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
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!
Tika says
I would give this recipe a 4.5 stars out of 5. The cake itself was absolutely moist and delicious, no doubt about it. To the amount of bananas used, I make a couple tweaks as mine were thawed out from frozen. I’m not sure how many frozen bananas I had but it measured out to be 1 and 1/4 cup of thawed banana PLUS 3/4 cup of ‘banana juice’ from the ziplock bag it was thawed out in.
Now to the part where I would do this recipe a bit differently. I would definitely do the icing a little bit differently as I think the extra brown sugar icing is a bit overkill for the cake itself (the star of the show, imo). Instead, try it with a simple glaze of icing sugar and a bit of milk and butter or better yet. Try it with a cream cheese icing, which I think would pair together perfectly.
I definitely will be making this recipe again as I am adding it to my roster of cake recipes for the winter!
Ann Marie Sheppard says
Good idea to try the cream cheese frosting! I am making this cake again next week, I think I’ll try the cream cheese frosting instead 🙂
Kelsey 959 says
Divine! Overall easy to make. Did make only a couple subs: didn’t have sour cream so used plain/unsweetened Greek yogurt, used “flax eggs” instead of real eggs due to intolerance, and increased the baking soda by 1/2 tsp to account for no real eggs. I think the glaze takes it to a whole new level and adds the sweetness as the cake itself is not overly sweet. I forgot to cover it partway so mine did get a little dark on top, but still great. My toddler, coworkers, and I love it! It also looks beautiful when done. Great way to use up those ripe bananas. Thank you!
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Ann Marie Sheppard says
This was delicious! I had so many bananas, and I wanted something other than banana bread, and this did not disappoint! I added toasted pecans and doubled the glaze recipe. I am making this again for a dessert competition at work this week. So so yummy!
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment. 🙂
Diane Marlow says
Put your frosting glaze over a apple dapple cake and it was devine. Now I’ve got to try the banana cake with it.
Allison says
Great idea! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by.
Amanda says
Could the recipe be altered to use almond flour instead of all purpose? It sounds delicious and I wanted to try it out today!
Allison says
No, almond flour won’t have the structure needed for the cake to bake properly.
Sharon Meikle says
Hands down “best” use for those overripe bananas. I used full fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly … ‘cause if you don’t, you really shouldn’t expect the same result as the poster.
It’s a beautiful cake when glazed and crowned with nuts. The crumb is moist and the cake itself is just the right balance of banana and buttery cake. Why make plain old banana bread when you can bring this beauty to the table.
I serve with a dollop of full fat Greek yogurt and a couple of slices of banana and kiwi (for colour!). If I still used paper recipe book, the pages with this recipe would be sticky, butter stained and smell of vanilla – a sure fire sign of a great recipe.
Thanks for sharing this one!
Allison says
You’re welcome! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
Ronnie R. says
I’ve made this twice now. The first time I followed the recipe and only tweaked it by adding crushed walnuts on top of the icing. The second time I added an extra egg, added cinnamon to the glaze and repeated the crushed walnuts. Huge hit with everyone both times. I think I will try and add some cinnamon to the batter next time too.
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Deb Taylor says
Since making this cake the first time last summer my husband wants it at least once a month! We love it! With or without the brown sugar glaze.
It is also very good topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Very moist and flavorful.
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂
TERRI says
This cake is so moist and delicious. I only had a cup of ripe bananas, so I added 3/4 cup canned pumpkin and 2 teaspoons of homemade pumpkin pie spice. It turned out wonderful. The icing is sweet, but complimented the cake nicely. We were going to share with friends, but it’s gone. Guess I’ll have to make another one. 😉
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Sylvia says
Tried this recipe, was not surprised by the outcome of the recipe. It was very tasty and delicious. <3
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Lynn says
I made this because i had too many bananas for a regular loaf. It turned out awesome! I did make a few additions. I added chopped pecans and cranberries to the batter and added natural peanut butter to the glaze.
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Suji says
Great recipe!! Great cake and wonderful glaze. Glaze reminds me of penuche. I could eat the glaze all by itself!! Used yogurt instead of sour cream (Greek is what I had on hand) and added more nuts to the glaze. Making this over banana bread if I have leftover bananas
Allison says
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind review. 🙂