Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake

Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Caramel Glaze is a moist, warmly spiced bundt cake flecked with toasted walnuts. It’s a great dessert for your holiday tables or for year-round enjoyment.

Why Do Maple, Walnut, and Banana Go Together So Well?

Maple, walnut, and banana are a great combination because the sweet flavors of maple and ripe bananas are tempered with the earthy nuttiness of walnuts. Warming spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, bolster those flavors even more. 

What Do I Need to Make this Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake?

Maple Walnut Banana cake is made with cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, unsalted butter, brown sugar, salt, maple extract (unpictured), eggs, milk, mashed bananas, and chopped walnuts.

You need a hand or stand mixer to mix the batter. Depending on how tall you want your bundt cake, you need a 10-15 cup bundt pan. The smaller your bundt pan is, the taller your cake will be. 

Can I Replace the Walnuts with a Different Nut?

You can replace walnuts with pecans, almonds, pistachios, or hazelnuts in most recipes. Obviously, this recipe ceases to be a maple walnut banana cake if you do so, but the nuts mentioned still go well in this recipe. Make sure you use unsalted nuts when baking. You want to be able to control the salt levels in your baked goods at all times. 

Begin by sifting together the cake flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and ginger. It is important to sift together your dry ingredients when making a cake batter because sifting aerates the flour, which creates a lighter, airier cake after baking. 

Do I Need Really Ripe Bananas To Make The Cake?

Use bananas with peels that are heavily mottled with black spots in your baking. The more mottled the peel, the sweeter and deeper the banana flavor will be in your maple walnut banana cake. 

Blend together the butter, brown sugar, and kosher in a 4-quart mixing bowl with your electric mixer set to low. Once the ingredients form a thick paste, stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters. Increase the mixer’s speed to medium-high (or setting 4 on a Kitchenaid stand mixer) and cream (or beat) the mixture for 4 minutes. Stop the mixer halfway through the mixing time to scrape down the bowl and beaters with a rubber spatula. 

Next, add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time. Blend these in at low speed until they are incorporated into the mixture.

Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters after incorporating the final egg and the maple extract. Increase the mixing speed to medium-high and whip the mixture for 3 minutes. Stop the mixer halfway through the mixing time to scrape down the bowl and beaters again. 

Combine the milk and mashed bananas in a separate bowl or pitcher. Add these to the bowl, alternating them with the dry ingredients, in two stages. Start with 1/3 of the dry mixture, follow that with 1/2 of the wet, and continue adding these ingredients, in these ratios, until all are incorporated into the batter. Mix each addition until they’re no longer visible in the batter or for 30 seconds.

How Do I Keep the Walnuts from Sinking to the Bottom of my cake?

The final step is to add the chopped walnuts to the cake batter. When adding nuts, fruits, or chocolate to batters, first toss them in a tablespoon of flour to coat them to keep them from sinking in the baking cake, muffins, or bread batter. The flour forms a barrier that prevents the nuts from sliding through the batter.

Add the dusted walnuts to the bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold them into the batter until they are incorporated. 

What Size Bundt Pan Do I Need For This Recipe?

I prefer a maple walnut banana cake that’s middle of the road as far as height goes. The smaller the cake pan, the taller the slice of bundt cake will be. You also run the risk of overflowing your pan if you bake the batter in a bundt pan that’s too small. For this reason, using a 12-cup bundt pan is best when you want an average size slice of bundt cake. Because the pan isn’t too wide, your cake bakes up about 5 inches, which is a great height for this recipe. 

Scrape the maple banana walnut batter into a greased bundt pan and give the pan a few taps on the countertop to expel any air bubbles. Place the cake pan into a preheated 350°F (177°C) oven and bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. 

What Do I Need to Make the Brown Butter Caramel Glaze?

Make the brown butter caramel glaze while the bundt cake bakes. For the brown butter caramel glaze, you need brown sugar, browned butter, whole milk, maple extract, and kosher salt. 

The glaze comes together in a pot and a bowl. You will need a mixer to blend the glaze together towards the end. 

How Do I Make Brown Butter?

You first need to brown the butter that you will add to the caramel glaze.

To brown butter, heat it in a 2-quart pot over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until you see brown flecks. The butter is ready to come off the heat when it emits a nutty aroma. Remove the pot from the heat, turn the stove off, and allow the butter to cool until it solidifies. 

You can use this method to brown butter for any recipe, not just this one. You can brown the butter for this maple walnut banana cake up to a day ahead, but don’t refrigerate it. Just transfer it to a container and cover it. Allow it to sit at room temperature until you’re ready to use it. I chilled the brown butter for this recipe once, and my caramel glaze broke, so try to avoid that. 

How Do I Prevent a Gritty Caramel Glaze?

The key to avoiding a gritty caramel sauce is ensuring the sugar in it is properly dissolved. To do that, you need to start the cooking process on low heat so you can stir the sugar and milk together without heating them up too fast. 

