Those overripe bananas browning on your kitchen counter aren’t as sad and useless as they seem. Help them understand their true destiny in this Brown Butter Banana Cake!
Warm, nutty brown butter, or beurre noisette, are combined with sweet, moist bananas in this flavor-packed, chocolate-dotted cake. No need for fussy frosting or embellishments, the glossy ganache is the only accessory it needs.
Over-ripe Bananas
Not just past their prime or slightly freckled, we are talking rrrrripe, nearly black bananas. Overripe bananas aren’t just easier to mash and incorporate into batters, but they are sweeter and offer a more concentrated banana flavor.
Craving this cake right now and can’t wait for your bunch to brown naturally? Check out these banana browning options.
Brown Butter
If you’ve made the Best Ever Carrot Cake, then you’ve already heard me sing the praises of brown butter. With its nutty, toasty notes, browned butter has a more intense, richer flavor than regular melted butter.
Like in our moist, spiced carrot cake, nutty brown butter with banana is transformative.
Glossy Ganache Glaze
The dotty insides provide almost enough bittersweet chocolate to balance out the sweet banana, but a chance at adding a glossy glaze was too irresistible.
Made with both heavy cream a butter, the melted chocolate glaze has enough heft to cling to the cake and shine to make us swoon.
Tips for Bundt Cakes
- To keep the cake from sticking in the pan, grease and flour the inside of the tin. To do so, spray all of the nooks and crannies with nonstick cooking spray. Next, sprinkle the inside of the pan with flour. Tap and rotate the pan around so that the flour fully covers the inside of the pan. Tip the pan upside-down and tap out the excess flour. Alternatively, use a pastry brush to cover the inside of the pan with very soft butter before flouring.
- Do not let the cake completely cool in the bundt pan before flipping it out. Allow the cake to cool for about 20 minutes (set a timer so you don’t forget!) before turning it out. The pan will likely still be too hot to handle without oven mitts, so be careful.
- To flip the bundt cake out of the pan, place a cooling rack or cutting board on top of the cake. Grip both the sides of the cooling rack and cake pan at the same time then flip everything upside down. Gently wiggle the cake pan to coax out the cake, lift, and remove.
- A bundt cake is indicative to the pan it is baked in. In this case, the same recipe may be baked in round cake pans (filled no more than ⅔ of the way full). Begin checking for doneness at about 25 minutes.
Recipe
Brown Butter Banana Cake
Ingredients
Brown Butter Banana Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter diced
- 4 bananas overripe
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- 4 oz dark chocolate finely chopped
Glossy Ganache Glaze
- 4 oz dark chocolate chopped
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter diced
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Instructions
Brown Butter Banana Chip Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Liberally grease and flour the inside of a Bundt pan (see Baker’s Notes).
- Place the butter in a light-colored sauce pan and melt on the stove over medium heat*. Continue to simmer until the butter becomes frothy and starts to turn golden in color. Stirring to keep the milk solids from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan, continue to cook the butter until brown, about 8 minutes. When done, it will be nutty and fragrant.
- Meanwhile, mash the bananas in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Pour the browned butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer). Allow the butter to cool for about 10 minutes. Add the sugar and mix together on medium speed for a couple minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the vanilla followed by the eggs, one at a time. Add the mashed banana and mix to combine, about 30 seconds. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix on low speed to combine. Stream in the buttermilk and mix until absorbed. Add the remaining flour. Stop the mixer just before the last of the dry ingredients fully combine into the batter. Add the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate and fold to combine.
- Tip the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Use the back of a spoon to smooth, if needed. Bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a long, thin knife inserted into the deepest point in the cake comes out dry or with a few moist crumbs (the batter should not appear to be raw).
- Allow the cake to cool for 20 minutes before removing the cake from the pan (see Baker’s Notes). Continue to cool completely before adding the glaze.
- *Do not boil on high heat or too much water content from the butter will evaporate out
Glossy Ganache Glaze
- Place the chocolate and butter in a heat-safe bowl and set aside.
- Place the cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Pour the cream over the chocolate and butter. Allow to sit for 30 to 60 seconds then whisk until smooth.
- Pour over the cake while it is warm enough to drip freely but cool enough that the glaze still coats and clings to the cake.
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