Caramel Banana Bundt Cake

Everyone please welcome Shana to the blog today as she shares about the Caramel Banana Bundt Cake she made and some other favorite banana recipes of hers.

I don’t know about you, but I think there’s a very short window of opportunity to eat bananas. They go from under-ripe to over-ripe in lightning speed.  If they’re under-ripe, they’re hard and flavorless. If they’re over-ripe, they’re mushy and sickeningly sweet.

Because of that, we always seem to have two or three over-ripe bananas sitting on the counter from any given bunch I buy.  At that point, there are two choices. Toss them, or bake with them. Because letting them ferment on the counter and attract pesky fruit flies isn’t an option around here.

But that’s where the good news comes in: an over-ripe banana is now perfect for baking. And options for baking with bananas are plentiful.  In fact, my Pinterest boards are so loaded with banana recipes that I’ve considered creating a board dedicated to nothing but bananas.

Today I’m sharing one that I made this week: Caramel Banana Bundt Cake. It’s the brainchild of the lovely Kate from I Heart Eating.

I’d love for you to look through my photos, read my brief review, and then check out the bottom of this post for links to a few more banana recipes that have earned the designation of Tried & True in our family.

▲▲▲  Doesn’t looking at a bowl of mashed banana make you feel virtuous?  It does me.  Instead of wasting them, I’m putting them to use.  Being frugal, re-purposing, whatever you want to call it – it gives me a lovely feeling.

▲▲▲  Speaking of re-purposing, I’d bought whipping cream earlier in the week to make homemade ice cream, and had no idea what to do with the remainder.  The caramel sauce that accompanies this cake was the perfect solution, because it calls for a cup of cream.  Dontcha love it when that happens?!

(In case you were wondering, I made Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream from Marin Mama Cooks, and it was devine.)

▲▲▲  My sauce had a very strong flavor.  I let it cook past 350 degrees because I was waiting for it to turn an amber color.  Next time I’ll stop right at 350, and see if it results in a milder flavor.

If strong flavors aren’t your cup of tea, give the sauce a taste before you drizzle it over the cake.  As for the sauce layer that’s actually baked into the cake however, the cooking process mellows it to a lovely flavor.  So you should be good there even if your sauce ends up a bit on the strong side like mine did.

▲▲▲  My 19 year-old daughter pronounced this her favorite cake ever.

A few things I liked about it:

• The buttermilk makes for a very moist cake.

• The caramel sauce adds depth and interest to the flavor.

• It’s pretty.  In fact, I’d even say it’s company-worthy.

• It came right out of the pan with no sticking or tearing or crumbling.  (My bundt pan and I have some bad history, so this was a big plus for me.)

Now, just in case you’re a banana recipe hoarder like me, here are a few of my family’s favorites:

Banana Bread Oatmeal  |  Banana-Sour Cream Coffee Cake  |  Banana Crunch Muffins  |  Banana-Bran Muffins  |  Low Fat Oatmeal Banana Bread  |  Molasses-Oat Banana Bread  |  Bananas Foster Bread (it’s the first recipe in the discussion thread)

So Love, Pasta, and a Tool Belt readers, what are your favorite banana recipes?  (I bet you knew I was going to ask that, didn’t you?  Seriously, hit me up.  I’d love to pin them now, and give them a whirl in the future.)

My daughter is leaving for college in two weeks.  {{Sigh.}}  She loves her momma’s baking.  Do you have experience with mailing baked goods?  Please share any tips you have with me.

Emily, thank you so much for the opportunity to guest post and meet your wonderful readers.  Good luck with the move.

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