Classic Banana Bundt Cake

Cake, Desserts, Tuesdays with Dorie / Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

banana-bundt-cake-1

Mom called this morning to tell me she was “sick of looking at that chicken,” so my apologies. We’ve been having technical issues on the back-end, which sounds like something that might require penicillin, but it isn’t nearly as exciting.

Anyway, here’s this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie pick, a Classic Banana Bundt Cake recipe given to Dorie by Ellen Einstein from Sweet 16th, a neighborhood bakery here in Nashville.

This is the sort of cake Mommaw would bake just to have something to nibble on. The kind that would sit out on the counter in aluminum foil, and when someone made fresh coffee, we might have a slice.

It’s not meant to be a showstopper, but busy-day cakes have their place.

This one stays moist for days, with the tang of the sour cream balancing all of that banana sweetness.

Still, it’s a cake that begs for tinkering. Next time, I think I’ll a handful (or two) of chopped pecans. Or maybe I’ll split the cake horizontally, fill it with peanut butter cream and cover it with cream cheese frosting, like Sweet 16th’s Elvis Cake.

Now, that’s a showstopper.

Classic Banana Bundt Cake

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

If you’ve got the time, let the cake cool, wrap it in plastic, and allow it to sit on the counter overnight before serving. It’s better the next day.

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
  • About 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (you should have 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups)
  • 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9- to 10-inch (12 cup) Bundt pan.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.
  3. Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and mix in the bananas.
  4. Mix in half the dry ingredients (don’t be disturbed when the batter curdles), all the sour cream and then the rest of the flour mixture. Scrape the batter into the pan, rap the pan on the counter to debubble the batter and smooth the top.
  5. Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check the cake after about 30 minutes – if it is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.

[ad name=”space”]

30 thoughts on “Classic Banana Bundt Cake”

  8. I love the idea of the Elvis cake!!!!!!! I made mine this afternoon and just used confectioners sugar over the top but think next time of using a ganache

  13. I don't know whether to thank you or curse you for planting the Elvis cake idea in my head. It sounds waaaay too good. Yours looks great – nothing fancy, just a good tasty cake. And there is nothing wrong with that!

  14. Your mom sounds like she's s riot! :) That's cool too that she checks out your blog. Can't wait to see how you spruce this up!
    ~ingrid

  15. Well, this certainly does look like a show stopper to me. Absolutely perfect shape and color. Mine was a show stopper, too…of a different sort…LOL. Oh, well, it got eaten…not sure what I am going to do in 2 years when the teens leave home for college.

  16. Don't you just love mothers? I like this kind of cake very much because, as you said, you can just dig in anytime. It doesn't feel like you're indulging in too much dessert when you eat a slab even several times in the same day.

  17. Ooh, your Elvis version sounds awesome! I made mine with a cream chees frosting and it was wonderful. I wasn't able to post it this week (went out of town and forgot to take my computer with me!), but I'll do a two for one next week!
    (I didn't this time, but I love nuts in banana baked goods!)

  18. Busy-day cakes do not get enough love, so I'm so glad to see this photo. Classics are classic for a reason. I just baked some brownies, but now I'm wishing I had some overly ripe bananas to tinker with. Later. Definitely.

  20. I love your mom's comment. When my mom doesn't like a picture she'll email me to "put something better on there" or "take the gross picture down." Glad I'm not the only one getting heckled by mom!

  21. I love the idea of peanut butter cream! Maybe I'll take the lazy way out and add peanut butter chips….

  22. […] before putting hers in the oven. Prudence Pennywise added maple extract, wheat flour and nuts. And Ezra Poundcake is thinking about peanut butter cream. A hat tip to you […]

  23. your bundt cake looks beautiful!! i'm partial to my bananas not mingling with the nuts (omg that didn't sound right!!!!) but maybe some chocolate??

  24. I just found your blog and I'm in heaven! You are my new blog-crush:) Great recipes that I will most definitely be trying. Thanks! And I already did a blog-post about you today.

  26. Your banana bundt cake looks so beautifully brown! How cool is it that you can actually go to the Sweet 16 bakery that Dorie mentions in her book?
    (The chicken looks fabulous – I'm not sick of looking at it!)

Comments are closed.