Add the brown sugar, whole milk, and salt to a 2-quart pot and stir them together for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the stove up to medium-low after most of the sugar dissolves. Use a wet pastry brush to brush the sides of the pot to remove any lingering sugar crystals. Sugar crystals that fall back into melted sugar will cause your caramel to seize up and become gritty.

Cook the mixture until it reaches 210°F (99°C) on an instant-read thermometer or a candy thermometer.

Remove the pot of caramel from the stove and allow it to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, scrape the caramel into a 2-quart mixing bowl and allow it to cool completely. Because butter is going into this caramel, you need it to be as cool as possible, so it doesn’t melt it. 

Once the caramel cools to room temperature, add the browned butter and maple extract. Use an electric mixer to blend these ingredients until they form a thick glaze that’s the consistency of molasses. 

How Do I Avoid Patches in My Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake?

By now, your maple banana bundt cake should be fully baked. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the cake to cook in the pan for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn the cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Patches occur on bundt cakes when the cake is left to cool too long in the pan after being removed from the oven. The heat from the cooling cake and hot pan produces moisture which causes the cake to stick to the pan. When the cake is turned out of the bundt pan, those parts stick to the pan, which results in unsightly patches in your cake. Another way to avoid patches on the surface of your bundt cake is to ensure your cake pan is liberally greased with baking spray. 

Can I Freeze the Cake After Baking?

You can freeze the maple walnut banana cake after cooling it completely. Wrap the cake in two layers of plastic film and a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil and freeze it for up to 2 months. 

Thaw the cake at room temperature before glazing it with brown butter caramel glaze. 

How Do I Decorate the Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake?

To decorate your maple walnut banana cake, pour as much or as little of the brown butter caramel glaze over its surface. Garnish with chopped walnuts, or serve it as is. 

Do I Have to Use the Caramel Glaze?

You can omit the brown butter caramel glaze in this recipe and serve your maple walnut banana cake plain. I also like topping this bundt cake with my Cream Cheese Frosting.

The cake tastes amazing on its own, so feel free to skip making the glaze if you’re not up to it. 

Can I Freeze It After Decorating It?

Though you can freeze the maple walnut banana bundt cake after decorating it, I don’t recommend it. You’ll ruin the glaze when you wrap it in plastic and foil. You can decorate it, freeze it solid, and then wrap it to help mitigate that, but that’s a bit more effort than if you were to add the glaze after thawing out the cake. 

How Do I Serve My Maple Walnut Banana Cake?

To serve this maple banana walnut bundt cake, just slice and enjoy. My family also enjoys eating it with a scoop of my Ponche Frozen Custard or Vanilla Frozen Custard. 

How Do I Store Leftover Cake?

Store leftover maple banana walnut cake under a cloche or lightly wrapped in plastic film to keep it from staling. You can store bundt cake in a covered container for 3 to 4 days at room temperature. 

Heat leftover slices of bundt cake in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to give them a fresh baked taste.

Can I Freeze Leftover Maple Walnut Banana Cake?

You can freeze leftover bundt cake for 2 months. Wrap it as instructed above and freeze it for up to 2 months. Remember that the icing may get all wonky after thawing and unwrapping it.

This Maple Banana Walnut Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Caramel Glaze is the ultimate fall dessert. Be sure to pin it to your dessert board, and don’t forget to share it with your friends and family. Let me know what you think of it in the comments below, too!

Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Caramel Glaze

Marta Rivera at Sense & Edibility

5 from 14 votes

Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake with Brown Butter Caramel Glaze is a moist, warmly spiced bundt cake flecked with toasted walnuts. It's a great dessert for your holiday tables or for year-round enjoyment.

Servings: 16

Print Pin Recipe SaveSaved!

Prep Time 28 minutes mins

Cook Time 57 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Equipment

• 12-cup bundt pan
• electric hand mixer
• candy thermometer optional

Ingredients

  

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For the Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake

• 2 cups (240 grams) cake flour plus 1 tablespoon for coating the walnuts
• 1 3/4 teaspoons (8 grams) baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon (2 grams) ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 grams) baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon (1 gram) ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) whole milk at room temperature
• 3 (310 grams) very ripe bananas mashed
• 1/2 cup (1 stick or 113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 cup, chopped (125 grams) unsalted walnuts
• 1 cup, firmly packed (250 grams) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon (6 grams) kosher salt
• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) maple extract

For the Brown Butter Caramel Glaze

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 57 grams) unsalted butter
• 1 cup, lightly packed (185 grams) brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (80 milliliters) whole milk
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon maple extract

Optional Garnish

• 1/4 cup, chopped (30 grams) walnuts toasted and cooled

Instructions 

• Preheat an oven to 350°F (177°C).

  Generously grease a 12-cup bundt pan with baking spray or brush it with vegetable shortening and dust it lightly with flour and set it aside.

Sift Together the Dry Ingredients and Combine the Liquids

• Into a 2-quart mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and ginger.

  Set this bowl aside.
• In a separate bowl or pitcher, combine the milk and mashed bananas.

