Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze – Thick and soft banana cake with a tender buttery crumb, topped with a decadent Brown Sugar Glaze. The BEST Banana Cake EVER!
This here is the only banana cake recipe you will need from now until the end of time. This is the BEST banana cake I have ever (I mean, ever!) sunk my teeth into.
Note: I now buy bananas, ban my family from consuming them, then wait for them to ripen so I can immediately bake this cake.
Also to be noted, I might need to move up one pants size if this banana cake habit doesn’t quit. Wah.
Prefer a sheet cake? Try this Banana Cake topped with vanilla frosting.
Prefer a different flavor? Try this Pumpkin Bundt Cake.
I have been on a search for the perfect banana cake for months. I went back and forth about whether it should be a sheet cake or a bundt cake. What should I top it with? Cream cheese frosting? Brown sugar glaze? Chocolate? Decisions, decisions.
All my testing landed me on this recipe, which comes from the brilliant Dorie Greenspan.
Banana Bundt Cake
I made very few changes to the cake recipe itself, and I would call it perfect. Nearly two cups of mashed bananas add the banana flavor, sour cream adds moisture and balances out the sweetness, vanilla extract compliments the bananas, and the right amount of butter creates a tender crumb. See what I said about perfect?
I resisted the urge to add cinnamon or chocolate chips in order to really allow the bananas to shine. I am so, so, happy with how this cake turned out. Its flavor and consistency are spot on.
This cake can absolutely hold its own as-is, without the brown sugar glaze. You can serve it plain, dusted with powdered sugar, or with a smear of salted butter. But, because I am a “more is more” type of girl, I went ahead and whipped up a brown sugar glaze to pour over this beautiful Banana Bundt Cake.
Brown Sugar Glaze
This quick and easy glaze is made with butter, brown sugar and vanilla. It tastes like carmel-praline-brown sugar heaven. It slowly drips down the sides of the cake, coating each bite with sweet and buttery deliciousness. The glaze firms up quickly, which means you don’t have to wait too long before diving in.
Bonus: the glaze also acts like glue if you choose to garnish your cake with chopped walnuts or pecans.
Now, what are you waiting for? You know you want a slice of this cake. Bake, eat, share and enjoy.
P.S. There’s bananas in it, so it can totally be eaten for breakfast, right? Morning, noon, or night – I will never, ever turn down a slice of this beauty.
MORE BANANA RECIPES: BEST EVER BANANA BREAD – BANANA BROWN SUGAR FRENCH TOAST – BANANA BAKED OATMEAL
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Recipe
Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients
Cake:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ⅔ cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¾ cups mashed very ripe bananas, approx 4 bananas
- 1 cup sour cream, I used light
Brown Sugar Icing:
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- With a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and beat for another minute, at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Add vanilla, then beat in 1 egg at a time. Mix in bananas (the mixture might curdle, that’s ok).
- Add half of the dry ingredients, sour cream, and then the remaining dry ingredients, mixing between each addition.
- Thoroughly grease a 12-cup bundt pan and add the batter to the pan. Rap the pan on the counter a couple times (to remove air bubbles), then smooth out the top. Bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Loosely cover the cake with foil if it starts to get dark (this was around 30 minutes for me). Place the pan on a wire rack until it is cool enough to handle, then carefully unmold the cake and place it back on the rack to cool completely.
Icing:
- In a small saucepan combine butter, brown sugar and milk. Bring to a simmer, whisking frequently and cook until the sugar is dissolved, a minute or two. Remove from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.
- Add vanilla, whisking to combine. Add powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time, whisking vigorously, until you reach your desired consistency. The icing will start to firm up quickly so have the cake cooled and ready. Drizzle the icing over the cake and immediately sprinkle with nuts. The icing will set in a matter of minutes.
Nutrition
Nutritional Information is an estimate based on third-party calculations and may vary based on products used and serving sizes.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment and rating below!
Rachel
Love it just as written!! I made it and it was delicious! Especially the glaze. Yumm. But I am curious could I also make this as a banana bread in a bread pan? What would the times be for that? I would think I could get 2 bread pans maybe out of this recipe?
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! If you add the batter to loaf pans I would guess bake time would be 50-60 minutes. Just keep an eye on it. Don’t overfill the loaf pans, maybe halfway to two-thirds full of batter. If you have leftover batter you can add it to a muffin tin. Bake time on the muffins will probably be 15-25 minutes. Also, I have an equally popular banana bread recipe, if you want to try that: https://celebratingsweets.com/easy-banana-bread/
Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Bonnie
Can this be made without sour cream if necessary? I’m sure it is better with the sour cream, but we have a family member who has reactions to sour cream even when baked.
Allison
You can use plain yogurt. You’ll need something to replace it, I wouldn’t just leave it out completely.
Sidra
I tried it and it turned out amazing… the cake was moist the frosting went so well with it and the cake was fairly easy to prepare… I used yogurt instead of sour cream and it was fabulous…
Allison
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Teri
I’ve made this twice now and both times it has been awesome. The first time I didn’t have any sour cream but there was no way I could let the Bananas go another day so I substituted mayo. Thumbs up! I made it the second time today and while I did have sour cream I didn’t have enough so I used 3/4 cup of sour cream and 1/4 c mayo. Same awesome taste. Moist and delicious. First time i used the brown sugar glaze this time a used a cream cheese glaze. It’s a toss up as to which is better!.
Thank you for a fantastic recipe to use up brown bananas!
Allison
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Jimmy. T
tastes like heaven!
June_Aloha
This banana bundt cake is the best! My husband says the best banana cake!
I made twice, so far. One for my co-worker’s birthday, and this time to save bananas at our house, lol! It’s easy to bake, too. Thank you so much for such an awesome & delicious recipe!
Susie
Such a yummy recipe… only change I made was to add a cup of butterscotch chips. They melt just enough that you get pockets of wonderful butterscotch goo throughout!
Karin
This recipe is so easy! I use gluten free all purpose flour, as my kids have celiac disease, and it still turns out perfectly! I grease my pan with shortening and dust it with a bit of icing sugar, which makes a sweet, crisp outside. A fantastic recipe.
Rhonda
This is the best banana cake ever I have made it so many times. I take it when I’m invited to dinner with family or friends everyone loves it and the brown sugar icing/glaze makes it even more irresistible. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Jean
The best banana cake recipe I tried. Moist and the texture and flavor are out of this world. I did add a touch of cinnamon enhance the flavor. Fam and friend loved it.