Tuesday, August 4, 2009

BBA: Classic Banana Bundt Cake and 100th Post Giveaway


This week's TWD recipe was chosen by the wonderful Mary, The Food Librarian. Mary is a bundt cake enthusiast, and she picked a fabulous one this week!

I have a couple of mini bundt cake pans that I should have been really excited to use, but for some reason I was feeling a strong pull to do a full-size bundt cake. Just when I could feel myself falling deep into that "obsessing over something that really and truly does not matter" abyss, I realized that I had two, count 'em two, overripe bananas. Since the full recipe calls for four bananas, my decision suddenly became easy: I would make half of the recipe and use my mini bundt pans.

The cakes came together easily, and rose very well, well past the rim of the pan:


Of course, when I took those cakes out of the pan and turned them over, they had a distinctly Weeble-ish quality to them:


Fortunately, Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.



And neither did my mini banana cakes.


This was not some ordinary banana bread. The banana flavor was just right -- not too overpowering, not too subtle -- and the texture was moist but not overly dense. It was simple and delicious. I glazed two of my four mini cakes with the lemon glaze that Dorie mentions in "playing around." David thought the glaze really complemented the cake nicely. And my almost-two year old so loved this cake that she was inspired to string a few words together: "ah wah mo kay" (translation: "I want more cake.")

Thanks for this fantastic pick, Mary! I will definitely make this one again, for reals.

I am particularly happy to have made such a stellar recipe to celebrate this, my 100th post! I will save my profound observations and my "Blogging and What it Means to Me" essay for my highly-anticipated-by-nobody-but-me blogiversary, which is coming up in a couple of weeks, but I couldn't let a good round number like 100 pass without doing something. And as luck would have it, I've recently been the lucky winner of not one, but two "pay it forward" giveaways, and this seems like as good a time as any to start paying forward. For this 100th post, I'd like to pass on the awesome prize I won from my bloggy friend Di of Di's Kitchen Notebook -- a $25 gift certificate for a new cookbook! I used mine to pick up this excellent one by Mark Bittman:


Thanks Di, I've been loving my book!

But if you win, you could pick out any cookbook (or heck, any kind of book, or even a board game -- I won't tell) you'd like! I'm offering one lucky winner a $25 gift certificate to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or another online bookseller of your choice that facilitates easy* (*in my sole and complete discretion) online giftcard transactions.

If you would like to enter, leave me a comment by midnight PST on 8/10 answering the following question: "If you were a classic bundt cake, what kind of classic bundt cake would you be?" (or some other question). I will use the random integer generator to choose a winner.

Thanks for playing along! And thanks again, Mary, for choosing one seriously delicious banana bundt cake!

53 comments:

Steph said...

I obsess over pan sizes, but seeing as I only have a limited supply of pans, I'm usually forced to make a decision..thank god! I'm glad you enjoyed this.

Congrats on your 100th post! If I were a bundt cake, it would definitely have to be chocolate.

betty geek said...

Happy 100th post darling! Well done!

HAHA, Weebles! Awesome!

I love your banana bundt cake and the lemon glaze!

I ended up making cupcakes instead and they turned out great!

To answer your question, if I was a classic bundt cake, I'd be banana pudding!

natalia said...

Ciao ! Happy 100 posts ! I missed so much reading your posts !I just realized I forgot my blogiversary !Anyway the banana bundt looks really delicious like your little one !!

Dianne said...

Happy 100th! Those mini cakes look yummy! Let's see....if I were a bundt cake, I would want to be something with fruit, blueberries come to mind.

Engineer Baker said...

Weeble wobble :) Such cute little cakes, and happy 100th post!

mike said...

Congratulations on your 100 postings! An accomplishment for sure! Love the mini-bundts - just perfect for your bananas. You cakes were so light-colored (mine were rather dark-ish brown). Hm.... maybe over ripe bananas.... Nicely done - Weebles - a classic too!

Deb in Hawaii said...

100 posts--whoo hoo! I have enjoyed them all. Perfect little bundt cakes you made--I love banana.

If I were a bundt cake I would be a nice marble one--chocolate and vanilla swirled. ;-)

NKP said...

Lovely, I love the weeble bundts!
I would be a lemon pound cake, totally saturated with sticky lemony glaze.
I am in Canada though, so you don't have to put me into the draw.

Pamela said...

Yeah for mini cakes! And yeah for weebles!! I was just thinking about them the other day because I think this giant tree in my backyard looks like the weeble tree house. Remember that? Anyway, I didn't even see the lemon glaze in the playing around section! Glad the cakes were a hit.

