Banana Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Icing
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Banana Pound Cake — delicious mashup of the best banana bread recipe and a buttery Southern pound cake with silky brown sugar icing.
Think the moistest banana bread you’ve ever tasted. Then think of the most buttery pound cake you’ve ever eaten. Now, put those two together in your mind, topped with a silky caramel-like drizzle and you have this Banana Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Icing. The cake on its own is wonderful but the brown sugar icing makes it sublime.
Banana cake ingredients
Cake flour
Bananas
Salted butter
White sugar
Eggs
Sour cream– Greek yogurt makes a great substitution for sour cream. Try a banana or vanilla yogurt to boost the flavors.
Baking powder
Baking soda
Salt
Banana extract
Prep notes and tips
Add baking soda to acid. I treat this recipe like my banana bread recipe. Because mashed banana adds a lot of moisture to this cake and has the potential to make it too dense. I want to make sure that I get a good rise out of this cake so I add the baking soda to the sour cream to activate the leaving power.
Don’t over mix the batter. It should take no more than a minute to beat in each ingredient after the eggs.
instructions
I’m using a stand mixer but this can be done by hand or with a hand mixer. In the mixer bowl, beat the butter until fluffy with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes. Cream the butter with brown and white sugars and banana extract. Let the machine run for 3-4 minutes to get a frothy texture.
Next, add each egg one at a time. You want to see the dark yellow of the yolk turn pale before adding the next one. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to incorporate the butter. Continue mixing then mix in the bananas.
Pour half of the flour into the mixer. Once the flour is mixed in, add the sour cream. Finish with the remaining flour. Once the last bit of flour is in run the machine for no more than 45-60 seconds. Use a spatula to scrape the bowl to mix in any stray ingredients.
Prepare the pan with pan release paste. Pour in the batter and bake for 1 hour in a preheated 325° oven. Check the cake with a toothpick in the center at the 45-minute mark and every 5 minutes after.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a baking rack. Let the cake cool for another 30 minutes before serving.
Brown sugar icing
I borrowed the base of this icing from Brown Sugar Kitchen by Tanya Holland, one of my absolute favorite cookbooks. This icing adds an almost caramel taste to the banana pound cake. You can use brown sugar icing for scones, cakes, or biscuits. And of course, it is totally optional but I highly recommend that you give it a try.
To make the icing, whisk the butter, brown sugar, cream, and corn syrup in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce is well combined. Pour the mixture into a bowl with the powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth. Pour the icing over the cooled cake. Store leftover in the fridge in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
Banana Pound Cake with Brown Sugar Icing
Ingredients
- 3 c sifted cake flour (360 grams) properly measured
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 c salted butter softened (3 sticks)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/4 c granulated sugar
- 4 eggs room temp
- 2 bananas mashed
- 1 c sour cream room temp
- 2 tsp banana extract
Brown Sugar Glaze
- 1/2 c powdered sugar
- 1/3 c brown sugar
- 1/4 c heavy cream
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1 tbsp light corn syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°. Start by mixing the sour cream with the baking soda and setting it aside. Then sift the flour and baking powder.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add both sugar and banana extract followed by each egg. Scrape the bowl to incorporate the butter. The beat in the bananas.
- Add half of the flour then the sour cream. Finish with the remaining flour. Pour the batter into a prepared bundt pan and bake for 1 hour. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before turning out onto a baking rack.
Brown sugar icing
- Whisk the butter, brown sugar, cream, and corn syrup in a heavy bottomed pot over medium-low heat. Stir constantly until the sugar is dissolved and combined. Pour the mixture into a bowl with the powdered sugar. Whisk until smooth. Spread the icing over the cooled cake.