Banana Rum Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

March 20, 2024

Banana Rum Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

Oh, bananas.

They're humble, but exotic. They can be dressed up in Bananas Foster, or dressed down in a potluck-style Banana Pudding. Or, they can be baked into this delicious Banana Rum Cake for a treat that feels familiar and still special.

As an asideI'm working on making 800 macarons for my church's Easter service.

For some reason, after making 300 and not changing anything-- my macs started flopping last night. Macarons are tricky (downright jerks, actually).

So I was very relieved to make a less technical treat like this cake.

This recipe comes from Rebecca Firth's "The Cake Book," and this year's Cake Slice Baker bake-along cookbook. Check out the links at the end of this post to see what the other lovely bakers chose!

Rebecca Firth describes this cake as "banana heaven." It has caramelly flavors, rich rummy goodness, and a banana-studded buttermilk batter.

What's not to like?

There are a couple more steps than a one-bowl recipe, but it's well worth the extra steps. And it won't randomly explode out the top and turn into a volcano in the oven.

Actual picture of my heart yesterday. And yes, I painted little eyes on that macaron.

Oh, the macaron tears I have cried.

It starts with brown sugar, rum and bananas caramelized in a pan and left to cool.

The batter uses a basic creaming method and comes together easily.

After it's baked, the cake is drizzled with a brown butter rum drizzle. And, as we all know, anything with brown butter is automatically like 10 times better than plain butter.

So give this Banana Rum Cake a try! It's delicious.

Banana Rum Cake

From "The Cake Book" by Rebecca Firth

Rum Bananas:

2 T unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups bananas (diced small)

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 T dark rum

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the bananas and sprinkle with the brown sugar, tossing them to coat (but don't get crazy). Cook for 1 minute, add the rum, and cook 1 minute more. Pour into a heat-safe bowl to cool and set aside.

For the Cake:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

8 T room temp butter

1 tsp nutmeg

3 room temp eggs

1/2 cup good-quality extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup mashed bananas

1 T vanilla

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (shaken, room temp)

With a mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the sugars, butter, and nutmeg on medium--until light and fluffy (4-5 minutes). With the mixer on low, add the eggs one by one (mixing well after each addition). Scrape the bowl down, and stream the olive oil in on low speed--until completely blended. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla, and mix for 20 seconds more.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Alternate adding the flour mix and the buttermilk in two batches-- mixing until just combined. Fold in the rummy bananas, leaving any excess liquid in the bowl.

Grease and flour a 12-15 cup bundt pan. Pour the batter into the pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. bake in a 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes, or until done. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a spatula along the rim and center of the pan to release. Turn the cake onto a wire rack and cool.

Brown Butter Rum Drizzle

4 T butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 T dark rum* (I used 1 scant T and 2 T cream because I wanted my kids to be able to enjoy the cake)

Place the butter in a small, heavy bottomed sauce pan over medium heat. Once melted, turn the heat up to medium high. Stir for 2-3 minutes, and look for brown bits to settle on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Whisk in the powdered sugar until smooth, and drizzle over the cooled cake.

Enjoy;)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The Cake Book: Beautiful Sweet Treats for Every Craving by Rebecca Firth. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.