  Set this aside for later.

  Toss the walnuts in 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of cake flour and set them aside.

Mix the Maple Walnut Banana Cake Batter

• Blend together the butter, brown sugar, and kosher in a 4-quart mixing bowl with your electric mixer set to low.

  Once the ingredients form a thick paste, stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters.
• Increase the mixer's speed to medium-high (or setting 4 on a Kitchenaid stand mixer) and beat the mixture for 4 minutes.

  Stop the mixer halfway through the mixing time to scrape down the bowl and beaters with a rubber spatula. 
• Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time. Blend these in at low speed until they are incorporated into the mixture.

  Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beaters after incorporating the final egg and the maple extract.

  Increase the mixing speed to medium-high and whip the mixture for 3 minutes. Stop the mixer halfway through the mixing time to scrape down the bowl and beaters again. 
• Add the banana-milk mixture to the bowl, alternating them with the dry ingredients, in two stages.

  Start with 1/3 of the dry mixture, follow that with 1/2 of the wet, and continue adding these ingredients, in these ratios, until all are incorporated into the batter.

  Mix each addition until they're no longer visible in the batter or for 30 seconds.
• Add the dusted walnuts to the bowl and use a rubber spatula to fold them into the batter until they are incorporated. 

Bake the Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake

• Scrape the maple banana walnut batter into the prepared bundt pan and give the pan a few taps on the countertop to expel any air bubbles.

  Place the cake pan into a preheated oven and bake the cake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the cake begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. 

Brown the Butter for the Caramel Glaze (May Be Done 1 Day Ahead)

• Heat the butter in a 2-quart pot over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until you see brown flecks.

  When the butter emits a nutty aroma turn off the stove and remove the pot from the heat.

  Allow the butter to cool at room temperature until it solidifies or about 1 hour. 

Prepare the Caramel Glaze

• Add the brown sugar, whole milk, and salt to a 2-quart pot and stir them together for 2 to 3 minutes.

  Turn the stove up to medium-low after most of the sugar dissolves and use a wet pastry brush to brush the sides of the pot to remove any lingering sugar crystals.
• Cook the mixture until it reaches 210°F (99°C) on an instant-read thermometer or a candy thermometer.

  Remove the pot of caramel from the stove and allow it to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes.

  After 15 minutes, scrape the caramel into a 2-quart mixing bowl and allow it to cool completely.
• Once the caramel cools to room temperature, add the solidified browned butter and maple extract.

  Use an electric mixer to blend these ingredients until they form a thick glaze that's the consistency of molasses. 

Cool, then Glaze the Maple Walnut Banana Bundt Cake with the Brown Butter Caramel Glaze

• Remove the bundt pan from the oven once it's done baking and allow the cake to cook in the pan for 5 minutes.

  After 5 minutes, turn the cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
• To decorate your maple walnut banana cake, pour as much or as little of the brown butter caramel glaze over its surface.

  Garnish with chopped walnuts, or serve it as is. 

Notes

Swaps and Subsititutions:

• You can replace the walnuts with pecans, almonds, pistachios, or hazelnuts.
• Replace the ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger with 1 1/2 teaspoons (3 grams) pumpkin spice blend or chai spice blend.
• The cake tastes amazing on its own, so feel free to skip making the brown butter caramel glaze if you're not up to it

Tips and Techniques:

• Use bananas with peels that are heavily mottled with black spots in your baking since they are sweeter and have a strong banana flavor. 
• You can brown the butter for this maple walnut banana cake up to a day ahead, but don't refrigerate it.
• If sugar crystals fall back into the pot of melted sugar, they will cause your caramel to seize up and become gritty. Be sure to clean the sides of the pot well. 
• Because butter is going into this caramel, you need it to be as cool as possible, so it doesn't melt it. 

Storage Instructions:

• Store leftover maple banana walnut cake for 3 to 4 days at room temperature in a cake container or lightly wrapped in plastic film to keep it from going stale.
• Heat leftover slices of bundt cake in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to give them a fresh baked taste.

Freezer Instructions:

• To Freeze the Baked (Undecorated) Maple Banana Walnut Cake:
  1. Wrap the cooled cake in two layers of plastic film and a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
  2. Freeze the cake for up to 2 months.
  3. Remove the foil covering and thaw the cake at room temperature while still wrapped in the plastic film.
  4. Thaw the cake at room temperature before glazing it with brown butter caramel glaze. 
• To Freeze Leftover Bundt Cake:
  1. Wrap the cooled cake in two layers of plastic film and one layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil and freeze it for up to 2 months.
  2. Unwrap the cake, place it in a cake container and thaw it at room temperature. Remember that the icing may get all wonky after thawing and unwrapping it.

Nutrition

Calories: 439kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 8gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 283mgPotassium: 175mgFiber: 2gSugar: 31gVitamin A: 356IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 1mg

Course Dessert

Cuisine African American, North American, Soul Food

Keyword banana, cake, maple, walnut

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