Congrats on the 100th post! I'm looking forward to your blogiversary post. No, really...I am! :o)

Hmmmm...if I were a bundt cake, I would be gone in a hurry, because I'm just that good!!

Melissa said...

Oh, the weeble mention made me laugh! Judging by the looks of your fabulous banana bundt cake... if I were a bundt cake, I'd like to be that one!

Barbara Bakes said...

I love your mini bundts! So moist and delicious looking! I would have to be a chocolate bundt because everyone loves chocolate. Congratulations on your 100th post!

Laura S. said...

Congratulations on 100 posts!

If I were a bundt cake I think I'd be an ooey-gooey monkey bread bundt cake. (With a flowerpot in the middle a la My Big Fat Greek Wedding.)

Leslie said...

Congrats on your 100th! I love your weebles bundt cakes! That must be the only mini cake pan I don't already own. My classic bundt is one I've thought of a lot since making this cake. Remember the tunnel of fudge bundt mix? When I was 10 I was all about baking from a mix, but now I'd like to recreate that total chocolate overload from scratch...

chocolatechic said...

oh...your cakes are adorable!

Kayte said...

Great looking cakes! I love the little weeble wobbles. The drizzle is perfect. It has lemon in it, why would it not be perfect, right? You got your book! 100 posts is quite an anniversay.

Let's see, what kind of bundt cake would I be...Lemon Poppyseed without question! Maybe a slight drizzle of vanilla lemon glaze. Maybe some macadamia nuts crumbled on the top. I hope you intend on witing your answer to that question on August 10th on your blog! Curious as I am and all.

MacDuff said...

This is awesome! Although I'm so bummed your cakes didn't come out. But I want to hear all about your Bittman recipes. I love his stuff.

If I were a bundt cake, I would be a classic East German bundt cake, with the little outfit and buns on the side of my head. I would pronounce Bundt the correct way, "boont," and I would threaten to beat everyone with a wooden spoon. I would eat sausage and belch loudly. My name would be Helga and my breasts would be huge. To insult you, I would claim you had Bavarian roots and then say your strudel wasn't fit for dogs.

Or maybe something with a nice crumb on top. I don't now.

spike. said...

100 posts! nice work. I love the weeble bundt cakes- so cute. I think I would be a marble bundt cake because I've got a split personality and could never choose between chocolate and vanilla!

Anonymous said...

I can totally relate to your "obsessing over something that really and truly does not matter," when it comes to baking. How nice when our little quandaries resolve themselves. Only two bananas -- must do the minis!

I'd be a banana bundt cake again, but I'd steal all the great glaze ideas I've seen from other TWD bakers this week!

Teanna said...

WEEBLES!!!!!!!!! Where did you find such toys? Do they still sell them? Do you have them from days past? I am so jealous!

If I were a classic bundt cake, I'd be a sour-cream and chocolate chip bundt cake with cinnamon sugar and brown buttered rum icing. I'd do it all crazy-like!

Congrats on your 100th!

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

I love your weebley mini cakes! :) So cute. Congrats on your 100th post!!

Hmm if I was a classic bundt cake I would be strawberry!

Jules Someone said...

Hehehehe. The Weebles cracked me up. I made minis this week as well!

My favorite bundt cake is a sour cream cake with chocolate chips and cinnamon. Yum!

What's for Supper? said...

Your bundt cake looks great. If I had to be a bundt cake....I would be this one. We really liked it.

Anonymous said...

Can I be a little offended that the Weebles commercial is "vintage"? It doesn't seem THAT old! Your weeble cakes, however, look fantastic.

If I were a bundt cake I'd be chocolate sour cream: rich (wishful thinking) and loveable.

isa said...

Happy 100 posts!
Love the mini-bundts, so cute!

Karen said...

Way to go, 100! I love You-Tube just for the fact that you can find things like Weebles commercials.

Bundt cake? I'd be Vanilla/Chocolate Swirl - I'm the worst decision maker.

Linda said...

Congratulations on your 100th post!

Such cute mini bundts...and I think this is the first reference to WEEBLES that I've heard in years!

If I had to pick, I would be a cinnamon streusel bundt.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your 100th post Cathy! I only wish I'd discovered your blog sooner :) I went the mini bundt route on this recipe too and mine also overflowed the pans a bit!

If I were a bundt cake I'd probably have to combine peanut butter and chocolate in some way. Maybe a chocolate bundt with peanut butter chips and a peanut butter cream on top?

Jenn H in San Diego said...

Oh how I remember the weebles, and have been known to reference them in the last decade or so. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Your cakes look adorable - I went the cup cake route as I don't have a bundt pan. But.....if I were a bundt cake, I'd be one of those vanilla kind with the chocolate center. And have a nice chocolate icing.

