Banana Maple Bundt Cake with Walnut Praline Swirl

That is a mouthful…Saying it and eating it.

I was grocery shopping on Friday and at the small, organic grocery that I  like I found several bags of ripe bananas on sale for 1.25 a bag.

SCORE!

Our family eats enough bananas to really cause monkeys to sweat.  Seriously, one time someone gave us an entire produce box full of very ripe bananas and was concerned that we would not be able to eat them all before they spoiled.  I just laughed.

Sure enough two days later the box was empty and not one banana had spoiled.

So, when I see bananas on sale like that I snatch them up, or try to.  I bought two bags and hoped to set a few aside for banana bread or something.

Well, this is the or something I decided on.  You have to love bananas because this cake is intensely banana.  Very moist, very flavorful, and just enough maple to make it complex.  I finished this cake by dusting it with confectioners but you could certainly use a maple glaze.  Just add enough grade B maple syrup to confectioners’ sugar to make it the consistency you want.  Why grade B?  Because for baking and cooking it is far more flavorful!

This cake is huge, should serve at least 12 ( It lasted exactly one meal at our house). Serve it with coffee or tea for a brunch or tea time treat.Try it with an Ethiopia Sidamo coffee or Teavana’s Vermont Maple tea.

Banana Maple Bundt Cake with Walnut Praline Swirl

Cake

3 cups organic white flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted organic butter

1 1/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon maple flavoring (use a natural maple flavor like Frontier’s)

2 large eggs

4 very ripe bananas, mashed.  About 1 1/2- 1 3/4 cups

1 cup full fat sour cream

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and flour a large bundt pan.

Blend dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer beat butter until creamy.  add the sugars and beat until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time beating a minute or so between each.  Use a rubber spatula to pull the mixture from the sides and bottom of the bowl, ad the vanilla and maple,  and mix about 30 seconds more.

Reduce speed to lowest setting and beat in the bananas.

Add half of the dry ingredients.  Mix quickly, and then add all of the sour cream.  Fold in the rest of the dry ingredients.

Add about half the batter to the bundt pan, cover with the praline mixture, and then add the rest of the batter.  Smooth the top. Sort of swirl a knife through the batter to move the praline layer around.

Bake for 60 to 70  minutes or until a knife comes out clean.  Let cool  for ten minutes in the pan and then turn the pan upside down on a cake plate.  Let it finish cooling.

I have heard that the cake is best the second day but we have never tested this theory.

Walnut Praline

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans, or macadamias, or hazelnuts)

Melt butter and brown sugar in a sauce  pan stirring until smooth and blended.  Allow to bubble for about 20 seconds and then add walnuts.  Stir the nuts to cover with the praline and then set aside to cool to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.

Sorry for the lack of close up shots.  By the time I realized that my close ups were blurry the cake was gone..You will have to trust me on this one!

Image:MaryeAudet