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This Banana Pound Cake with Salted Toffee Icing may be the most delicious, easy banana cake you'll ever make! The icing takes it over the top!
I'm always looking for recipes that will make your life (and mine) a little easier and more delicious - this Banana Bundt Cake with Salted Toffee Icing ticks all the boxes!
While I don't mind making a fancy layer cake with all the trimmings, it's usually not something that's in my time budget. A Bundt cake, on the other hand is easy to throw together and the pan does most of the styling. You can leave Bundt cakes plain and simple, give them a sprinkle of powdered sugar, brush them with a syrupy glaze or drizzle with a delicious icing. A beautiful and easy way to add an extra special touch, is to place a tiny vase of flowers in the center opening as is you can see with my Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake.
I came across this banana cake recipe a while back on Food.com. It's from Dorie Greenspan, a Jame's Beard award winning cookbook author who's recipes are always reliable and consistently delicious. When I read the myriad of rave reviews, I was sold! I had to try it.
I'd been searching for a great banana bundt cake recipe for awhile and had tried a number of versions which were just "so-so". Despite the great reviews on the Food.com recipe, I was still a bit of a doubting Thomas. But the first taste sealed the deal and I knew I didn't have to look any further.
I've made this cake several times now and it's definitely a winner: moist, flavorful and one of those cakes that keeps getting better and better (if there's any leftover, that is)!
The toffee icing is easy to make and takes less that 10 minutes to put together. If you missed our last post, I actually did a tutorial called How to Ice a Bundt Cake - an Easy and Beautiful Technique! We shot a video to demonstrate how easy it is and I'm including it below so you don't have to click back (although the post does include a few extra tips).
A sprinkle of flaky sea salt is the crowning glory for this already fabulous cake. I really like Maldon which you can find at gourmet grocery stores and online.
You'll need 4-5 very ripe bananas for this cake. If you don't have time to buy them in advance and let them ripen, most grocery stores have a "mark down" section in the produce department. That's where they sell fruit and vegetables that are past their prime for a lower price. Sometimes you have to ask, as it's usually tucked in some little corner out of the limelight, but you'll almost always find bananas loaded with brown "sugar" spots. Sugar spots, or the brown flecks that appear all over ripe bananas, really are what their name declares - the browner a banana becomes, the more natural sugar it contains. Don't tell the grocer (they might raise the price) but these are the most coveted bananas for any kind of baking, as they produce sweet, super moist and flavorful breads, coffee cakes, muffins and cakes.
This would be a perfect dessert for Easter, Mother's Day, Graduation or any special occasion coming up. And I'm here to testify that it also perfect for making an ordinary day seem like a special occasion!
P.S. Have you ever baked a Bundt cake and had trouble getting it out of the pan? Disappointment with a capital D, right? Especially if you're wanting to take it to a friend, serve it at a potluck or picnic or enjoy it with friends for dessert. A little trick I use that never fails: double grease the pan. Double grease? Yes! First spray the pan generously with baking spray. (Baking spray is different than regular cooking spray as it contains oil and flour.) Then rub it into all the nooks and crannies of the pan with a small piece of paper toweling. Now, spray the whole pan one more time, lightly. That's it, no more cake stuck to the pan. It's one of those little tricks that has saved me lots of frustration.
What I used to make and serve this cake:
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Banana Pound Cake with Salted Toffee Icing
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 3 cups  all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons  baking soda
- ½ teaspoon  salt
- 8 ounces salted butter, at room temperature (1 cup or 2 sticks)
- 2 cups  sugar
- 2 teaspoons  pure vanilla extract
- 2Â large eggs
- 4-5 very ripe  bananas, 1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups
- 1Â cup buttermilk
- For the icing:
- 5 tablespoons salted butter
- ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup sifted powdered sugar
- flaking sea salt, I love Maldon
Instructions
- For the cake, preheat to 350°F. Generously spray a 9- to 10-inch (12 cup) Bundt pan** with baking spray. Rub the spray into all the grooves of the pan with a small piece of paper toweling. Spray pan again lightly and set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together.
