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Banana Bread Bundt Cake

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This banana bread cake is better than ever. We retested the recipe and tweaked it, and the result is so worth it. It has buttermilk for a tender crumb, a moist texture and a definite banana flavor. It's easy to make and very versatile. Beautiful for a brunch table. It's good plain, but a showstopper with the finger-licking cream cheese glaze.

Several slices of glazed banana cake on a white plate with rest of cake. Light pink background. White surface.


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Sweet, dense and wonderful

Yet again, my basket was overflowing with overripe, brown bananas.

In an attempt to change the incredibly good but kind of repetitive banana recipes I usually make (banana walnut healthier muffins or the decadent easy banoffee cake), I started looking for alternatives and ended up with this bundt cake.

Simpler than making an old-fashioned hummingbird cake and richer than this healthy banana bread, it was a great compromise between both.

Why make this recipe

  • Texture and glaze: it's less dense than banana bread per se, but not extremely cakey, as the banana flavor got lost when we tested it. It's a simple but fantastic mix of banana bundt cake and banana bread with a soft texture and drizzled with a luscious, sweet cream cheese glaze.
  • Make ahead: it keeps well for several days and can be frozen for a month.
  • Versatile: it's ideal for afternoon tea, brunch, a picnic, as an after-school snack, nibbling while working online, a potluck or bake sale. 
  • Travels well: if you want to transport it, this cake is wonderful. We love to take it on road trips.
Placing banana rounds and pecans on top of glazed bundt cake on a cake stand. White background.

Ingredient list

  • Bananas: always use overripe bananas when baking bread or cakes. Why? They have much more flavor, and the result is way better. They should be soft, with spotted skin.
  • Buttermilk: what if you don't have buttermilk? You can buy buttermilk powder and prepare it as you need to. Or make homemade buttermilk that is super easy (how to in the recipe card towards the end of this post). 
  • Unsalted butter.
  • Vegetable oil: I always use sunflower oil.
  • Eggs: fresh, large.
  • White granulated sugar.
  • Light brown sugar.
  • Vanilla extract. 
  • All-purpose or cake flour.
  • Baking powder: make sure it's not expired.
  • Salt.

Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.

Bowls and cups with buttermilk banana cake ingredients on white marble including oil, sugars, eggs, flour, butter.

Preparing the bundt pan

If you love making bundt cakes, you probably know the pain of not being able to remove it from the pan in one piece. It has happened to me many times!

There are several ways of dealing with this:

Shortening and flour: use soft shortening to grease the pan, every angle, every nook and cranny until it's completely covered. Using your fingers is messy but effective. You can also use a brush. Sprinkle flour and rotate the pan to cover it completely. You'll have to do it to one side and then the other. Make sure you flour the center tube. Turn the pan upside down over the kitchen sink and smack lightly it against the edge. The excess flour will fall, leaving a thin layer behind. Your pan is ready to be filled.

Cake goop or cake pan-release paste: it's one of my favorites, along with the shortening method above, because it's very effective. Mix equal parts (volume: cups or tablespoons) of shortening, flour and vegetable oil (sunflower or canola) to make a paste. Use it to coat the pan with a brush. Store it in an airtight container (I use a jar) for a month at room temperature or up to 3 months in the refrigerator.

Baking spray: use a spray labeled as having flour or specifically made for baking (as opposed to cooking). It has to have flour; otherwise, the cake will likely stick when removed. At least, that's my experience. I hardly use it anymore.

Recipe: whenever I find a great bundt cake recipe that can be easily removed from an intricate bundt pan, even though I didn’t follow step 1 above, I cling to it like life itself.

    Steps to make banana bread cake

    This is a straightforward butter cake that has banana puree. Some pointers:

    • Equipment: I use a large bowl and handheld electric beater, but you can also make this recipe in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment at medium speed.
    • Dry ingredients: they are sifted before using to add some air to the batter. After adding the dry ingredients, it's very important to beat *just* until everything is well incorporated. The more you beat, the more the gluten in the flour starts to work, and it will weigh the cake down. We don't want that.
    • Wet ingredients: they include the eggs and the buttermilk, and, as with most cakes, they are added in parts, alternating with the dry ones.
    • Bananas: I recommend mashing bananas but leaving the banana mixture a bit chunky. Don't over mash them because they start to liquefy.
    Bundt pan with cake batter on white marble.

