This month at Sourdough Surprises the challenge was cake that incorporated sourdough starter. The sourdough isn’t the sole leavening agent, as it is in breads, but in some recipes is the acidic component that activates baking soda.
There are a surprising number of cake recipes that use starter. Depending on starter feeding schedule and storage method, though, and how often they bake, some people must have a lot more starter that needs used up or discarded than I do.
At first I was planning on making a chocolate cake of some sort but I decided after the fudge I made over Spring Break and Girl Scout cookies, we really didn’t need a chocolate cake around here.
I did have two aging bananas, and I like having a quick bread already made for breakfast, however, so C Mom Cook’s Banana Cake was a perfect fit.
I did not make the glaze. It was for breakfast, after all. I baked it last night and we had it for breakfast this morning. I usually make banana bread in a loaf pan, but since this challenge is cake, and who makes cake in a loaf pan, I used my Bundt pan. It’s prettier, anyway.
First of all, understand that my family loves banana bread, and I like it well enough, but there are many other quick breads I like better. Banana bread rarely wows me.
So this was about an average banana bread. Either the starter or the yogurt, or probably both, added an interesting tang to it. I wish I had added some chopped up nuts. Chopped nuts never hurt anything.
I realized in looking at the original recipe on C Mom Cook just now that I used baking powder instead of the baking soda it calls for. That may be why my banana cake didn’t rise as high as I expected, or as high as hers. But it could just be a difference in pan size.
I prefer very moist banana bread, so I put in 1/2 cup oil instead of 1/4. I wouldn’t call this an exceptionally moist banana bread (er, cake) but it isn’t bad. It only took 40 minutes to bake, but my oven runs a little hot.
Lynn H @ Turnips 2 Tangerines said:
I never thought to make a Banana Cake:) I always seem to have over ripe banana’s in the house or my fridge! Can’t wait to check out all the other cakes~ Lynn @ Turnips 2 Tangerines Irish Cream Chocolate Sourdough Cake
Amanda Embry said:
For some reason I always thought banana bread was hard to make, until I tried it. Now I make it a lot, because we have a lot of those over ripe bananas too.
Johan Zietsman said:
This brings back some memories! haven’t had this for ages and ages.
Looks delicious!
Amanda Embry said:
Thanks!
Jessica said:
I am a banana bread fan, and I do love it with sourdough. Nice job 🙂
Amanda Embry said:
I like that this one had a little extra tang. I’ve tried another recipe that didn’t have any at all.
Robyn said:
Looks wonderful; banana cake for breakfast, what a great way to start the day!
Amanda Embry said:
Thanks! It was a big hit.
rachaelmcleve said:
This looks great! I love the idea of baking banana bread in a Bundt pan. It gives it that little something extra. 😉
Amanda Embry said:
And my Bundt pan doesn’t get much use. 🙂 So now I feel I’ve got another way to justify its presence in my cabinet.
Suzanne said:
I bet that tastes wonderful! I love banana breads for breakfast with a bit of cream cheese:-)
Amanda Embry said:
I’ve never tried it with cream cheese, but that does sound good!
Rebecca said:
My family could eat banana bread every week and not get tired of it. Baking it in a bundt would make it a little different for me at least!
Amanda Embry said:
Oh yeah, we could have it for breakfast every day an no one would complain.
Joan said:
Oh goody! I have some ripe bananas just waiting to be used. Yum!
Bread and Companatico said:
lovely banana cake and nice to meet you! ciao!! barbara
Jane @ The Wayward Oven said:
Cakes made in Bundt always pans look so nice, and so does yours!
Amanda Embry said:
Thanks. 🙂
Shelley C said:
Oh my gosh, I am so glad you enjoyed my recipe! And who says you can’t add glaze to it and still eat it for breakfast? 🙂 Your banana cake looks absolutely delicious – makes me want to go make another right now!!
Amanda Embry said:
Thank you for sharing the recipe, Shelley.
Jenni (@GingeredWhisk) said:
Haha, great idea using the cake for breakfast! It looks like it turned out great (and frosting/glaze always helps with a tad bit of dryness. Thanks for baking with us this month! 🙂
Amanda Embry said:
I like breakfasts I can fix the night before. I’m not fully functional in the mornings.
Korena in the Kitchen said:
I definitely need to get a bundt pan because your cake looks so pretty. Banana bread is my absolute favorite – I hope you find a recipe that you totally love someday!
Amanda Embry said:
I have been tinkering with one lately – I think I’m on my way there. 🙂
pizzarossa said:
That looks wonderful! My kids are big banana bread fans – in fact, they will deliberately leave the last 2 bananas of the bunch to go brown in the fruit bowl in the hope I’ll bake with them! I’ll have to try it with sourdough next time 🙂