- With a stand mixer 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. Add the vanilla and the eggs (one at a time), beating for about 1 minute after each egg goes in. Reduce mixer speed to low and add in the bananas. Finally, add half the dry ingredients (the batter may curdle a bit) and mix until combined. Next add all of the buttermilk, mix again, then add the rest of the flour mixture. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and stir one more times. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for 60-75 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. After 30 minutes of baking time, cover the cake loosely with foil.
- When cake is finished baking, transfer it to a rack and cool for 10 minutes, invert pan and transfer cake onto the rack. Cool to room temperature. If you have time, wrap the cooled cake in plastic and allow it to sit overnight (if not don't worry, it will still be wonderful!).
- For the icing, combine the butter, dark brown sugar and heavy cream in a heavy saucepan and bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.
- Boil for ONE minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract.
- Add about ½ cup of the powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Continue to whisk in powdered sugar by the tablespoon until you reach your desired consistency.
- Place on a serving platter or cake stand and pour the salted toffee icing over the top. Sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt.
Notes
Nutrition
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Would like to make loaf versions to freeze for the holidays or maybe gift as gifts. Do you think dividing into loaf pans or even the small individual loafs would work? Any suggestions?
Hi Sheila, yes, I think that will work well!
An absolute smash with our friends. Easy and a step above delicious.
If I haven't said so, thank you for all the time you must spend experimenting to refine these recipes and make them reasonably simple as well. Thank you!
Wonderful! Thank you for the kind review, Sheila!
Is this cake stored at room temperature or in the fridge?
Hi Patty, we keep this on the counter for a couple days. If you want to keep it fresh longer you can freeze it.
I love this recipe and have made it several times. It came out perfectly!
But after not making it for several months, I'm having a little trouble with the icing the two times I have tried to make it in recent weeks. I measured and sifted the powdered sugar, but I am ending up with an icing that is too thin with little white dots of powdered sugar throughout. It doesn't look anything like your beautiful photo, nor does it look like the versions I made successfully in the past. I don't know what I am doing wrong. Would boiling it longer than a minute help dissolve the powdered sugar dots? The frosting appears to be smooth but then the dots appear in the frosting when I pour it over the cake. Thank you!
Hi Janet, yes, it sounds like your powdered sugar is not fully dissolved but I would simply whisk it a bit longer rather than cooking it longer. Increasing the time that it cooks could cause the sugar to crystalize.
Hi I am excited to make this for my son's birthday. Any suggestions as to how much salt to add if I am using unsalted butter? Thank you.
Hi Winnie, the general rule is 1/4 tsp per stick of butter so for this recipe I would add 1/2 tsp.
I’ve made this cake twice now and I doubled the icing because I love it so much. It was too much for the cake (I knew it would be!) so I froze the extra. And now I’m eating the frosting straight out of the freezer! It’s just like toffee fudge! This cake is just so easy and delicious.
Thanks so much for letting us know, Diane!
I've made this cake multiple times and everyone loves it! It's actually in the oven now ... special request for my husband's birthday. A few times I added a tad of coconut and rum extract for more tropical flavor. DELICIOUS!!!!
I love that your husband requested this for his birthday, such a nice compliment! Thanks for taking the time to share your review, Dawn!
I’m making this for the second time. The first time I made it was for my Mom’s birthday. Everyone loved it and my husband said it’s his new favorite cake.
It’s so good! Thanks for the recipe.
Awesome! Thanks for the review, Gretchen!
This is an inredible pound cake! I have made it a couple of times, to rave reviews. The icing makes a great cake even better!
Also, does this freeze well? I know the banana bread will, but I am wondering of the icing. (With our shelter-in-place, there are only two of us in my household right now, and one does not eat dessert!)
Thank you!
So happy you enjoyed this cake, Janet! It definitely freezer well!
I made this tonight for the first time and it is soo good. I'm not even sure if I'm going to bother making the topping. (not
sure it even needs it). Thank you for sharing.
Thanks, Susan! I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Sometime, when you feel like splurging, try the icing, it's pretty amazing 🙂
I will have to do that. Thanks again for sharing an amazing recipe. I've shared this with
all of my friends and they love it too!
