Soft and tender Banana Cake topped with a thick and buttery cream cheese frosting. This Easy Banana Cake takes minutes to make and will easily serve a hungry crowd.
Do you have ripe, spotty bananas sitting in your fruit bowl? 🍌
If so, you need to jump in the kitchen and make this Easy Banana Cake right now. It’s big, buttery and oh-so-banana-ry. And don’t even get me started on that melt-in-your-mouth cream cheese frosting.
It’s honestly the BEST way to bake with bananas!
I know you love banana bread just as much as me. And when I discovered chocolate banana bread, I thought life was complete. But I have to say, a piece of freshly baked Banana Cake slathered in cream cheese frosting is my new fave.
And this is seriously good. The cake itself is buttery and soft and bursting with banana flavour. Make sure you use bananas that are stinky, spotty and overripe. That’ll ensure your cake has plenty of flavour.
We also use buttermilk in this recipe which will ensure your cake stays soft and fluffy – even a day or two later. If you don’t have your own buttermilk on hand, you can make your own by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of regular milk.
Leave it for a few minutes and then use as per normal. I rarely buy buttermilk so I use this trick ALL the time, in my muffins, cakes and quick breads.
TIPS FOR MAKING BANANA CAKE FROM SCRATCH
- Make sure you use very overripe, spotty bananas for maximum flavour. The smellier the better!
- You will need an electric mixer for this recipe. Start with room temperature butter, you don’t want it fridge cold but it shouldn’t be melty by any means.
- We start by beating together the butter and sugar, this process is known as creaming. After a few minutes, the two will combine and turn pale and creamy. This process helps create a nice light and fluffy cake. It can be tempting to beat for 30 seconds or so just to combine the butter and sugar but if you keep going for another minute or so, you’ll see it change texture and almost look a little ‘whipped’. Perfect!
- Next comes the eggs. Sometimes when you add the eggs, the cake batter can turn lumpy and look a little curdled. That’s fine.
- Add half of the dry ingredients and the mashed banana and buttermilk. Start to slowly mix together and then add the remaining dry ingredients. Transfer mixture to a cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes. You’ll know it’s ready when a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
TIPS FOR MAKING CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- You will need a hand mixer or stand mixer to make this frosting. Make sure you use a full fat block of cream cheese – not a light version or the spreadable kind.
- For seriously creamy frosting, make sure both your butter and your cream cheese are at room temperature.
- Once you beat together the butter and cream cheese, you need to add 3 cups of icing sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
- The frosting should be smooth and creamy. If it’s too thick, you can add a teaspoon of milk but I find it usually doesn’t need it.
MORE CAKEs we love
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Let’s Bake
Easy Banana Cake
Easy Banana Cake topped with cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
Banana cake
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 45 grams (1/4 cup) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) buttermilk
- 180 grams (3/4 cup) mashed banana, (2–3 overripe bananas)
Cream cheese frosting
- 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) butter, softened
- 250 grams (1 and 1/4 cup) full fat cream cheese, softened, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 375 grams (3 cups) icing sugar or powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Grease and line an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced.
- In a large bowl, add plain flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugars and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until pale and creamy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
- Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, along with buttermilk and the mashed banana. Gently beat until just combined. Then add remaining dry ingredients.
- Transfer mixture to prepared pan and bake for approximately 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool completely.
- To make the cream cheese frosting, add butter and cream cheese to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla.
- Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and continue to beat until smooth. Generously frost the top of your banana cake once it’s completely cooled.
Nutrition Information
Adrianna says
I make this all the time. It’s perfect. It reminds me of the cake my mom used to make and have sitting in the fridge when we got home from school – cold cream cheese frosting is so nostalgic for me now 🙂 thanks for making such a great go-to recipe!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Ah I love hearing that Adrianna! And I know exactly what you mean – cold snacking banana cake is nostalgic for me too!
LM says
Supper yummy! Tempted to have the whole thing in one sitting!
★★★★★
Jessica Holmes says
Haha love that!