BONNIE’S CLASSIC BANANA BUNDT CAKE

HOW TO MAKE IT :

1. Bake your bananas. Put them on a small metal pan and bake them at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes until the skins turn black. Remove the bananas from the oven and let them cool while you make the cake. (leave them unpeeled; you will snip the end off and squeeze the banana into the mixture later)
2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with Pam. Set the cake directly on the rack, not on a cookie sheet. (This is so the heat can go up through the center of the bundt pan to ensure even baking.) You may need to cover with a tent of foil if the cake gets too brown.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda and the salt and whisk together, set aside.
4. Add butter to the stand mixer bowl and beat until creamy. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until pale and fluffy (no grainyness remains)
   
   I use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a paddle attachment. You can use a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer. When mixing the sugar and butter, it is important that you mix it until the grainyness is gone.
5. Beat in the vanilla, and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating about a minute after you add each egg.
6. Turn the mixer down to low, snip the ends off the small end of the banana and squeeze the banana like a tube of toothpaste. It will fall right out of the peel. Add all the bananas (except the one reserved for garnish)
7. Mix in half of the dry ingredients, add the sour cream, add the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing well until smooth.
8. Pour the batter into the well-greased bundt pan, smoothing the top, rapping it onto the counter to remove the bubbles. Add the banana slices to make the flower design on top.
9. Bake in the oven 65 to 75 minutes. Watch carefully that it doesn’t overbrown (add the foil tent if it is browining too fast) Test the center with a thin knife close to the center. Cool cake on a rack 10 minutes before unmolding, then cool to room temperature. Here is what it looks like when it is done! Enjoy!
10. Note: You may serve the cake plain, dust with powdered sugar, or try a variety of icings.