đź’•
This cake is amazing! Wonderful flavor, perfect texture & the salted toffee glaze takes it over the top!
Thanks, Kathy! I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated since the toffee frosting contains cream?
Hi Michelle, it's fine at room temperature for a few hours. If I were going to keep it overnight, I would refrigerate and then bring it back to room temperature before serving. It tastes much better at room temp as all the flavors come out.
Another ridiculously awesome recipe. I had 5 bananas looking to be repurposed- I came to you and was not disappointed. The cake was super easy, moist and delicious. That Salt Toffee Icing is demanding to be made over and over. It is super simply and delicious. I will make this over and over again . What did I do before I discovered your site? Thank you!!
This cake was delicious. I made half a recipe since my bundt pan is smaller than yours. I also added walnuts to the dough. It turned out perfect. Thanks for sharing another great recipe!
I am the Catering Director at our large church and have made many of your salad dressings for our multiple dinners to rave reviews. I discovered your fabulous salad dressings a little over a year ago. We had ordered bananas for a weekend conference and they were largely ignored, leaving me with something to do with a case of bananas. I had a board member dinner to cater and found this recipe. I knew it would. be good, coming from your blog! Our board is famous for not eating the desserts served with the dinner. However, ate almost all of this cake. So I decided I needed to try it (I'm vegan and am allergic to dairy and eggs.). The stomachache I had for hours was well worth it! This cake was scrumptious!!! I will make it again. (And am going to try to vegan-ize it as well so I can make it for me and be stomachache free!). Thanks for all your delicious recipes!
Thanks so much, Ginger! I'm so sorry you got a stomach ache but so happy you enjoyed the cake. Let us know if you figure out a vegan version!
Excellent! This is an exceptionally moist banana cake, and it stays moist at room temperature for several days. I used 1 3/4 cups of mashed bananas. The crumb is light and tender. The few subtle changes I made to the recipe would have affected the taste only, and not the texture. I added cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cardamom, which I find enhances the banana flavor. I also layered the batter in the pan, adding a cinnamon swirl between each layer. The cake tested done at 60 minutes.
Thanks so much, Sadie for your detailed and helpful review, so happy you enjoy this cake!
I made this over the weekend. Fabulous! So So Good! Love the kick of the salt flakes:)
(the icing recipe says to mix butter,sugar, etc and salt. Is there salt added in the cooked icing?)
Thanks, Vickie! There should not be salt in the cooked icing, thanks so much for letting me know. I've amended the recipe to omit that.
I have a mini bundt pan that I love to use. Each cake is about the size of a cupcake. I take desserts to work often and it's just so much easier to serve them instead of the big one. It's also easier to transport. Any suggestions on how long to bake them and at what temp? This looks so good, and the frosting is one my Auntie used to make when I was a little girl.
Hi Pat, I haven't made these in the mini bundt pans so I'm not sure of the exact time but I would definitely still use the same temp. Just check them after 30 minutes or so and see how they're coming along.
Pat, I am looking to see if you tried the timing in the mini bundt pan. I am looking to make this as a takeaway for an upcoming holiday party.
Looking to see if you needed to double the receipe (I am making about 15) and what time you baked them for. My bundt pan holds 8.
Banana cake often gets overlooked in my house because we do love our chocolate. However I can tell you that every time I make banana cake it disappears fast! I have no doubt that this and the salted toffee icing would become an instant favorite!
What an absolutely gorgeous bundt Chris! That glaze! My husband would love this recipe!
Make it last night to bring to the office today!!! Rave reviews! I won't even reveal how many slices I have indulged in myself!!! I tried out my new Party Bundt Pan from Nordic Ware, and, thanks to you, the double application of baking spray worked!!! Yay!!!
I am a bit puzzled on the glaze, though. The recipe only calls for 2/3 cup powdered sugar. I added at least double that, and my glaze wasn't nearly as thick as yours. I did review The Hungry Housewife just to see if she had additional notes, but I didn't find any....I boiled it for a minute....Any suggestions??
Absolutely love your recipes! I have made several, and they are all fabulous!
