TWD: Classic Banana Bundt Cake

This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie treat was Classic Banana Bundt Cake. This was the first time a bundt cake has been selected since I joined TWD and I enjoy making them, so I was happy to see it on the August calendar. I am a little curious when banana baked goods cross over from bread to cake. Since banana bread is the more ubiquitous of the two, I’ve eaten a lot more of it in my lifetime, but there is a certain banana cake that stands out in my mind. When I was a kid we had a Big Bird cake pan; the pan with a little recipe booklet and my mom used to make a banana cake from it, which we referred to it as “Big Bird Cake.” It was excellent cake with fluffy buttery icing (lemon, if I recall correctly). Unfortunately, at some point my mom, who keeps her amount of “stuff” fairly minimal, got rid of both the pan and the recipe. A few years ago we discovered you could acquire a Big Bird cake pan on eBay in just few clicks (we didn’t, I guess we hadn’t had any wine that night), but I’d be even more excited to find the cake recipe. I found another cookbook containing one of my lost childhood favorites at a library book sale earlier this year, so I know it’s possible. In the meantime, I now have a great banana cake recipe in my arsenal.



Which is to say, I loved this cake! I’m glad only made a half-recipe; otherwise I would be convincing myself that this was a breakfast cake and eating it all day. The simple and delicious flavor of bananas is delightful, and the cake had a nice moist texture. I wasn't sure how the lemon glaze would go with the brown sugar cinnamon ice cream I made to accompany the cake, but it actually worked. We really liked the glaze; in fact, my boyfriend has requested extra glaze. I also loved how easy this was to make – seriously, I was astonished how quickly I was in and out of the kitchen. The recipe called for either sour cream or plain yogurt, and I used plain nonfat yogurt (definitely one of the healthier staples that I have added to the grocery list since joining TWD). We frequently buy more bananas than we can consume at our preferred stages of ripeness, so I end up freezing the ones that have more brown sugar spots than yellow skin and once defrosted, they’re terrific for baking – you don’t even need to mash them.



I gave this cake a 9 for Deliciousness and a 2 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 4.5. Many thanks to Mary of The Food Librarian for this selecting this fantastic cake. You can find the recipe on Mary’s site and see what the other bakers thought via the TWD site.