In preparation for summer cooking, and by that I mainly mean the ability to finally, this time for REAL, get a handle on homemade ice cream, I cleaned out my freezer last weekend. You may ask yourself, “How bad could the freezer of a 3/4-sized refrigerator actually get?” In my imagination, I live in a world of carefully labeled frozen meat and an organizational system that makes finding what you need in a pinch as easy as 1-2-3. In reality, my freezer is a black hole of 35 different nuts, 6 different flours, unknown poultry from an unknown time period, two ice cube trays that most of the time I’ve forgotten to fill anyway so what’s the point, a hodge podge of interesting items like banana leaves and 1/4 of a bag of pearl onions, and 21 brown bananas.
You read that correctly. My freezer, its capacity barely larger than a breadbox, was hiding 21 brown bananas in various bags throughout its depths. Once the embarrassment and shame of this discovery had finished washing over me, I vowed to use them up on the spot, and took to my massive cookbook collection to look for recipes calling for overripe bananas in large quantities.
Dorie Greenspan, as always, came through. I picked two recipes, this banana bundt cake and a dark chocolate-banana bread (recipe to come) and set to defrosting bananas in the fridge. Banana cakes and breads are so easy, and the batter is so good to lick out of the bowl. It was a glorious morning of baking, and the apartment smelled like the home of the grandma of your imagination who always seemed to be baking banana bread. In a few hours, I’d produced quite a bounty of banana-based treats.
This bundt cake doesn’t contain rum, or chili powder, or some other weird ingredient that I’m going to claim really makes it shine. It’s just a simple, delicious banana cake that’s incredibly moist, richly flavored and super comforting to eat. The sort of cake that reminds you that we don’t ALWAYS need to be reaching for the next thing. Sometimes the simple way, the way your imaginary grandma has always done things, is exactly the right way to do it.
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (8 oz.) 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
Instructions
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9- to 10-inch Bundt pan. (If you've got a silicone Bundt pan, there's no need to butter it.) Don't place the pan on a baking sheet- you want the oven's heat to circulate through the Bundt's inner tube.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.
- Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, 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 on at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas. Finally, 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 de-bubble the batter and smooth the top.
- 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.
- If you've got the time, wrap the cooled cake in plastic and allow to sit on the counter overnight before serving- it's better the next day.
Notes
https://www.thekitchenchronicles.com/2019/06/12/classic-banana-bundt-cake/