    If you have under-ripe bananas, roast them!

    If you only have green bananas that are not yet ripe, you can roast them to achieve a similar result, something I discovered years ago that resulted in this roasted banana bread post. 

    1. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
    2. Place unpeeled bananas on a baking tray and roast until the skin turns completely dark and the inside is slightly soft to the touch, about 20 minutes.
    3. Let cool and coarsely mash. Use in any banana recipe.

    Cream cheese glaze

    I took the idea of a simple powdered sugar glaze, which I use all the time for bundt cakes, and made a cream cheese glaze, which is nothing more than my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe with less powdered sugar. 

    The result is thinner so it runs down the sides of the cake, and doesn't divert from the banana flavor.

    Use the thicker version if that's your jam. There's no right or wrong with how you like your cream cheese frosting!

    My formula is simple and foolproof: 1 measure of butter, 2 measures of cream cheese and enough powdered sugar to make it as thick or thin as you want.

    Drizzling a bundt cake on a cake stand with cream cheese glaze. Light grey background.

    Glaze variation

    Colorful plate with slice of banana bundt cake with chocolate glaze.

    For years, I used a chocolate bourbon glaze for this cake. It's great for when you want a more powerful mix of flavors. Or a banana and chocolate something. Find the ingredients and instructions in the recipe card. I will add it as a second glaze option! 

    Storing

    • Room temperature and refrigerator: this banana cake can be left at room temperature for a day. After that, use plastic wrap to cover it well, and refrigerate for several more days. Take into account that the fridge dries up, so it will lose its softness after a few days. It will be denser but with a good flavor.
    • Freezing: this bundt cake freezes well. Wrap it in plastic first and then aluminum foil. It keeps for a month. If freezing the whole cake, do so without frosting. If you have leftovers, you might want to consider cutting it into slices before freezing.
    Lifting a slice of glazed banana bundt cake on a wood and marble cake stand. White surface and background.

    Kitchen Notes

    • Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
    • Baking time: keep in mind that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer(like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
    • Pan: make sure the bundt cake pan is correctly prepared. Find more details in the Notes section of the recipe card.
    • Cooling down: always use a cooling rack (wire rack) to cool down cakes, especially bundt cakes that are dense like this one. If you don't have one, put the pan on top of something that allows the air to flow below the pan. I sometimes place them on the gas stovetop (turned off!) because the burners allow that. And buy one if you want to bake often. They're an essential item.
    • Glaze: let cool completely before glazing. Otherwise, it will not be thick as the heat will dissolve most of it. 
    • Bananas: use very ripe bananas. They should be soft, with brown spots, and mushy. You know, those you don't want to eat. I like using chunkier mashed bananas for this recipe because they add texture.
    • Serving it: I highly recommend room temperature for the best experience. The flavors are somewhat numbed when they are cold.
    • Chocolate chips: I find this banana cake is great as it is. Make the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, which is one bowl, if you want that flavor combo. Use all white flour (no whole wheat) for a fluffier banana bread.
    • I posted a Guide to Freezing Baked Goods & Desserts, which might be useful. We all prep and freeze savory food, but what about our sweet tooth?
    Stack of white plates with slice of glazed banana bundt cake. White surface and rest of cake in the background.

    Pan sizes

    Though this is a bundt cake, it is the type of recipe that can be made in different pans:

    • Bundt cake - I use a 10-cup bundt cake pan, also known as a large bundt pan. A recipe also makes about 6 individual bundts, like the Coffee Chocolate Bundt Cakes.
    • Sheet cake - bake it in an 8x11-inch cake pan and top it with cream cheese frosting. 
    • Loaf cake - one recipe yields 2 medium loaf pans. 
    • Layer cake - I recommend no more than two 8-inch layers. Fill with cream cheese icing, similar to the sheet cake above. Or with dulce de leche. If you follow my lead and use the latter (you can buy dulce de leche online), you'll unlock a magic flavor combination you didn't know existed!
    Eaten banana bundt cake slice on a stack of three white plates. White background.

    Related recipes you might like:

    Let me know in the comments below if you made this recipe and loved it and if you had issues so we can troubleshoot together. I love to hear what you think, always. Thanks for being here. It's much appreciated.
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    Glazed banana bundt cake on w white plate and surface. Banana slices, bowl with glaze. Top view.

