Banana cakes can come in many forms, from the humble banana bread reworked as a cake, to lovely cakes layered with cream and sliced banana.
These little Banana Cakes are soft buttery banana sponge cake formed in mini bundt cake pans, and topped with an easy Vanilla Caramel glaze.
Baby Banana Cakes, the Origin
I decided to use my newly acquired Nordic Ware Platinum Mini Bundt Pan. to make some banana cakes, after the discovery of several peeled bananas abandoned on my kitchen counter, courtesy of my 5 year old. I've made a few different versions of banana bread in the past, but didn't have a cake recipe handy. I found a banana cupcake recipe from the Cooking Light website to use as a rough template for my banana bundt cake batter.
I "spongified" the recipe, by swapping out the yogurt in the original in favor of milk. Now that the batter was going to be less acidic and I wasn't looking for a dense cake, I opted to change the baking soda for powder, to ensure I had enough lift. I also upped the butter to keep the airier cake moist & changed out the nutmeg for cinnamon, just because I prefer it.
The glaze was just something I whipped up on the fly, to compliment the little banana cakes.
Baby Banana Cakes, the Results
The swaps teamed with giving the batter a little extra whipping before pouring into the mini-bundt pans resulted in a nice buttery banana sponge cake.
The mini cakes had a soft tender texture, and plenty of spring back, without being chewy. They did seem to need a little more sweetness, which was promptly supplied with the glaze. After cooling a little, the glaze poured on smoothly, soaking in just a little and not hardening too much.
I was a little too happy with the end result, and it will probably be showing on my scale :/
For more delicious banana desserts try my recipe for Starbucks banana bread , my easy Banana Oatmeal Cookies recipe or Banana Pudding Poke Cake recipe.
Baby Banana Bundt Cakes with Vanilla Caramel Glaze
Ingredients
Cake
- ¼ pound butter softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 medium banana
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Glaze
- 2 tbs butter
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tbs milk
- pinch of Kosher salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & flour the mini-bundt pan.*
- Cream together the butter sugar and salt.
- Mash banana well and beat with eggs, add to butter mixture along with the vanilla and milk. Beat well.
- Stir the baking powder and cinnamon into the flour, to ensure even distribution, then add the the mixing bowl.
- Beat until the mixture is creamy in consistency. It will be a little thicker than standard cake batter, but smooth & silky.
- Dollop into the mini bundt pans. Fill ¾ full and smooth tops with back of a spoon.
- Bake for 20-24 minutes. Toothpick will pull out clean and tops will be light golden brown. (Mine were just right at 22 minutes.)
Glaze
- Add the ingredients to a small non-stick skillet over med-high heat. (Crumbing the brown sugar helps it dissolve quickly.)
- Keep stirring, the sugar will melt quick. The glaze will start to bubble up. Remove from burner once it has thickened a little, but still seems a little thin to use (it will thicken as it cools).
- Allow it to cool a couple minutes before glazing the banana cakes. It should be thick enough to slowly roll down sides of cake, but not stiff. (if it hardens you over cooked to candy stage, start over).
Notes
* Time quoted does not include making glaze, which should only take a couple minutes.
Nutrition
Jenny @ MyLittleMe says
Those look so good!
HilLesha says
I'm not much of cake person, but that looks really scrumptious!
Jenn @therebelchick says
AMAZING. These look so delicious!!
courtney says
Oooh I love this! Since they're small it makes me feel like it's okay to eat especially if I only eat one 🙂
Kathleen says
These look like the perfect delicious dessert.
Elaina- @atimeout4mommy says
How cute! Those are great for entertaining
Mellisa says
Yum! This would be great paired with a cup of coffee.
Theresa says
Mmm! Looks yummy!
Colleen says
These look so cute and delicious!
Night owl mama says
Love sweets ummy
Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen says
Your baby bundt cakes look gorgeous and they sound so delicious!
Donna says
Those look divine! I really must eat before I look at your blog! 🙂
Jennifer The Quirky Momma says
Those look fantastic! I buy bananas just for the purpose of making bread and now these gorgeous little cakes!
LyndaS says
@Lolo - so funny! 🙂
Those do look incredible.
Tammy says
Those turned out fantastic! Now I want to run out and buy a mini bundt pan 🙂
Robin Gagnon says
Love my mini-bundt pan 😀
Liz @ A Nut in a Nutshell says
Have you experimented yet to see how many a human stomach could hold at one time? That's how many I want you to send me TODAY.
Anna says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made them last night and they were so delightful!! I didn't top with the glaze, but made a chocolate ganache to drizzle on top instead.
Robin Gagnon says
Your chocolate covered banana version sounds yummy!
Nichol says
I would eat way too many, they look so darn good! I just bought mini bundt pans, guess what I'll be making!
Marcie W. says
Holy heck yes! I want to eat all six of the mini bundt cakes.
Lisa says
Wow. These look awesome. Banana bread is one of my favorite treats. Heck I would eat these for breakfast:)
Jersey Girl Cooks says
I love little mini bundt cakes. Great flavors!
Jennifer says
I would seriously eat them all up as soon as they were done baking! I started drooling the second I saw the picture!
Leilani says
Yum! I love the mini bundt pans, btw!
Sheilacakes says
This recipe look amazing. I have always wanted mini bundt pans
Lisa says
That looks awesome!