Banana Coffeecake

It seems like I'm always doing a "banana" recipe--trying to come up with something different than the usual quick bread.  Well, I've never made a coffeecake, so here it is.

Coffeecakes, although originally made to go along with coffee, includes quite a variety of one-layer cakes, some even having coffee in the recipe.  I'm not a coffee drinker even though my Dad brewed a 40-cup urn with coffee every day for he and my Mom to drink--they liked coffee, black.  What's even more ironic is that I live in Seattle, which is pretty much the coffee capital of the world with a Starbucks on every corner. LOL!

Banana Coffeecake
12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature.
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 medium bananas)
2 Vanilla beans, split and scraped (or 1 T. vanilla extract)
2 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 1/4 cups sour cream
Streusel Filling/Topping:
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cardamon
1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
3 T. unsalted butter
3/4 cup pecans
Preheat oven to 350F-degrees.  Spray a 10-12 cup bundt pan with a baking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix up the streusel filling/topping.  Place all the dry ingredients in the bowl and then, use a pastry cutter to cut the butter in. There should still be small chunks of butter throughout the mixture.  Stir in the pecans.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the mashed bananas and mix to combine.  Don't be alarmed to see a somewhat "curdled" batter.

 In a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients.  Add them alternatively with the sour cream, starting and stopping with the dry ingredients.  Once it's all combined, beat 1-minute more.  


Place half of the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle with half of the streusel mixture.

Repeat with the remaining batter and streusel.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes.  Use a skewer to check if the cake is done--no crumbs on the skewer means it done.  Remove from the oven and cool for about 10 minutes.  I used a plate with parchment paper to turn out the cake, then, I placed the serving dish over the bottom and flipped the cake on upright so the streusel top shows.
Glaze: (optional)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 T light Karo syrup
1-2 T hot water
 Mix all the ingredients together and drizzle over the top of the cake, if desired.

I know it was National Pi Day, but when bananas are ripe...you need to decide to bake or throw them out.  The coffeecake really is delicious, but I'm having mine with a cup of tea.  Enjoy!