    Banana Bread Bundt Cake (with buttermilk)

    Author: Paula Montenegro
    5 from 12 votes
    It has an extremely moist, dense crumb and is topped with a cream cheese glaze, pecans and fresh banana slices. It's like the best banana bread meets a perfect pound cake. We also added an optional chocolate bourbon glaze. 
    Print
    Prep Time 15 minutes
    Cook Time 45 minutes
    Servings 10 servings
    Course Cakes

    Ingredients
     
     

    For the cake:

    • 2 ½ cups all-purpose
    • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • 1 cup white sugar
    • ½ cup brown sugar
    • 3 eggs, room temperature
    • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 ¼ cups buttermilk, see Notes below for substitutions
    • 1 cup mashed bananas, about 2 very ripe, medium-sized bananas

    For the glaze:

    • 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
    • 2 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
    • 2 tablespoons cream or milk
    • 1 cup powdered sugar, an estimate

    For the chocolate bourbon glaze (bonus):

    • ⅓ cup heavy cream
    • 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
    • 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature
    • 2 tablespoons corn syrup , or golden syrup
    • 2 tablespoons bourbon, or whisky

    Instructions
     

    For the cake:

    • Preheat oven to 350ºF.
    • Grease (use shortening not butter) and flour a 10-cup capacity or large 12-cup Bundt pan. 
    • Sift together 2 ½ cups all-purpose , 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.
    • In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat ¾ cup unsalted butter until creamy, about 1 minute.
    • Add 1 cup white sugar and ½ cup brown sugar gradually, beating for 2 more minutes until light.
    • Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and beating an additional 1 minute after the last one is incorporated.
    • Add ½ teaspoon vanilla extractextract and mix.
    • Add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with 1 ¼ cups buttermilk in 2 parts. That means you start and end with dry ingredients.
    • Add 1 cup mashed bananas and mix just until no streaks of flour remain.
    • Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle rack for 45-50 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Time might differ depending on the oven and pan used. 
    • Cool in a wire rack for about 15-20 minutes, carefully invert onto a plate, invert it again onto the wire rack and let cool completely. If the cake at first resists, shake the pan up and down carefully or let it cool down a little more, and try again. 
    • Let cool completely, glaze and let it dry before you cut it into individual slices. 
    • Store leftover cake for a day at room temperature, covered in plastic wrap and then refrigerate or freeze.

    For the glaze:

    • Beat together 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons cream cheese in a medium bowl until creamy and no lumps remain.
    • Add 1 cup powdered sugar and integrate well until very smooth. The amount of sugar depends on how thin or thick you want the glaze. Add 2 tablespoons cream or milk if you want to thin it.
    • Drizzle over the cooled cake that has been put on a wire rack with a parchment paper underneath to catch any drips. Let it run down the sides and center of the cake. 

    For the chocolate bourbon glaze:

    • Chop 4 ounces semisweet chocolate and put in a glass or ceramic bowl together with ⅓ cup heavy cream over boiling water (the bottom of the bowl not touching the water). When the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth remove from the heat. Or microwave them in 15-second spurts, stirring well after each one. Be careful not to scorch it.
    • Immediately add 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons corn syrup and mix well.
    • Add 2 tablespoons bourbon, mix until completely incorporated and let the glaze reach a thick consistency before drizzling it on top of the cooled cake.

    Notes

    Homemade Buttermilk: mix 1 cup of milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (my favorite) or 1 tablespoon of white vinegar. You can also use 1 tablespoon of yogurt. Or substitute only milk in this recipe if that's all you have
    Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as it can be, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust. 
    Pan: make sure the bundt cake pan is correctly prepared and the right size. 
    Cooling down: always use a wire rack (a.k.a cooling rack) to cool down cakes, especially bundt cakes that are dense like this one. If you don't have one, put the pan on top of something that allows the air to flow below the pan. I sometimes place them on the stovetop (turned off!) because the burners allow that.
    Bananas: use very ripe bananas. They should be soft, with brown spots and mushy. You know, those you don't want to eat. They have the best and sweetest flavor. 
    Serving it: I highly recommend room-temperature cakes unless they have whipped cream. The flavors are somewhat numbed when they are cold.
    Storing it: after a day at room temperature (at the most), cover it well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several days. Or freeze for up to a month. Though it hardly makes it to the next day in my house. 
    Cuisine American
    Keyword banana bundt cake
    Did you try this recipe?Let me know in the comments below!