Congrats on your 100th post!!

Marthe said...

Congrats on your 100th post!! Your cakes look perfect, I really liked these!

Hindy said...

You're so right - this batter did have a way of over-growing into a round little weeble!

If I were a bundt, I'd be my bubie's marble cake. Chocolate wasn't a usual baking flavour when I was growing up, so that chocolate ribbon was something special and the white cake part so fresh and buttery.

Congrats on the anniversary!

Anonymous said...

I'm digging your mini-weeble wobble bundt cakes. I'm glad they were a success. Congrats on your 100th post!

If I was a bundt cake, I would probably be a coconut-lime one. I love the tropics!

www.tjbrown.com/joanna said...

Love the Weeble reference-I have the same problem with my mini bundts, but never made the connection that you did. It will make me giggle the next time I use the smaller pans.

I would be a cinnamon bundt, made with sour cream and topping with some kind of icing.

Anne said...

Congrats on 100 posts! It's always so fun to read your blog and I'm looking forward to the next 100. As for the cake... lemon for sure. Yum!

Di said...

Congrats! And extra points for including the Weebles. =) I have to say, I like the old Weebles from when we were kids a lot more than the new ones. My sister had a Weeble submarine that we played with in the bathtub--it was so cool!

I'm glad that you're enjoying the cookbook. I have a recipe for a fantastic pumpkin ginger pound cake that you bake in a bundt pan. I'll have to share it at some point. But pass on me for the giveaway, since it's my prize that you're paying forward. =)

TeaLady said...

Congrats on your blogiversary. Isn't this fun?

Well, this banana was a great pic, but maybe a lemon blueberry bundt would be a great one to make.

Cakelaw said...

What a terrific pair of banana bundts!

If I were a bundt cake, I would be the toffee covered brown sugar date bundt that I made a few weeks ago - rich and many layered ;)

The Blonde Duck said...

Don't you love it when circumstances force you to make a decision? I will waver for days otherwise...

Anonymous said...

I would be a coffee cake bundt cake. Love coffee cake and every time I see a bundt cake it makes me think of coffee cake.
By the way, I have that cookbook and love it!

Jamie said...

Hapy 100th post! I would definitely be a banana bundt cake with cream cheese glaze! Love your mini they look fabulous! :)

Nancy/n.o.e said...

I'm so glad that you're celebrating your 100th fabulous post! Paying it forward is fun and noble at the same time.

I like every kind of bundt, so your question inspired a couple of days worth of indecision, but I'm saying marble. That's my final answer. I think!

Bella Baker said...

Happy Blogaversary!!!!! I will go with marble bandt cake!!!

Mary Ann said...

Yay! for 100 posts! all of them have been great- You always make me smile and laugh.
I love the weebles comments. My mini pans always make things come out with wierd bottoms too.
They look great, Cathy!

Jennifer said...

Happy 100th post!!! :)
I love that you did the banana cake in mini bundts! I loveeeeeeee this cake!

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

Happy 100th post! you did a fabulous job on the cakes...I love banana!

The Food Librarian said...

What great cakes! I love those mini bundt pans. I have to get some of those. Thanks so much for baking along with me this week! And your 100th post! Awesome. And your blogversary is important to ME because you rock. - mary the food librarian

Unknown said...

Happy 100th to you! You have a fantastic blog filled with humor and wit and I enjoy all your trials and trubulations in the kitchen. Keep up the great work!

Katrina said...

Happy Great posting to you!

Your banana bundt looks yummy. And well, this was yet another delicious Dorie recipe.

I LOOOVVVEEE all things banana, so I'd have to be a banana bundt cake--with chocolate chips, of course!

Gudrun said...

humm...if I was a bundt cake, I might be a banana cake with a dark fudge tunnel (yes, there is a gadget just for that!). Or maybe a sour cream bundt with a dark fudge tunnel. Or perhaps a chocolate bundt with a dark fudge tunnel. You get where I am going with this ;-)

La Bella Cooks said...

What gorgeous little bundt cakes. I could never resist a perfect banana cake so I need to definitely give this one a try!

Peggy said...

Cathy- Congrats on your 100th post!! How far you and I have come this year. And I you failed to tell me you were having a give-away! You sneakey you!

if I were a bundt cake, I'd want to be something like a delicious buttermilk pound cake (really moist and tasty with maybe the slightest taste of lemon) covered in real whipped cream with dripping strawberries and chocolate on top.

Anonymous said...

bummed I missed your giveaway! We were at the beach with a ridiculously weak internet connection. But I love the Mark Bittman book and cook from it all the time. The enchilada style black beans are a big hit in our house as are the balsamic carrots.

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