Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake

Being raised in a single parent household with 4 other siblings I have a problem letting things go to waste.  I've always been taught that unless an ingredient smells bad or is sustaining another life form, it can and should be used.  Unfortunately I also suffer from the "buy more than you can eat" syndrome (Nate has helped remedy this situation); and so, from time to time I am faced with the challenge of use it or lose it, this week that challenge was bananas.  Now many people say if bananas start to go bad just peel and freeze them for use later, this is not the remedy for me.  When I moved last September I was cleaning out my fridge and unloaded at least 6 ziploc bags of frozen bananas.  I must admit that the freezer is the black hole of my kitchen, most of what goes in there is forgotten and never comes out (luckily not much is in there).  So when I sat there staring at the 4 sad, brown bananas on Monday I knew I had to put them in something asap.
Now I love banana bread just as much as the next person but I decided I wanted to do something a little different, maybe muffins, maybe a cake; and so the search began.  What I decided on was a recipe from one of my favorite baking books by Dorie Greenspan entitled Baking: From My Home to Yours 
Everything I've ever made from her book has been unbelievably delicious so when I came across her recipe for a Classic Banana Bundt Cake I knew my search was complete.
This recipe is so easy to follow, the most difficult thing is waiting for the butter and eggs to reach room temp..seriously.  Pretty much everything is done in a stand mixer keeping dish washing to a minimum which is always a plus.  After everything was mixed the sweet smell of bananas coming from the batter smelled so good, it was tough to not eat it right then and there (okay maybe a spoonful or 2 won't hurt).

Just to mix things up a bit I decided to add some dark chocolate I had lying around to the batter at the last minute....yummy :)  I also think you could add nuts too and it would be delicious.
After that you just pour it into the pan, put it in the oven and wait...

In the meantime I decided to put the cake through the pugometer rating system*

She was definitely a fan of this one.

After baking, I dusted the cake with a bit of powdered sugar and it was good to go.  As far as taste, I don't know if I'll ever make regular banana bread again, this cake is that good!

Ingredients: Makes 1 Bundt Cake (14 servings)

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
About 4 very ripe bananas, mashed (you should have 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups)
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
3/4 cup chopped dark chocolate

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9- to 10-inch (12 cup) Bundt pan. (If you use a silicone Bundt pan there’s no need to butter it.) Don’t place the pan on a baking sheet - you want the oven’s heat to circulate through the Bundt’s inner tube.

Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the bananas. Finally, mix in half the dry ingredients (don’t be disturbed when the batter curdles), all the sour cream and then the rest of the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chunks.  Scrape the batter into the pan, rap the pan on the counter to debubble the batter and smooth the top.

Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check the cake after about 30 minutes - if it is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack to cool to room temperature.  Dust with powdered sugar.

If you've got the time, wrap the cooled cake in plastic and allow it to sit on the counter overnight before serving - it's better the next day.

*I'm thinking of implementing a rating system called the Pugometer Rating System based on woofs, paws, or most appropriately/likely for Bernadette, snorts.  I'm still working on the details of this idea based on how refined my pug's palate is...we'll see.

Nutritional Info

Dr. McClain's Defense

Last week a classmate and friend of Nate defended his thesis.  I don't think I need to say this but defending is a huge deal; the culmination of all your hard work and sacrifice and hopefully an end to some of the most terrible times of your adult life (lets hope).  So, in honor of our friend and his success I offered to bake some treats for people to nosh on during his talk.  When I think of Dave one word comes to mind...Bourbon (and running too but you can't really work that into baking, at least at my skill level).  So I hunted down recipes and came up with a recipe for Cream Cheese-Bourbon-Pecan Pound Cake from Southern Living. 

I have to say this was one delicious pound cake!!  The cream cheese adds a rich and moist texture to the pound cake that is balanced by the earthiness of toasted pecans and bourbon.  People say you can replace the bourbon with milk--why would you ever do this??  If anything, I think the 1/4 cup the recipe calls for makes the taste of bourbon almost undetectable, I ended up adding ~1/2 cup.  I also iced the top, just your basic powdered sugar icing, for a nice decorative finish. 

To counteract the richness of the pound cake and because I always worry about running out of food or not having something to suit everyone's taste I also made Blueberry Crumb Bars compliments of Smitten Kitchen (my absolute favorite food blog).

This recipe combines 2 things I love when baking- ease and tastiness.  It took all of about 10 minutes to assemble are the results were amazing, the perfect mix of sweet, tart blueberries, and the buttery crumb base and topping...heaven in a pan!  I will definitely be making these again. 

                                             
                                                 Congrats Dave!


Cream Cheese-Bourbon-Pecan Pound Cake
Adapted from Southern Living

1 1/2  cups  butter, softened
1  (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3  cups  sugar
6  large eggs
3  cups  all-purpose flour
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  cup  bourbon (I used 1/2 cup)
1 1/2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
1 1/2  cups  chopped pecans, toasted

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until the yellow yolk disappears.
Sift together flour and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with bourbon, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat batter at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla and pecans. Pour batter into a greased and floured 12-cup tube pan.
Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 30 minutes to 1 hour and 35 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack. Top with icing.
Powdered Sugar Icing  

1 cup sifted powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Milk

In a mixing bowl, stir together powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to make of drizzling consistency, about 1 1/2 tablespoon. Drizzle over top of a 10-inch tube cake.

Blueberry Crumb Bars
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown.
Cool completely before cutting into squares.