Can you believe that up until now I have never owned a bundt tin? I have always coveted one, but they are quite expensive (I want a Nordicware one...) so I have never been able to justify buying one. So I was rather pleased when a box full of baking goodies that I was sent to review happened to contain a bundt tin; it is not a Nordicware one, but a silicone, half size (6cup) tin. The size is actually perfect for me, as as beautiful as full size bundts are, they are rather large and make a bit too much cake for a family of two...
The box I was sent to review is called Bake Box, and is essentially a bakeware subscription box; every other month you will be sent a box containing 6-8 items of baking and decorating tools, and detailed recipe cards with ideas of how to use each item (you can also buy a one-off box as well rather than subscribing). Each box has a theme, with all of the items in the box relating to that theme - the one I was sent was called "Decorate With Spots And Stripes", and other examples include "Springtime In Paris" and "Flower Power". The items are mostly ones that are not widely available on the high street and each box appears to be quite varied, the recipes included are detailed and interesting and range from simple to challenging. The items are mostly made of silicone or plastic, with some metal cookie cutters, but they appear to be good quality and my cake certainly baked perfectly in the silicone bundt tin.
If you already own a vast collection of bakeware then this may not be the box for you, although despite being an avid baker myself I didn't already own any of the items in the box I was sent, and the selection seems to be innovative enough that it wont contain any basic items that anyone who bakes regularly will already own. Subscribing to the box also gives you membership to Bake Club, which provides online video tutorials and recipes. If you want to build up your baking toolkit, expand your knowledge and skills and get creative with your baking then I think that Bake Box would be perfect for you; in my opinion it is a really fun and interesting subscription service and it would also make a great gift that is just a little bit different.
I was originally going to make one of the recipes included in the box for this post, but once I saw the bundt tin I just got it into my head that I wanted to make a banana bundt cake and it just so happened that I had a bunch of rapidly browning bananas in the fruit bowl... I couldn't stop at plain banana cake though, no, I had to add rum and serve it smothered in caramel, and not just any caramel at that - banana rum caramel; that's right, banana IN the caramel; instead of using cream in the caramel sauce I used pureed banana along with a generous knob of butter and a glug of rum. The caramel is an absolute revelation, intensely banana-ry (how do you spell that?) with a delicious caramel flavour and a hint of rum (which also helps to cut the sweetness a little), it is seriously addictive.
The cake itself is essentially banana bread - moist, dense and fragrant with a strong banana flavour and a hint of rum and nutmeg; when paired with the caramel it is almost otherworldly; this is a banana cake for true banana lovers, if you aren't a fan then this is not the cake for you! This cake was so delicious that despite there being only two of us to eat it, it disappeared in less than two days...I think that might be a new record for cake consumption speed in our house (it was mostly me...). The recipe makes just enough caramel to pour over the cake, it you happen to have any left over then it will keep in the fridge for a few days and it is amazing on ice cream or pancakes (or have all three at once... Yes, definitely do that!), in fact you may want to double the recipe just in case...
Banana Rum Caramel Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Banana Bundt Cake
- 175 g (1 + ⅓ cup) plain flour
- ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 medium, very ripe bananas (about 180g peeled weight)
- 75 g (2.5oz) natural yoghurt, room temperature
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp dark rum
- 120 g (½ cup) softened butter
- 150 g (½ + ⅓ cup) light brown soft sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 2 tbsp dark rum for drizzling (optional)
Banana Caramel Sauce
- 1 medium, very ripe banana
- 100 g (½ cup) caster sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 30 g (2tbsp) butter
- pinch salt
- 2 tbsp dark rum
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease a small bundt tin with melted butter, be generous and thorough, make sure that you get in all the grooves or it will be difficult to remove the cake from the tin.
- Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, set aside.
- Mash the bananas well then stir in the yoghurt, vanilla extract and rum, set aside.
- Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
- Fold in a third of the flour mixture, followed by half of the liquid ingredients, then another third of flour, the rest of the liquid then the remaining flour, don't overmix. Scrape the batter into the prepared tin, level it and tap the tin on the counter a couple of times to burst any air bubbles.
- Place the tin on a baking sheet and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack, drizzle with the extra 2tbsp of rum if you like and leave to cool completely.
- To make the banana caramel, puree the banana until completely smooth, I used a stick blender to do this.
- Place the sugar and water in a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium-high heat. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally (don't stir), until the sugar has dissolved and turned amber. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and add the butter and banana puree, the mixture will sputter; stir until the caramel is smooth, if there are any lumps of sugar you can return the pan to a low heat and stir constantly until they have dissolved.
