Chocolate Marble Banana Bundt Cake

Chocolate Marble Banana Bundt Cake Details

Flavor: This chocolate marble banana Bundt cake starts with 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) of mashed banana, so you know there’s great flavor right from the get-go. It’s also buttery with notes of cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla too. And I’ll teach you how to swirl the ganache in such a way that literally every bite has dark chocolate as well! If you love these flavors together here, you’ll love them in these banana chocolate chip streusel muffins, too. Texture: Because they’re so thick and essentially weigh themselves down, Bundt cakes are always denser than layer or sheet cakes. This is certainly a heavier cake, but it isn’t quite as dense as pound cake. It’s wonderfully moist and soft like banana bread, especially if you avoid over-baking. Ease: The prep consists of two main components: making the cake batter and making the ganache. Both are very simple, but the success of the recipe depends on timing. The ganache used for the swirl must cool for about 30 minutes prior to using otherwise it’s too thin. I recommend making the ganache first because by the time you’re finished the cake batter and the oven’s preheated, the ganache will be ready. You’ll use half of the ganache inside the cake, then save the rest for the topping.

What you’ll love most about this chocolate marble banana Bundt cake is that unlike marble loaf cake, it’s swirled with real chocolate ganache and not chocolate flavored cake batter. I wanted the chocolate portion to be more like the chocolate swirl in fudge ripple ice cream and less like chocolate cake or chocolate banana bread. Make sense? The best part is if you warm your slice back up in the microwave, the chocolate inside gets all melty like hot fudge sauce.

Swirled with Chocolate Ganache

Do you remember how to make chocolate ganache? I have an entire chocolate ganache tutorial page if you’re not sure. You need just 2 ingredients: real chocolate and heavy cream. I recommend Bakers or Ghirardelli brand baking semi-sweet chocolate bars, which is sold in the baking aisle near the chocolate chips. It took several test variations to learn that the consistency of the ganache (and how you swirl it) will make or break today’s cake recipe. If the ganache is too thin and warm, it will turn this into a thin chocolate banana cake batter. If it’s too thick, it will prevent the portions of cake batter surrounding it from baking so you’ll have this unpleasant and strange combination of baked and unbaked cake batter. How to avoid this: Let the ganache cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes until it’s about the consistency of gravy.

Perfecting the Banana Bundt Cake Batter

As the ganache cools and thickens, prep the cake batter. Banana cake was my starting point, but I add a little extra baking powder for some lift and slightly reduce the buttermilk. The original cake was strangely wet with the chocolate ganache, but after I reduced down the buttermilk, it cooked perfectly and had a lovely texture. If you’re looking for a plain banana Bundt cake, you can follow the recipe below and simply leave out the chocolate ganache swirl. Layer in the cake batter and ganache, then generously swirl together.

Make Enough Ganache for the Topping

Everything is complete with a little accessorizing, so let’s finish this Bundt off with even more ganache. The recipe below instructs you to make all of the ganache at once, then save half for the topping after the cake bakes and cools. You’ll have to reheat it so it’s thin enough to drizzle. Feel free to halve the ganache, then garnish the cake with salted caramel or use the chocolate peanut butter topping from this chocolate chip loaf cake instead. (Readers have loved that topping!)