The big banana bundt! A super moist and lightly spiced banana cake, with a secret cream cheese centre. It's a very simple batter, baked in a pretty bundt tin to make it look extra fancy. It keeps well and is really delicious - enjoy it for dessert, afternoon tea, a snack, picnics, even breakfast!

The Big Banana Bundt

Ingredients

The batter is very simple to make - just blend together ripe bananas, sour cream and eggs, then gently whisk in the remaining ingredients. I used to use a food processor for the initial blending, then transfer it to a mixing bowl, but have since realised that it's much easier to blend those initial ingredients with a stick blender directly in the mixing bowl. (Less washing up!)

I decided to take this cake to the next level with with a secret cream cheese centre. I love cream cheese icing on banana cake, but this shape of bundt is a little difficult to ice attractively, and also I had a brick of cream cheese in the fridge that needed using up. I actually got the idea for the cream cheese centre from a different banana bundt recipe - the swirled banana bundt cake in the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple cookbook (a lovely Christmas gift from Sandra)! It worked well!

Banana bundt batter with cream cheese swirl

Banana Bundt Batter

Bake it for fifty minutes until cooked, let it cool slightly, then turn it out! (Don't forget to check out my tips for preparing a bundt tin.)

Big Banana Bundt

Big Banana Bundt

Tadah! The cake worked so well - it's lovely and moist, and the hint of cinnamon makes it extra fragrant and inviting. The kitchen will smell amazing while you're baking it! The salty-creamy ribbon of pure cream cheese offsets the sweet batter perfectly. It was great fresh out of the oven, but still good a few days later. I shared it with my parents and some colleagues and it went down really well.

Big banana bundt

Looks fancy but actually super easy. Enjoy!

The Big Banana Bundt with a Cream Cheese Centre

A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients

340 grams overripe bananas

200 grams sour cream

3 eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

285 grams caster sugar

165 grams vegetable oil

340 grams plain flour

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

1.5 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 pinch of salt

250 grams cream cheese

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Prepare a 10-cup non-stick bundt pan. Brush the inside of the tin all over with melted butter to form a thin and even layer. Sift in some plain flour, rotating the tin to cover the insides with a thin and even layer of flour. (You want to try and avoid any gaps). Tap the tin over the sink to dislodge any excess flour.

Place the bananas, sour cream and eggs in a large mixing bowl and blend together with a stand mixer.

Add the vanilla extract, caster sugar and oil and whisk to combine.

Sieve in the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk gently until smoothly combined.

Pour three quarters of the batter into the prepared pan.

Soften the cream cheese in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, then beat with a wooden spoon to soften further. Spoon the cream cheese into the tin. Give it a gentle swirl with a butter knife.

Pour the remaining batter over the cream cheese.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until cooked when tested with a skewer. You might need to cover the cake with foil halfway through if it is browning too quickly.

Allow to cool for 10-20 minutes. Gently pull the cake from the edges of the pan with your fingers. Place a cake rack on top, then (wearing oven mitts), flip the cake and rack over. Tap the tin firmly to help dislodge the cake, then gently lift the cake pan away. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Keep remaining slices in an airtight container in the fridge.

Makes 1 bundt, serves 12-16

More sour cream cake recipes:

• Apple and Sour Cream Pancakes
• Blueberry Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake
• Cocoa Sour Cream Cake with Chocolate Cheesecake Icing and Raspberry Whipped Cream
• Lemon and Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze
• Chocolate Passionfruit Layer Cake
• The Jimbo Cake