    About Paula Montenegro

    I'm Paula, a baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe developer, sharing the best ones here with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 12 votes

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    1. Betty D says

      5 stars
      This is a delicious cake and a recipe I'll hang on to. However, I did find a couple of the proportions off. I mashed 5 bananas of what I consider a pretty average/medium size and it still only came to about 1 3/4c; but that amount worked fine and the cake was plenty moist.
      Using a non-stick bundt pan the cake needed a total bake time of about 70 minutes; I covered the top with foil for the last 15 minutes, as it was getting pretty brown.
      I don't know how the 'glaze' would possibly run down the cake when made as directed. I quit adding powdered sugar after 1/2c and still had to add about 3T of cream before I got a glaze consistency. But it tasted good (and had to be kept in the fridge, of course). The chocolate bourbon glaze sounds amazing; I'll try that one next time!

      Reply

      • doris says

        the recipe called for 3/4 cup not 1 3/4 cups

        Reply

    2. Deb says

      5 stars
      Turned out beautifully ! I interchanged Eggnog with Buttermilk and used lemon juice to sour the nog. Yummy !

      Reply

      • Paula Montenegro says

        So happy to hear that Deb! I love that substitution, very festive!

        Reply

        • Deb says

          5 stars
          Made another substituting clabbered eggnog and 15oz can pumpkin puree. Texture is delicate. Will glaze with a rum sauce. So good for gifting !

        • Paula Montenegro says

          Love all your iterations on the recipe Deb!

    3. Lisa Burrelli says

      I was looking for a bundle cake recipe and I came along yours. Its exactly what I was looking for!! Can't wait to make this with my 4vyear old granddaughter!! Hoping the nuts I add make it still come out okay.

      Reply

      • Paula Montenegro says

        Hi Lisa, glad you like it! It will come out fine with some nuts. And you can also make 2 loaf cakes. Let me know if you have questions.

        Reply

    4. Sam says

      Yum, this cake looks amazing! I love anything banana but have never tried a banana bundt cake. Can't wait to make this.

      Reply

    5. Eden says

      This bundt cake looks amazing! Definitely going to put it in my meal plan!

      Reply

    6. Gunjan says

      5 stars
      I have tons of banana and was wondering about some creative recipe. So glad I found d yours. It’s on my to do list for tomorrow. So excited to bake this cake.

      Reply

    7. Eileen Kelly says

      5 stars
      This banana bundt cake is delish. It is so moist and full of flavor. The Bourbon chocolate glaze puts this over the top amazing.

      Reply

    8. Nicoletta De Angelis Nardelli says

      5 stars
      The texture of this banana bundt cake is spectacular! And I also love the idea of the chocolate bourbon glaze...yum!

      Reply

    9. Jenny says

      5 stars
      I love your banana cake, the whole family loved it. It came out perfect thanks to your detailed recipe and tips and it was absolutely delicious. Light, airy and yummy! Thank you!

      Reply

    10. Anna says

      5 stars
      I'm a huge fan of banana cakes, and absolutely love your bundt cake! That crumb looks so spot on, and I would love to taste it with that bourbon chocolate glaze, it sounds and looks utterly delicious!

      Reply

    11. Leslie says

      5 stars
      What a stunning recipe! I've never had a banana-flavored bundt cake. Great flavor choices for this!

      Reply

    12. Mikayla says

      5 stars
      My toddler has the habit of eating half a banana so I end up with a freezer bag of banana chunks and this was just the right way to use some up. Very light and tasty, and your tip for using breadcrumbs to coat the bundt pan worked great!

      Reply

    13. Heidy says

      5 stars
      This Buttermilk Banana Bundt Cake was to die for GOOD! The kids and the husband loved it so much it was gone in two short days. Keeping this recipe to make again.

      Reply

    14. Juliana says

      5 stars
      Bought more bananas that ever, and they started to go bad! Perfect recipe to use them! Love the banana chips on top. Thanks for the inspiration!

      Reply