The baking gods were just not smiling on me last night…..
On any given day at Chez SGCC, you are sure to find not one, not two, but several brown, mottled bananas past their prime sitting on the kitchen counter. Any given day except yesterday, that is. Who knew that my weekend houseguests were fans of overripe bananas? Not me, or else I would have stashed the four that I had been saving for my Classic Banana Bundt Cake safely away. I didn’t even realize that they were gone until I went to bake my cake at 9:00 last night. As you can imagine, I was pretty annoyed. I was also already comfortably clad in my pj’s and wasn’t about to get dressed and go out to the store. Besides, I had been there earlier in the day and already knew that they didn’t have any freckled bananas either. So, faced with this dilemma, I did the only thing any self-respecting food blogger would do. I tweeted for help! Within two minutes I had about a dozen helpful suggestions, one of which was to use frozen bananas. And, that’s what I did.
Dorie’s Classic Banana Bundt Cake is a just that – a basic banana cake. The recipe calls for two cups of granulated sugar. Okay. Good. Except that I had only had a cup and a half of granulated sugar in my pantry. So my cake also has a half cup of brown sugar in it.
The recipe also calls for a cup of sour cream or plain yogurt. I had neither. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did have a container of sour cream in the fridge, but when I opened it, it was kind of separated and curdled, so I tossed it. I did have some crème fraiche that I was saving for another recipe, though. So I substituted it for the sour cream.
By this time, I had no idea how this cake was going to turn out! But I was past the point of no return. So, I decided to also add a cup of chopped pecans and a little slosh of some lovely banana flavored dark rum that I had picked up in St. Kitts. I figured that even if the cake sucked, the rum would rehabilitate it. I mean, how bad could it be if it had rum in it!
Well, I’ll be dipped in bittersweet chocolate ganache! My Classic Frozen Banana Brown Sugar Creme Fraiche Rum Cake was freakin’ fantabulous! Seriously! It was probably one of the most delicious cakes I’ve ever baked. It was ridiculously moist and dense, with a subtle hint of caramel from the brown sugar. The rum added an extra pop of banana flavor along with a warm, rich undertone. It just goes to show that sometimes what seems like a kitchen disaster, can actually turn out to be a great new discovery! It also goes to show that sometimes less really is more. This cake is not what you might call a “showstopper”. It’s understated and unassuming, but spectacular in its simplicity.
A big thank you goes out to Mary from The Food Librarian for selecting our recipe for this week. The recipe can be found on her site. And as always, you can see how the other TWDers did with this banana cake over at the Tuesdays with Dorie site.
Filed Under: Baking, Cakes and Cupcakes, Desserts, Recipes, Tuesdays with Dorie
Choco-Rum Buttermilk Banana Bread
On August 04, 2009 at 1:02pm, Michelle said...
That sounds absolutely amazing… I love discovering happy surprises in the kitchen!
On August 04, 2009 at 2:11pm, Rachel (S[d]OC) said...
It’s great when a kitchen disaster becomes a kitchen masterpiece. I kept looking at the photos and wondering if something that looked so beautiful could possibly taste bad. I love banana desserts!
On August 04, 2009 at 2:35pm, Spike said...
Glad it worked out for you! looks great
On August 04, 2009 at 2:35pm, food librarian said...
Wonderful! I love all the subs! It turned out lovely. Thanks for baking along with me this week!!! - mary the food librarian
On August 04, 2009 at 2:42pm, rebecca subbiah said...
looks great
On August 04, 2009 at 3:02pm, Rosa said...
A beauty!
Cheers,
Rosa
On August 04, 2009 at 3:32pm, sarah said...
sounds like your substitutions were great! i might have to add a bit of rum to mine next time i make this….hmm…yum yum
On August 04, 2009 at 4:23pm, Krystle said...
Wow I love when disasters actually end up working out! This cake looks fabulous! Wish I had a piece right now! I bet the banana rum gave it a great extra kick of flavor.
On August 04, 2009 at 4:25pm, Coleen said...
What do they say…necessity is the mother of tweaking? The cake (and photos) look fabulous. The texture of the cake is PERFECT. I hope you wrote down the “new” recipe.
On August 04, 2009 at 5:25pm, Jen @ MaplenCornbread said...
I love your creation!!! Way to still make it work out and come up with something new!!!! Love it!!! I made mine this afternoon, sooo good!!!!
On August 04, 2009 at 6:34pm, Steph said...
I love the rum addition. I think the crumb looks perfect!
On August 04, 2009 at 6:52pm, Jen of a2eatwrite said...
I love ANY rum addition! 😉 It sounds like you had some lovely mistakes. Wooohooo!
