Did you know? Old bananas make the best tasting Banana Bundts!
As kids, we grew up with lots of banana bread. Mom would make different variations depending on what she had in the cupboard. Chocolate chip banana bread and walnut banana bread were some of our favorites. Her dried citrus fruit banana bread was NOT my fav. Ewww! I always knew when Mom was planning to make banana bread because I spotted them in the freezer. She would stick them in there to get them to ripen faster. Then, after school the next day when we came running into the house, the aroma of delicious banana bread greeted us in the kitchen, accompanied by a fresh warm loaf on the counter with the butter dish.
So, one year I thought I'd twist Mom's banana bread recipe into a Bundt cake for my sister's birthday because I knew she also liked Mom's banana bread. It turned out delicious! Of course, a birthday cake needs to be frosted and have some special decorations. Her birthday is a summer event so it was fun to work with lighter colors.
What I love about this recipe is that I don't need to haul out the big electric mixer. I can use a fork to mash the bananas, and a whisk for the eggs and the same whisk to combine the ingredients. Just use your arm muscles to stir the batter - it's easy! Plus, there's less to clean up and put away.
Preheat your oven to 325F degrees.
Pan prep for 12 cup Bundt pan:
- Brush all sides and the bottom with butter inside the Bundt pan,.
- Dust flour over the butter so all is covered. Tap out the excess flour into the trash. Set aside.
- Option: Use two 6 cup Bundt pans and freeze one for later.
Banana Bundt ingredients:
2 C Bananas, peeled and mashed (5-6 bananas)
4 Eggs, large
2/3 C vegetable oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
2 C Sugar
2 C Flour
1 Banana cream pudding dry mix, 3.5 oz box
1 t Baking soda
1 t Salt
1 C Chocolate chips, semi-sweet (optional)
Mash your bananas:
- Mash the bananas and set aside. It's easy to mash them with a fork on a flat dinner plate.
- Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl.
- Add the oil to the eggs and whisk together.
- Add the bananas and stir until well combined.
- In a separate, larger bowl, stir together the flour, dry banana cream pudding mix, baking soda and salt. I have used a box of vanilla pudding dry mix in this recipe, but the banana flavor is enhanced much more with the banana cream pudding mix.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir thoroughly.
- Pour batter into Bundt pan.
- Bake the cake at 325F degrees for 65 - 75 minutes. I baked it for 65 minutes and gave it the clean toothpick test. If the toothpick comes out clean after you stick in a couple different middle spots, the cake is done. If the toothpick does not come out clean, I bake it for another 5 minutes, test it again and bake it again if needed. I also give it the "spring" test - if the cake springs back nicely when I push on it, the cake will be done. If my little poke leaves an indentation, the cake is not done.
- Cool the cake on a rack for 10 minutes.
- Loosen the cake a little near the top around the edge with a skinny plastic spatula. I use the narrow end of a plastic orange peeler.
- Turn the cake upside down on a large plate or platter.
- When the cake is cool, flip it over and trim off the rounded portion so it will sit flat when flipped back over. Be sure to cut that portion off with a long sharp serrated knife to eliminate rough edges.
- After the cake has cooled completely, frost the cake lightly with Marshmallow Fluff Frosting. If you want the frosting to drizzle down the sides a little, frost the cake while it's still a little warm.
Marshmallow Fluff Frosting:
This frosting is delicious on this banana bread Bundt cake. It can be drizzled onto a warm (not hot) cake so it slides down the sides. If the cake is too warm, it can slide off the cake and get really thin with most of the frosting ending up on the plate.
Stir up your frosting in a medium bowl:
2 C Marshmallow fluff
1/2 C Powdered sugar
2 T Heavy cream
1/2-1/2 t Vanilla extract or Banana extract
- Stir together the fluff and powdered sugar until thoroughly combined.
- Stir in 1 tablespoon and add more until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Add vanilla extract and stir in completely.
- Drizzle onto the cake.
- I have tried regular milk or 2% milk in place of the heavy, but it creates a super thin frosting. I prefer using the heavy cream for a better tongue feel.
Decorating the Cake:
- Add birthday decorations or whatever you like. Sometimes I leave it plain - no frosting, just some powdered sugar sprinkled over it with a small sieve.
- On this birthday cake I added some summer colored round melting candy discs. Sometimes I sprinkle mini chocolate chips on the frosting - kids love that.
- This is a cake with which you can get really fancy with the decorations, or keep it minimalist and spread soft butter on the slices. It's your choice.
Try this recipe in two 6 Cup Bundt pans:
With only two of us in the house, I use two 6 cup Bundt pans for this recipe and bake them at 325F degrees. It gives us a nice little banana bread cake for now. I freeze one for later since it keeps about a month when tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and sealed in a plastic bag.
- Bake the two pans at once for about 50 minutes, and did the same clean toothpick test and the spring test to make sure they were both done. I ended up at 55 minutes total time.
- Cool on a rack for 10 minutes and then turn out on flat plates.
- Once they are cool, flip them over and trim off any rounded edge so they will sit flat when flipped back over.
Bake in a 6 Cup Bundt and a 10 C Bundt pan:
The first time I baked this recipe in two pans, I did not have two 6 cup Bundts. So, I used a 6 cup Bundt and a 10 cup Bundt. I still baked them at 325F degrees, but for different amounts of time.
- Bake them both for for 50 minutes and test the smaller one for doneness. If the smaller cake is done, take it out of the oven and let the larger one bake 5-15 minutes longer, in 5 minute intervals, depending on when it tests for doneness.
- Cool both cakes on a rack for 10 minutes and then turn out on flat plates.
- Once they are cool, flip them over and trim off any rounded portion so they will sit flat when flipped back over. Use a long sharp serrated knife to slice to give it a clean edge.
- Flip them back over so they sit flat on the plates.
Storage:
- This cake will keep covered on the counter for a few days.
- In a sealed plastic container, it will keep in the fridge for about 7-10 days.
- If you wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and seal it in a plastic bag or container, it should keep for about a month in the freezer.
Enjoy this fun Banana Bundt! Try different things to insert and decorate it with - mini chocolate chips inside and on top, Try other fruit as treats alongside a slice. And, don't forget, soft butter spread on a slice is a tasty way to enjoy it for breakfast with a cup of coffee. Whoever you make it for, your sister or someone else special, "Bake your own Memories!"
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