Banana Bundt Cake with Toffee Sauce

I'm not kidding when I said I'm going to put this recipe on the blog but boy, did it take a long time for me to do it!

This cake was a hit in my family that I made it twice in a month.  I do love it as well, I thought the cake was very tender, not too sweet, and it allows you add a variety of ingredients to it; for example, dried fruits, chocolate chips, or nuts.  I keep the add-ons less than a cup because I fear that if it's too much, the batter will get too heavy and dense.

The original recipe didn't have anything on it but I added dried currants because they're my number one choice for dried fruits.  These were soaked in a bit of rum for a few hours.   Plus since I had that leftover toffee sauce from making sticky toffee pudding tart, I decided to use it up on this cake.  Everything worked well together and flavor profile was sublime.

I hope you'll enjoy it as well as my family did!

Banana Bundt Cake with Toffee Sauce

Makes one 10- or 12-inch Bundt cake


3/4 cup dried currants
1/4 cup rum or apple juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups)
1 cup sour cream

About 1-1 1/4 cup Toffee Sauce


Place a rack in the center of the oven; preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Generously butter and flour or coat with baker's spray a 10- or 12-inch Bundt cake pan.

Combine dried currants with rum or apple juice and let macerate for a few hours.  Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Use a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy and pale in color.  Beat in vanilla, then add eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each.  Turn the speed to low, add bananas.  Slowly add dry ingredients and then all of the sour cream.  Fold the macerated currants with juice with a spatula until just combined.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  Smooth the top and bang the pan gently against the counter a few times.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.  If the top starts to brown quickly, cover it lightly with a piece of foil.  Transfer the cake onto a rack and let cool for 10 minutes.  Unmold the cake to a rack and let it cool to room temperature.  If desired, the cake can be covered with plastic wrap and left overnight to develop more flavor.

When the cake is cool, drizzle the toffee sauce over the cake, letting it drips down the sides.


Source:  adapted from Baking with Dorie, Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications, 2017

Bitter Orange and Poppy Seed Cake

My ideal weekend would be doing something that doesn't require my brain to work.  I can be very energized during weekdays but when it comes to weekend, my brain suddenly switches to off mode.  I actually looking forward to Friday afternoon when I know I will be done with chores and obligations.  Saturday is usually spent at church and baking activities, this is the day when I want to be busy in the kitchen.  Sunday is family time, whether we go out to eat, swim, hike, or bike.  Don't we all love the weekend?

Sometimes even having game night during the weekend is too much for me.  I see it as an exercise, i.e. I have to use my brain and I have to interact with people.  I'm just about done with people after church :)  I want to decompress and stare at nothing.  So don't be offended if I say no to anything on the weekend.  It's just my way of saying I want to spend time with family and stay at home.

Speaking of doing baking on the weekend, this easy loaf is one of things I love to make.  It's simple and quick but yet it's tasty and keep for a few days for afternoon treats.  When I made this, I wanted to eat a poppy seed cake and I found a recipe that used Seville orange marmalade and poppy seed.  I love citrus, both in food and as a fragrance.  It's fresh and uplifting which cheers up my mood right away.  Anyway, this cake is moist and delightful!

Bitter Orange and Poppy Seed Cake

Makes 1 loaf

For the cake:

3 tablespoons Seville orange marmalade

150 g plain Greek yogurt

3 large eggs

175 grams sugar

200 g self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

175 g unsalted butter, softened

Pinch of salt

Zest of 1 orange

2 teaspoon poppy seed

For the glaze:

1/4 cup orange juice

5 tablespoons Seville orange marmalade

Heat oven to 325F.  Butter a 8 x 4-inch loaf pan, then line the bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper.

Put the marmalade into a small pan, heat gently until melted.  Beat in the yogurt, then let cool for a few minutes.

Put the remaining cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat with a hand held mixer until smooth.  Quickly beat in the yogurt and marmalade mix, then pour into the prepared pan.  It will be quite runny.  Leave the mix mounded in the middle of the tin rather than leveling the top, to help it rise.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes until golden and well-risen; a skewer should come out clean.  Take a look at the cake after 45 minutes; if it browns too quickly, loosely cover with aluminum foil.  Meanwhile, heat the orange juice and marmalade in a small pan over a gentle heat until the marmalade melts.  Set aside to cool, stirring now and again, until you have a thick, but still runny glaze.  When the cake is ready, cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack.  Spoon the topping over the cake while it's still warm.  

The cake is best served the day it's made, but will keep for up to 3 days tightly wrapped in an airtight container.

Source:  adapted from BBC Good Food, by Jane Hornby

Orange Chiffon Cake with Marrionberry Jam

I've always loved chiffon cake but baking it perfectly isn't something that I've mastered yet.  Some days my cake will turn out right, some other days it will turn slightly dry and stuck to the pan.  When it happens, I curse myself for not making it right.  I always want to be perfect the first time around, though in the end I will realize that if it doesn't turn out right, I can always make it again another time.  It's only eggs, flour, sugar, and butter, right?

The texture of chiffon cake has to be soft with tender crumbs.  With proper folding technique, there shouldn't be any dense part at the bottom, it should be springy when done baking.  As for the embellishment, it can beautify with painted with frosting or drizzled with sumptuous glaze, or it can left bare with a side of melty jam or compote in a bowl to eat with.  I chose the latter.  And why Marionberry jam?  Because it's currently my favorite jam to eat (the original recipe includes an easy rhubarb jam). This cake is good and the flavor is right so the only complain I have is that it bakes darker than my other chiffon cake recipes.

There's always a room for improvement in making chiffon cake and I hope I'll get a chance to do it soon.

Orange Chiffon Cake with Marionberry Jam

Serves 8 to 10

Cake:

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

6 large eggs at room temperature, separated

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons finely grated orange zest

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Pinch of cream of tartar

Homemade Marionberry jam or store-bought jam

Preheat the oven to 375F.  In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.  In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and the orange zest on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Gradually beat in the oil.  Working in batches, alternately fold in the flour mixture and the orange juice, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until very soft peaks form.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until firm, glossy peaks form.  Fold one-third of the whites into the cake batter until incorporated, then fold in the remaining whites just until blended.

Scrape the batter into a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom and lightly smooth the top.  Tap the pan once to release any air pockets.  Bake the cake in the bottom third of the oven for about 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed.  Invert the cake pon onto a jar and let cool in the pan.

Run a thin metal knife between the cake the sides of the pan to loosen.  Invert the cake onto a cake plate and serve with the Marionberry jam.

Source:  Food and Wine, March 1998