Following a strange twist of fate it turns out that I don’t have to go to school today. Hurray! I usually get up at 4:45AM in order to make it to my first class on time, so I should have slept in - but when my internal clock jolted me awake at 5:00AM I decided to do some baking. Oh yes. As if there was ever any doubt, my baking addiction knows no bounds and the confection of choice? Banana Bundt Cake from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking From My Home to Yours.”
Banana Bundt Cake
(View larger image here)
Baking at 5 o’clock in the morning when your kitchen is right next to the bedroom and your husband is soundly sleeping is a little like being a secret agent. I tip-toed around the apartment and opened the cabinets oh so slowly. If a door creaked or a pan clinked I froze, listening for the tell-tale sound of my husband waking up. Did I wake him? Should I continue? The suspense was intense, I tell ya, but after creaming the butter & sugar in the office (to mask the noise) you’ll be happy to know that I pulled it off. And when the hubby got up at 7:00AM what did he find waiting for his breakfast? Banana Bundt Cake. Mission Accomplished.
One quick side note before I share this lovely recipe: Dorie now has a blog! Mozy on over and say hello why don’t ya. 
Classic Banana Bundt Cake (Or, Secret Agent Banana Bundt Cake)
Ingredients: Makes 1 Bundt Cake
- 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 to 1 3/4 cups)
- 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (I only had 1/2 a cup of sour cream so I used that plus 1/2 cup of whole milk)
Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9- to 10-inch (12 cup) Bundt pan. (If you use 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 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. 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 debubble 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.
Bonus: Lemony White Icing
Sift 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar into a bowl and squeeze in enough fresh lemon juice (start with 2 teaspoons and add more by drops) to make an icing thin enough to drizzle down the Bundt’s curves.
This recipe is from the ever fabulous “Baking from My Home to Yours,” by Dorie Greenspan.
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This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2007 by Ariela and is filed under Breads, Cakes, Desserts, Quick Breads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
33 Comments.
I sooo need a bundt pan to make this, I must get one! I really love your story about the adventure of making this without making a sound and what a surprise, you pulled it off so well, I just love adventures and with cooking even more so.
I am coming to your house for breakfast! I’m always up around 5 a.m., but never ever baking!!! I’ve been collecting Bundt pans for the past year or so. Once you start looking, it’s amazing how many old and new designs you can find.
That looks delicious! I have all the ingredients so I’m making that sucker this weekend.
Yay! Dorie! I LOVE anything banana, so this looks absolutely fantastic. Bundts are so cute, too.
You can not take it easy, can you?!:D
Looks delicious.I made Pineapple coconut mini Bundt cakes and are in my (other) “Aroma’ blog.I love the shape of Bundt cakes!
I will check out that book,thanks.
How more lucky can your hubby be? He wakes up to freshly baked Banana Bundt cake! The texture and coloring look fabulous, now if only I could smell it and taste it
I bought this book and I’m in awe - I don’t even know which recipe to try first!!
Your cake looks delicious, Ari!
Hurrah! Score another one for Dorie! I love that book.
When I’m doing sneaky morning baking I’m usually too afraid to do anything that requires power, so muffins are the sweet of choice.
Wow! Sounds delicious. That smell would have waken me up.
The cake looks wonderful and I love how you felt like a secret agent baking it! I cook at odd hours sometimes too, usually at night, and try to be careful with the banging pans. Sometimes I feel like the more I try to be quiet, the louder everything gets! : )
Made this today.
Excellent! I didn’t have sour cream or yogurt (how odd!) so I substituted buttermilk (1 c. milk + 1 tbsp. vinegar).
Nothing beats early morning baking. Love the cake, Ari!
That looks like it might actually be worth the early morning wake up to make this. Looks delicious!
I did that too one day, making jams at 4.30m because it was pouring rain outside and could not go running…!
I love that cake from Dorie, I add mini chocolate chips…yum!
Looks yummy, thanks for your kind comment.
I’d love to wake up to this!
Paz
Creaming the butter and sugar in your office must’ve been quite a sight!
Looks great and I’m not surprised. That book is AMAZING!!! DORIE is amazing!!
Ari, I love the title and your story. Everything in that book is just way out good!
Ari, you are the only person I know who wakes up earlier than myself. you are amazing! and banana bread variations are to-die for.
but you should get some sleep too
Why do I smell bananas all of a sudden? Oh yes! I’m imagining that I’m having a slice of your fabulous cake!!!!!! Yum, it tastes great–can I have another slice please?
Can you sneak in our house and cook something for us???
This looks so scrumptious! Gimme gimme.
I love bananna breads. They are so comforting.
Sitting here in my office on a Monday morning drinking coffee… I sure could use a slice of that cake.
Oh, I do love ‘nanas! Yums!
Who wouldn’t forgive you for a little bit of morning noise when they get to wake up to fresh banana cake?!?!
Geez. Your blog always makes me so hungry!
Lydia - I bet there are some pretty amazing bundt pan patterns out there, I hope you do a post about your collection sometime, I’d love to see it.
Susan - Did you make it? I hope you enjoyed it!
Abby - Yea, Dorie is pretty awesome. It’s difficult not to bake from her books every weekend but alas, I can’t let my other baking books get jealous.
Asha - No, I can’t. My hubby says I have way too much energy.
Those mini bundt cakes you mentioned sound scrumptious.
Ruth L - This cake did have a fantastic texture, just right for cutting into with a fork and following up with a drink of hot coffee.
Patricia - Those bluberry citrus muffins in the first section are pretty spectacular.
Brilynn - Me too! Dorie is the best.
Damselfly - He’s a sound sleeper, I don’t think anything short of an earthquake would wake him up… maybe not even that! I wish I were that deep of a sleeper.
Laura - I’m so glad to hear it turned out well and go you for substituting buttermilk. Too often people give up on a recipe when they don’t have the exact ingredients but if you know what can be switched for what baking is never far away.
Ivonne - No doubt about it. Except maybe super late night baking? Hmmmm.
Kristen - It was. Oh it was.
Helen - You go running at 4:30am? Goodness! Isn’t it still dark? I’m trying to imagine the look on Oreo’s face if I told her we were going to go jogging at 4:30am. She’s not a morning dog.
(Mini chocolate chips are a great addition to this cake.)
Carolyn - Thank you and you’re welcome.
Paz - Me too! Luckily he makes me breakfast all the time on the weekends.
Mary - I’m sure it was, good thing the hubby didn’t know about it or he would have been laughing at me, lol.
Christine - I agree!
Connie - Aw shucks Connie. Well, I would happily give you the honor of being the earlier waker upper if only my class schedule would allow it!
Sher Cermak - I wish I could give you one!
Jeff - Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be a personal chef, like for a celebrity? Cause that’s essentially what they do. I wonder if it’s an enjoyable job?
Naomi - Haha, I’m happy you like it.
aka Nik - Banana is a great addition to baked goods of any kind, bread, cakes, muffins - yum!
Matt - If only my blog were interactive, I’d share my food with you all!
Garrett - Me too, especially when they’re called nanas.
Nikkipolani - He would have forgiven me, but then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.
Tali - Mission accomplished!
Thinking about being a secret agent at 5 am is a whole lot more fun than thinking what I usually think, which is something along the lines of “Tell me again, why am I up now and can’t I go back to sleep — pleeeeeeeeez????!!!”
I’m really glad you and your husband liked the cake.
Thank you so much for mentioning my new blog. At your suggestion, several of your friends have “mozied” over — wish I could have given them cookies, but …