On August 04, 2009 at 6:53pm, sweetie said...
wow!
can you tell me how you greased your bundt pan? looks like your cake released beeeeautifully!
On August 04, 2009 at 7:29pm, The Duo Dishes said...
Well the dark rum is totally necessary if you ask us! Great.
On August 04, 2009 at 7:58pm, Katy said...
Wow…I love your creation!!! Stunning pictures, and it sounds wonderful!!
On August 04, 2009 at 8:01pm, fit chick said...
Love all your substitions, especially the rum, yummy!!! It was a delicious and just about perfect bundt cake.
On August 04, 2009 at 8:02pm, veron said...
I felt your panic when you tweeted someone ate your bananas. Glad you found another way. This looks fabulous!
On August 04, 2009 at 8:37pm, Donna said...
Wow you can do it… I would have never been that cleaver but again WOW!!! It sounded and looks fabulous… I am wishing I had a piece right now… Thanks this was a fun story… Have a great day!
(((HUGS)))
Donna
On August 04, 2009 at 9:34pm, ingrid said...
I love yummy mistakes! LOL, you’ve been having a tough couple of TWD’s.
~ingrid
On August 04, 2009 at 10:14pm, pamela said...
Whatever you want to call it, it’s simply gorgeous!
On August 04, 2009 at 10:41pm, Jodie said...
It looks great!
On August 04, 2009 at 11:25pm, Katrina said...
Fun substitutions! Yummy!
On August 04, 2009 at 11:43pm, Rachel said...
love how you made the best of one of those bad kitchen karma days! your cake looks beautiful and the substitutions actually sound delicious!
On August 05, 2009 at 12:22am, Emily Rose said...
Great job! I would have given up- but you pressed on and ended up with a fabulous result!! I thought about substituting some brown sugar in for the white sugar but decided to go ahead with the original recipe for the first time around- I’m glad to hear that it works well!
On August 05, 2009 at 1:32am, Judy said...
Nice save! Now, you need a neighbor just like mine, who saves ripe bananas in her freezer and doesn’t mind sharing (for a piece of cake, of course)! If I hadn’t used up all my rum last week, I think it would have been a great addition as well. We loved this cake, too.
On August 05, 2009 at 2:30am, Michele said...
Your cake is just stunning!
On August 05, 2009 at 7:13am, Marthe said...
Wonderful Bundt Cake!!
So how does one frees bananas?
On August 05, 2009 at 11:44am, Lucy said...
I love how your substitution choices turned out such a wonderful cake! I adore your last photo, that cake is just opening up its flavourful arms for me 😉
On August 05, 2009 at 12:51pm, patsyk said...
Way to improvise! I always have brown bananas hanging around, so I would have been in the same pinch as you!
On August 05, 2009 at 2:27pm, Wendy said...
Glad your cake turned out. All your additions (last minute subs) sound delicious.
On August 05, 2009 at 5:34pm, The Food Hunter said...
great save.
On August 05, 2009 at 7:21pm, Margaret said...
What a great save on the cake. You will have to post your version of the recipe so we can all get happy with it.
And it looks luscious.
On August 05, 2009 at 7:22pm, pam said...
I am a firm believer in adding a little alcohol in everything, from frozen to baked goods!
On August 05, 2009 at 8:44pm, Tracey said...
Glad it still worked out with your substitutions and kudos to you for making those substitutions instead of running to the store. I’ve been trying to do more of that lately Gorgeous photos - the cake looks amazing!
On August 06, 2009 at 1:33am, Marc @ NoRecipes said...
Mmmm looks great. I hate eating bananas with even a hint of brown on them, but always look forward to making things like this with them. Unfortunately, there’s someone in the house that always eats them before I get to them. I need to start putting post it notes on them.
On August 06, 2009 at 11:50am, mimi said...
rum easily makes everything better, but i love that you perserved! spectacular in its simplicity, indeed! no need to convince me of that!
On August 08, 2009 at 2:24pm, Mermaid Sweets said...
Gorgeous cake, glad it worked out - frozen bananas, that’s a great idea.
On August 10, 2009 at 3:22am, eiyna_gadis aries said...
it looks nice.ermmm…yummy!!!!!
On January 24, 2013 at 12:26am, Hurricane said...
I have learned to now write down any and all substitutions while making them because unfortunately I have had many-a majorly reconfigured recipes turn out FANTASTIC only to realize I can never recreate them again because the substitutions were all on the fly! Sometimes the best things in the kitchen are a little of this…..a little more of that. Congrats on what sounds like an absolutely delicious swap out cake!
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