Hi Julie, I'm so happy to hear your great results and I love that your cake came out of the pan nicely. It's great to know a few little tricks, isn't it? 🙂
As for the icing, I thought that seemed like a small amount too but it worked for me. I wonder perhaps, if some creams are thicker than others or if when it's boiled more liquid is evaporated, depending on the strength of the boil. It sounds like you compensated well though, by adding more powdered sugar. That being said, for anyone else who reads this, the icing will thicken a bit as it cools so you have to be careful not to add too much. Thanks Julie for taking the time to let us know your results!
I am so glad you posted the recipe for that beautiful toffee icing, I will definitely make it soon.
Chris, I made your Banana Pound Cake with Salted Toffee Icing on Easter Sunday. As per usual, you made me look like a Kitchen Goddess! It was so delicious, moist with the most beautiful texture. The sprinkling of the Maldon atop the toffee icing had my guests swooning!
That's awesome Theresa, thanks so much for leaving a review 🙂
Hi Chris,I would like to know why you have chosen salted butter in both the cake and icing? From what I have read and seen from professional cooks/bakers that unsalted butter is used with the addition of adding the salt to the baked item for more control.
Hi Tracy,
That's a great question! To be perfectly honest, I use salted butter for everything. I find that the small amount of salt that's added to salted butter doesn't make things "too salty". I know that many professional chefs prefer unsalted but I like to keep things simple so I don't stock two types of butter. I think this article by Christopher Kimball (formerly with Cook's Illustrated and now with Milk Street) conveys the same things I feel about butter: https://www.facebook.com/cpkmilkstreet/posts/1881169672116091:0
Hi Chris, I have a question on using a smaller pan - only an 8-10 cup pan. How far would you fill with batter so not to have a mess? Thanks so much!
Hi Tracy, I would fill it about 3/4 full. Enjoy!
This looks delicious, Chris. I think I have made Dorie's Banana cakes. I love to bake bundt cakes. What makes this special is your salted toffee icing. I will definitely be making this cake soon. Happy Easter to you and your family.
This sounds so delicious, Chris, and loaded with delicious banana flavor - my favorite! Just read an interesting article about the history of Maldon sea salt. Love the stuff too 🙂 Happy Easter to you and your wonderful family!
There is nothing finer than a great banana cake and the salted toffee icing just takes this one over the top! Can't wait to try this one 🙂 Have a most wonderful Easter weekend Chris and Scott!
Looks so delicious! Your pictures are as always so beautiful and sharp.
Thanks so much Valya!
I love how you've iced that cake and your video is perfect - now I can do that myself. 🙂
I have never made banana pound cake in a bundt. I was always afraid it would stick, but with your tips, I am going to give it a try. This cake is a beauty and with the added toffee icing it has to be delicious!
Such a dreamy cake, Chris! I love that salted toffee icing!
I have a feeling all the icing wouldn't make it on the cake! What a lovely combination of flavors---perfect for Easter or any day of the year. Wishing you a fabulous Easter, my friend!!! xoxo
I have a bundt cake on the menu for our Easter dinner and have been looking for a glaze. Thankfully, I just found it! Looking forward to trying your banana bundt cake in the near future. Thanks for the recipe and the tips. Happy Easter!
I was excited about this recipe when you teased us with the icing tutorial a few days ago! It was worth the wait - this cake looks and sounds fantastic. You do a beautiful job with all your recipes but your cakes call my name! Have a blessed Easter Chris & Scott!
This is a great tip for the cake not sticking! I have always thought that is the biggest drawback to bundt cakes. I didn't know the difference in the sprays either. It is so beautiful! And the salted toffee icing, looks out of this world! I hope you have a fabulous Easter!! I know you will make it so special and beautiful!
That bundt cake looks magnificent with that toffee icing!
Thanks Angie. Happy Easter!
Oh wow, your pound cakes are always spectacular, but you had me at toffee icing, forget the drizzling, just pour directly into my mouth 🙂
Hi Chris. I've been waiting for this recipe, everything that a beautiful cake should be and more. Banana and salted toffee icing sounds amazing.