s disaster! (But we don’t have time to go on and on about that.)
Great thing it was absolutely divine and folks in my office chew loudly or no one probably would’ve dared touch it. lol I also love that my “Honey Do’ cake is cut in the shape of a heart.
For the cake, you add pureed bananas while the frosting uses a roasted banana. I also used brown butter for the frosting and it adds an almost butterscotch-like flavor. TO DIE FOR!!! You can easily add nuts but we have an allergy in the office and I already felt bad that he misses out on the macarons. Love you, Zach!
It got the name “Honey-Do Banana Bundt Cake” because after tasting (and loving) this cake today, my boss said she wanted to make it for her hubby in hopes that it would get him to do some chores. I thought that was cute. lol Whatever works!!! A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do! And I think this cake will get him to do just about anything.
Thanks Linda for the name!
Honey-Do Banana Bundt Cake
Ingredients:
Banana Bundt Cake
- 1 ½ cup All-purpose Flour
- 1 ½ cup Cake flour*
- 1 tea Baking Soda
- 1 tea Baking Powder
- 1 tea Salt
- 3 sticks Unsalted Butter, room temperature (I love Kerry Gold for baking)
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 1 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
- 5 large Eggs, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup Bananas, mashed (about 3 large bananas)
- 2 tea Pure Vanilla Extract
- 3 Tablespoons Jamaican Rum (or any other dark rum you have on hand)**
- 1 cup Sour Cream (don’t wait until needed to take out of fridge)
*If you don’t have cake flour on hand: Take one level cup of all-purpose flour, remove two tablespoons, and then add two tablespoons of corn starch back in. (1 cup AP flour – 2 Tablespoons AP flour + 2 Tablespoons corn starch = 1 cup cake flour) Be sure to sift the flour to distribute the corn starch well before using it in your cake batter.
**you could also use rum extract. IDK why you would want to but ok… lol
Banana Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 3 ounces butter
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3 cups (12 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 TBSP heavy cream (or more to taste)
- 1 roasted banana
- 1/4 cup chopped, toasted nuts or coconut (optional)
To make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 320F. Spray bundt pan completely with nonstick spray, dust with granulated sugar. Tap out excess.
In a bowl, sift together the dry ingredients – flours, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
Place bananas in a gallon Ziploc bag and squish and squish. It will be pourable when you finish. Great job for the little ones.
In the bowl of a large mixer with paddle attachment, combine the softened butter and the sugars, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat until well-incorporated and smooth. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Add vanilla and rum, mix until incorporated.
Add banana puree, mix until incorporated.
With the mixer running on low, add a third of the flour mixture, and mix until it is almost incorporated. Add another third, mix until almost incorporated. Add final third of the remaining flour, incorporate and scrape down sides.
Add sour cream.
Mix on low speed and then pulse on medium speed to fully incorporate.
Spoon the cake batter into the prepared pan drag a knife through to remove pockets of air. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean, 55-65 minutes. You will notice the edges begin to pull away from the sides and the center springs back when lightly pressed.
Let the cake cool for 15 minutes at room temperature before carefully inverting it on a cooling rack and letting it cool completely. It will still be hot so be careful.
To make the frosting:
Place a single banana on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. The skin will turn black. Once cooled, remove peel and mash banana with a fork in a small bowl and set aside.
Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook it, stirring frequently, until it is a medium brown color and has a nutty scent, about 7-8 minutes. Remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly.
Beat the cream cheese in a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment until smooth and free of lumps. Add the browned butter and mix well. Add the sifted powdered sugar and vanilla extract, and mix on low until the powdered sugar is moistened. Increase the speed of the mixer and beat until you have a very thick frosting.
Add banana and cream and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. If you would like an icing that is easier to pour, continue to add milk, a spoonful at a time, until it is the consistency you want.
Spread the frosting on the cooled cake and sprinkle the top with chopped toasted pecans, coconut, walnuts, etc.
Store in airtight container or on covered cake pedestal for up to a week.
Below: Disregarding the misplaced icing, this is the type of bottom crust you want to get. A sugary, crispy complement to the soft texture of the cake innards. I think this is technically considered a bad thing in the baking world (I think it means too much sugar) but trust me, you want it!!!! This is what made grandma’s cakes so good!
