Banana Bread Bundt Cake (with buttermilk)
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.
Servings 10 servings
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
- pecans or walnuts to decorate, optional
- fresh banana slices to decorate, optional
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 (180°C). Grease (I use shortening) a large, 10 to 12-cup bundt pan. Flour, shaking off excess.
- 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. Decorate with pecans or walnuts and fresh banana slices if you want to.
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
Banana preparation. Use very ripe bananas that are soft with brown spots and feel mushy - the ones you wouldn't want to eat fresh. Mash them, leaving some chunks for texture, but don't overmash as they'll start to liquefy. If you only have under-ripe bananas, roast them unpeeled at 350°F (180°C) for about 20 minutes until the skin turns completely dark. Let them cool and coarsely mash.
Homemade Buttermilk: Stir 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 natural yogurt. Or substitute only milk if that's all you have.
Baking times vary between ovens and pans, so use visual cues and toothpick tests rather than relying solely on timing. An oven thermometer helps ensure accurate temperature.
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.
Serving it: I highly recommend room-temperature cakes unless they have whipped cream. The flavors are somewhat numbed when they are cold.
