Banana Cake

[Patrick S]

Hi folks. Since I'm almost completely ignorant concerning all baked goods I thought I'd better ask a few questions before attempting this banana recipe.   

Ok, I want to use muffin pans instead of baking whole loaves. Should the baking temperature be altered? How long should they stay in? Do I need to grease the muffin cups? Should I use those cupcake papers? I'd like to add extra bananas to increase the banana-y flavor, will that alter anything I should know about? How should they be stored? On a plate under plastic wrap? What do think of the use of lemon zest? Yummy or not?

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350F should be fine.

Time will probably be somewhere around 20-30 minutes at 350. Start checking with a toothpick at 15, unless you can see they still look liquidy, in which case you should hold off. Pull them out when you get a a toothpick with a few tiny crumbs but no liquid.

If you use an unlined muffin tin, definitely grease them, or better yet use an oil+flour spray. Nothing is more frustrating than beatiful muffins that cantr be extricated from a baking pan deathgrip. Paper liners will work fine, and you're certain not to have any release problems. Fill them about 2/3 full. You may want to bake a few test muffins to see how full you can fill the liners or muffin tins without them overflowing.

[petite tête de chou]

Hi folks. Since I'm almost completely ignorant concerning all baked goods I thought I'd better ask a few questions before attempting this banana recipe.   

Ok, I want to use muffin pans instead of baking whole loaves. Should the baking temperature be altered? How long should they stay in? Do I need to grease the muffin cups? Should I use those cupcake papers? I'd like to add extra bananas to increase the banana-y flavor, will that alter anything I should know about? How should they be stored? On a plate under plastic wrap? What do think of the use of lemon zest? Yummy or not?

←

350F should be fine.

Time will probably be somewhere around 20-30 minutes at 350. Start checking with a toothpick at 15, unless you can see they still look liquidy, in which case you should hold off. Pull them out when you get a a toothpick with a few tiny crumbs but no liquid.

If you use an unlined muffin tin, definitely grease them, or better yet use an oil+flour spray. Nothing is more frustrating than beatiful muffins that cantr be extricated from a baking pan deathgrip. Paper liners will work fine, and you're certain not to have any release problems. Fill them about 2/3 full. You may want to bake a few test muffins to see how full you can fill the liners or muffin tins without them overflowing.

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Thank you, Patrick. The muffins took about 23 minutes and turned out fine. That oil/flour spray is darn handy!

[jujubes83]

I am going to make Wendy's banana cake tonight. I am planning on filling it with pastry cream and sliced bananas and then frosting with a cream cheese frosting. Is it okay to refrigerate the cake overnight until serving time tomorrow, or will that cause it to lose some of its moistness?

Thanks so much!

[RodneyCk]

Where I'm at in the mid-west US it's almost impossible to find also, even wholesale. I mix my own when I want it, very unscientificly.........I usually do half cake and half ap. flour. I never really know what the exact gluten level is in my ap. flour so I can't be very methodical about blending my flour. I've gotten alot looser in working with flours and don't always follow the recipe to a T. I think method has a more dramatic impact, unless your using bread flour and mixing endlessly.

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Yeah, I hardly ever see pastry flour, at least where I shop. I found this little tidbit...

"It can be a challenge to find pastry flour. Even well-stocked supermarkets seldom carry more varieties than cake flour, all-purpose flour (9% to 12% protein), and bread flour. If you can't find pastry flour, you can mix you own by combining cake flour and all-purpose flour in a ratio somewhere between of two parts cake flour to one part all-purpose and one part cake flour to one part all-purpose."

Edited July 12, 2006 by RodneyCk (log)

[Dailey]

jujubes83,

i've made wendy's banana cake several times and refriderated it overnight with no problem with losing moisture.

[jujubes83]

Thanks so much! Just wanted to make sure!

[2010]

It's so simple and classic yet many variations out there. I'm seeking a recipe that's more banana cake vs banana bread-like and one that can be made in a tube or bundt pan. Any suggestiions?