I have to admit that I’m not all that crazy about Banana Bread, but I do like bananas. Actually, there isn’t really a fruit that I don’t like. Jordan is a little more selective, but he does like bananas so we usually have a few all the time. I like mine slightly green, and Jordan likes his slightly brown so you would think that we’d never have any get overripe, right? Wrong! Usually there’s one or two out of every bunch that get grossly brown. I usually just stick the overripe bananas into the freezer with the intention of eventually making something banana with them. I’ve been trying to clean out my freezer some and realized I had 7-8 bananas in the freezer so I started looking for a banana recipe that wasn’t your typical banana bread. I found this recipe and thought I might be on to something, since I love the flavor that browned butter gives–slightly nutty with a hint of caramel. The browned butter really sets this cake apart from regular banana bread. I may have just started a browned butter baking spree. =) Enjoy!
Browned Butter Banana Bundt
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 ripe, medium bananas, mashed (about 1 – 1 1/4 cups)
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 10-inch bundt pan
2. In a small saucepan, brown the butter (see below for detailed instructions). Pour into a small bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together browned butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs one by one, waiting until each has been incorporated to add the next. Beat in vanilla extract and mashed bananas.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mix and stir to combine. Add in the sour cream, followed by the remaining flour mixture.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
7. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Browned Butter Glaze
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
approx 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1. In a small skillet, brown the butter (see below). Pour into a medium bowl and allow to cool slightly.
2. Whisk milk, vanilla and about 1/2 cup confectioners sugar into the browned butter until smooth. Gradually blend in additional confectioners sugar until you have a glaze that is smooth and thick enough to drizzle generously over the cake.
To make Browned Butter: Melt butter (I prefer unsalted for this) in a small saucepan on the stove. Continue cooking it on medium-high heat until the butter boils. Turn heat down to medium. Don’t worry if your butter bubbles or foams; just keep cooking it. As the butter begins to brown, you will see specks of darker brown develop at the bottom of the pan. Stir these up and cook until the butter has a nice and even dark honey color. Remove from heat and transfer to another container to cool.
*from Baking Bites
