Banana Bundt Cake

Banana Bundt Cake - made May 7 from Crazy for Crust

I ruined my streak of baking successes with this cake. I’m not quite sure where things went wrong as usually the recipes I get from Crazy for Crust’s blog are on point. But I suspect this cake went south when I either didn’t beat enough air into the batter or, more likely, I didn’t bake it long enough.

I expect bundt cakes to have a more dense, pound-cake-like texture. They wouldn’t be fluffy like a chiffon (and I don’t care that much for chiffon cakes anyway), not airy like a mousse nor creamy like a cheesecake. But they also shouldn’t be a brick and sadly, this was a bit brick-like. I thought I had baked it sufficiently because the edges were brown, the toothpick came out clean, and when I turned it over, the surface of the cake was a nice golden brown.

But alas, the cake was not only dense but it didn’t have that much flavor, another sign it was underbaked. It wasn’t raw; it just didn’t taste right and the texture wasn’t very cakey-good.  Eep. I did bake it for 45 minutes but it could’ve probably used at least another 5-8 minutes more. It didn’t look much like the picture on Dorothy’s blog in terms of texture so….my bad. I didn't even want to post this as I have more successful recipes in the line up still waiting but I've always said I would post what I make, success or "failure" and be honest about it so here you go.

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 overripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk

Frosting
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt, optional
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 12-cup fluted bundt pan.
2. Whisk together flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl.
3. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low, alternately add half the flour mixture, the buttermilk then the remaining flour mixture. Beat until just combined; do not overmix.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes. Let cool in pan for a few minutes, loosen cake with small spatula and overturn onto serving plate. Let cool completely.
6. Make the frosting: mix melted butter and cream cheese. Mix in powdered sugar, salt if using, and vanilla. Frost cooled cake.