Boozy banana cake
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 10 mins
Baking with alcohol sounds like a good idea, but can be disappointing in practice. Most liquors, rum included, are distillates, meaning that they are boiled off and collected. Per definition the alcohol and flavors in the liquor are easily boiled off; bake them at high temperatures and you'll lose all their flavor. Far better to use the liquor in a frosting so you get the full impact!
Course:
Dessert
Cuisine:
American
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 2 T rum
- 3-4 ripe bananas
- 1/3 c butter
- 3/4 c sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 t vanilla
- 1 1/4 c flour
- 2 T cornstarch
- 1 t baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 3/4 c powdered sugar
- 2 T chopped pecans
Instructions
-
Butter and flour a loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 F.
-
Smash the bananas with a fork or potato masher in a large mixing bowl. Some leftover chunks are okay but preferably none larger than a blueberry.
-
Put the 1/3 c butter into a microwave-safe bowl, cover, and microwave for abour 40 seconds until it is totally melted.
-
Add the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla to the bananas and mix well with a fork.
-
Measure flour into another small bowl. Mix in cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
-
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then mix gently but thoroughly.
-
Bake the banana cake in the loaf pan at 350 F for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a stick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes then transfer to a cake plate.
-
Stir together the rum and powdered sugar in a small glass bowl and heat 30-40 seconds in a microwave until it is smooth.
-
Pour the frosting slowly over the top of the cake. Sprinkle pecans over top and press them slightly into the frosting.
-
Cool the cake completely. The frosting will harden as it cools.
Recipe Notes
You might wonder at the use of cornstarch in the recipe. Substituting cornstarch for 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour is a shortcut to turning regular all-purpose flour into cake flour. I do so in order to make a more tender crumb.