Banana Bundt Cake

I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine's Day.

We decided to go and and have some fun this year, so I really didn't do any cooking. We wanted to go somewhere and walk around and window shop, get a bite to eat, and listen to some music.  Well, big mistake to head on down to The Grove in L.A. because everyone else had the same idea, it was jam-packed.

When I say jam-packed I mean it.  It took us about 15-20 minutes to find a parking spot in a 6 level structure.  All the cars were fighting over the spots, people were driving crazy (not like they don't in LA already!), but we finally got lucky and found one.  Then we headed down to the open air shopping/restaurant village.  The music was bumping and people were gathered around.  We tried to get through the crowd of sardines and somehow ended up in line for a restaurant.  LOL!  Kinda just got pushed into that.  When we realized what was going on, we just laughed, shrugged to the people in line with us, and quickly moved on.  

We ended up at a wonderful Greek restaurant, which really inspired me to start cooking more Greek style dishes.  I ordered a shot of Ouzo to toast and they brought me the biggest shot (which was half a glass really!) and we toasted the night!  I'll tell you I was feeling really good by the time I finished that drink and the crowds didn't seem that bad after that!  

So we danced a little, shopped a little and ate a lot...then headed home for a wonderful dessert of Banana Bundt Cake, that I had whipped up earlier in the day.  As I always have ripe bananas hanging around this was a great way to use them.  Who doesn't love a good pound cake?  Perfect for spring, and a great choice for your Easter dinner, or Mardi Gras celebration.

I know you are going to love it.


Banana Bundt Cake

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
2 overripe medium bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup + 2 Tbls Splenda Sugar Blend
3/4 cup brown sugar
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup buttermilk (make your own by adding 1 teaspoon lemon juice to milk and let it sit for 5 minutes)
Topping:  powdered sugar - optional

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 12-cup fluted bundt pan.

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Add the flour mixture (with the mixer on low) in two parts alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat just until it comes together. Do not overmix!

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45-55 minutes.

Once done, cool cake 10 minutes in the pan. Turn out cake onto cake platter and allow to cool completely.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.