Brown Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Would you believe me if I told you this was a bundt cake and that it was really, really good?

Because it is, and it was.

I haven't done a whole lot of baking lately, and the baking I have done hasn't produced anything blog-worthy. Instead, I have become addicted to watching Dateline, 20/20 and 48 Hours On Demand and getting my baking fix through Kids Baking Championship on Food Network. It's all the fun, minus the clean up and calories. It's also a nice little show to lighten the watchlist, because I'd rather go to sleep dreaming about cake than about murderers.

If you haven't watched KBC, it's basically a baking competition featuring a group of kids vying for $10,000, being judged by cake guru Duff Goldman and actress-turned-cooking personality Valerie Bertinelli. Each week they are given a theme or a challenge for their baking creations and either advance to the next round or get voted off. {I have no idea how Duff & Valerie do it with those puppy dog eyes staring at them!}

I am blown away by those smart, talented little people. They are hilarious and inspiring, and I'm hoping that watching them in action will give me some clue as to how to make my own child turn out to be charming and eloquent. I won't hate it if he can whip up a mean French pastry while he's at it, but beggars can't be choosers.

You'd never know from from all the talk of  "ganache", "coulis" and "creme anglais" that these pint sized bakers only range in age from 10-13, and their ingenuity at problem solving when their plans go awry is pretty spectacular. {Plus, their nasal little voices and chubby cheeks are so stinkin' cute. It's amazing the things you find darling when you're no longer in charge of teaching these rascals.} Most of the time, they try to convince the judges that they meant to produce whatever it is that turned out once their time is up, which isn't necessarily truthful, but is a nice last-ditch effort to win.

So when this very delicious Brown Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake crumbled into a pile of cake rubble as I was turning it out of the {clearly, not properly greased} pan, I channeled the mini baking masterminds and thought to myself, "Hmm. Now how can I make it look like I meant to do that?" And this is as good as it got.

If you're not falling for the presentation, don't let it deter you from trying it out for yourself because you'll be missing out for sure. Not only is this recipe super easy, but it's also extremely flavorful thanks to the extra {but worthwhile} step of browning the butter, which lends a nutty, almost toffee-like note. And banana and chocolate together? Always a winning combo.

Some weeks things don't quite work out the way you want them to. This is one of those weeks. But let's just pretend I meant to lose half of my cake to the bundt pan, and that I had planned to photograph it all cut up. Yeah. We'll go with that...

Brown Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake

Barely adapted from The Best of Fine Cooking, 2010 Party Food Edition

Makes 1 bundt cake that serves 12, or 2 mini bundts made in a 6 cup pan

1 cup {2 sticks} unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup mashed banana {about 2 medium bananas}
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare bundt pan* by buttering or spraying with non-stick spray. {Do a good job so that you don't have to fudge your presentation like I did!}

2. In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Bring it to a bubble and allow it to simmer until it starts to turn light brown and smells toffee-like or nutty. This should take about 5-7 minutes.

3. When the butter is browned, remove from heat and pour it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to remove the brown sediment that will form at the bottom. Set the bowl of hot melted butter aside to cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile, sift together the salt, flour and baking soda in a small bowl.

4. In another bowl, whisk together sugar and cooled butter until smooth. Add in the eggs, mashed banana and vanilla extract and beat until everything is well-incorporated.

5. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips into the wet ingredients and fold everything together until well-combined. Don't overdo it or you'll end up with a tough cake.

6. Pour the batter into the buttered baking pan and bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until a knife or skewer inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean {a few crumbs are ok}.

Remove the cake from the oven and set is aside to cool for 20 minutes or so. Carefully flip over the bundt pan and give it light tap to remove the cake -- hope you have better luck than I do!

The good news is, whether in crumbs or as a whole, the cake is equally as divine!

* Making this much batter will give you either 1 large bundt cake in a 10-cup bundt pan, or 2 small bundts made with a 6-cup pan {baked for about 25 minutes}. You can also make this in muffin tins or any other cake tins you desire, but you'll have to adjust the cook time accordingly. Have I given you enough options yet?

Brown Butter Zucchini Cornbread

Ahem, not to brag or anything, but I've managed to get THREE posts out this week. Why, yes, I am patting myself on the back. ;)

Where the last few weeks felt like a complete waste of perfectly good time, this week has felt uber-productive. Isn't that a nice feeling? Not only have I been able to wrap up a bunch of loose ends I've had nagging at my task list, but I've also been able to help a friend who is getting married in just a few short weeks as she crosses some things off her "To Do Before I Do" list.

Being a part of wedding planning madness {several times over the past year} has made me think about how awesome it is when two people who are right for each other come together. In my friend's case, she and her fiance balance one another in lots of ways: She is high speed/high voltage, energetic, scattered and passionate; he is deliberate, calming, organized and logical. Watching them do things together can be somewhat of a comedy show, but only because it's sort of magical how she makes up for where he lacks and vice versa.

I find the same in my own relationship with my husband. When I'm up in arms and all in a tizzy, he talks me back down to reality and calms my irrational fears. When his head is in the clouds and he's having a hard time putting dreams into action, I help him think realistically. I keep us organized, and he keeps me from labeling everything in the house and living in an OCD wonderland. It takes a little bit of him and a little bit of me keep things balanced in our household. We're a good team, as are the newlyweds-to-be.

Some things just work well together. Like this:

Know what it is?

No, you don't. You probably think you know what it is. "It's cornbread!" "It's zucchini bread!" ...

It's both!

It's Zucchini Cornbread. The result of a harmonious union of two common favorites, with the added flavor of brown butter.

What's brown butter, you ask? Well, it's butter that's cooked until it's brown. {Um, you asked.} Why is that special? Because when you cook butter until its brown, it gets this interesting, nutty smell and flavor that makes things taste even better than when you're using regular butter... if you can believe it.

I love regular ol' cornbread, but there have been times when certain recipes have left something to be desired because they're too dry or crumbly. But guess what? When you add in shredded zucchini, the moisture from the veggie refuses to allow anything but incredibly perfect bread to happen. Add in that amped up flavor from brown butter, and you've got yourself a pretty above average loaf of yumminess.

Basically, it's a marriage made in heaven. And who can't appreciate one of those?

Brown Butter Zucchini Cornbread
Barely adapted from Epicurious

1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup cornmeal, medium-grind
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large zucchini, coarsely grated

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Prepare a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan by spraying with cooking spray or coating in butter. Set aside.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Once melted completely, reduce the heat slightly and allow to simmer until it becomes a golden-brown color and smells nutty and fragrant. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cornmeal until uniformly mixed.

4. To the cooled butter, add the buttermilk and eggs and whisk together until well combined. {I just did this right in the saucepan as not to have to dirty another bowl.} Mix in the shredded zucchini.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold together until there are no more dry spots, but try not to overmix. The batter is going to be very thick; it should be.

6. Scoop the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it as evenly as possible. Bake for about 55 minutes to 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. {It's a moist bread so it may have some sticky crumbs, just make sure that it's not uncooked batter and you should be fine.}

Remove from oven and cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing and slicing.