- Allow the caramel to cool a little then add the rum and a pinch of salt to taste, pour into a jug and keep refrigerated until needed.
- When you are ready to serve, place the cake on a serving platter and re-heat the caramel until it is runny, pour the caramel all over the cake, making sure you get in all the grooves - enjoy!
- The cake will keep well in an airtight container for a couple of days, beyond that I'm not sure as it disappeared so fast!
Notes
All the ingredients, including the yoghurt, should be at room temperature.
I was provided with some products to review but I was not paid to write this post and all opinions are my own
I am sharing this with Fiesta Friday hosted by The Frugal Hausfrau and Unwed Housewife, Foodie FriDIY, Foodie Friends Friday, Friday Features, Saucy Saturdays hosted by The Flavour Bender, Take Two Tapas, La Petit Chef and Mid-Life Croissant,
Sally hossack
This looks gorgeous Hannah
hannahhossack
Thank you! I got my love of banana bread from you! 🙂
bakeplaysmile
Oooh a boozy cake! Who on earth doesnt love that! Cant wait to try this!
hannahhossack
Thanks Lucy! I love a bit of booze in my desserts... 😛
Lyndsay // Coco Cake Land
Oooh your bundt is so pretty and looks/sounds delicious! Bake Box sounds pretty neat. I'm also very curious about that dotty stencil you got! ^__^
hannahhossack
Thanks Lyndsay! The cake was sooo good! I haven't tried the dotty stencil yet but I'm sure it could be used to do some really fun stuff 🙂
Ahila
The cake looks a real treat with all the flavours in it. Love the swirly bundt mold. Thanks for bringing it to the fiesta, Hannah!
hannahhossack
Thanks Ahila 🙂 the bundt tin is such a pretty shape!
nadia@maisontravers
Banana, rum, caramel, what is there not to like?
hannahhossack
My thoughts exactly! 😛
Dini @ The Flavor Bender
Every single part of this cake is just amazing!! Loving all the flavors! 🙂
hannahhossack
Thanks Dini 🙂
Jess
This cake looks just fantastic, I LOVE that sticky topping and as I'm a HUGE banana bread lover I'm sure I would love this. Thank you for sharing!
hannahhossack
Thanks Jess, if you love banana bread (as I do), then you will adore this cake!
Julie is Hostess At Heart
What a beautiful cake! How exciting would it be to get a baking box every other month! If I didn't already have so many things, I would love that!
hannahhossack
Thanks Julie 🙂 Yes it would be fun! I don't really have any space left in my kitchen for more baking equipment though!
Frugal Hausfrau
I love everything about this and that banana caramel has me intrigued. I make a caramel with dried apricots for one of my recipes but never took the concept any further and certainly never considered bananas! And of course nothing's better than banana and rum!!
Thanks for bringing this to Fiesta Friday!
Mollie
hannahhossack
Ooh apricot caramel sounds good! I didn't think that the banana caramel would work but I was wrong, it is soo good!
Caroline
Your cake looks and sounds absolutely gorgeous.The cake box sounds fun too.
hannahhossack
Thanks Caroline! It was so good I ate almost the entire thing by myself in two days...
Angela - Patisserie Makes Perfect
This looks so tasty Hannah - banana rum caramel? So good. The bake boxes look really good, was the silicone quite sturdy? I had a silicone loaf tin once that was too flexible and my loaf looked more like a blob!
hannahhossack
Banana rum caramel is pretty awesome stuff! Yes the silicone seems quite sturdy, the cake wasn't misshapen at all, it is quite an intricate pattern so I was slightly worried that it would be but it was fine 🙂
Scarlett
What an amazing cake to break in your bundt pan! Dark rum in the glaze?! Sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday #117!
hannahhossack
Thank you! I don't think I could have chosen a better cake 🙂
All about a Mummy
I need to get one of these tins as I am desperate to make a bundt! This looks fantastic with the caramel glaze. #recipeoftheweek
hannahhossack
I've been coveting one for ages, they are so pretty!
Eileen
Beautiful and soooo tempting!
Charlotte Oates
I'm coveting a few Nordicware bundts too - they're so pretty aren't they. Your cake sounds really delicious x
hannahhossack
Oh me too, I'd love to have a collection of bundt tins! they are so big and expensive though... :-/ x
The Hungry Mum
found your via google plus and have been scrolling through your amazing blog when I landed on this cake. Lord yes! Love bundts, love caramel, love baking. And ps - adding rum is NEVER optional as far as I am concerned - it is a necessity.
hannahhossack
Haha! Agreed, in my case the rum is not optional! And welcome to Domestic Gothess, I'm so pleased that you like my little blog 🙂