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
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
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.
Lucy says
Hi! I’m wanting to double this recipe to make two 8ich tins for a double layer cake. Will my cooking time alter with both in the oven or shall I cook one at a time?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lucy, cooking time will vary depending on the depth of batter and how evenly your oven bakes if your baking two cakes at once. You’ll just have to keep an eye on them and test by inserting a skewer into the centre to ensure they’re cooked.
Steph says
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make. Thanks for the wonderful recipe 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Steph!
Ashwini says
AP flour and butter are so unhealthy.. can you make some classic recipe with whole wheat and vegetable oils? And again can i use whole wheat flour instead of AP flour in this recipe?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Ashwini, I haven’t tested this recipe with whole wheat flour so I can’t say.
Ashwini Pawar says
No worries 😊
Sel says
Tried banana cake with whole wheat flour. It turned out awesome
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad to hear that!!
DeeDee says
Butter is actually better for you, and vegetable oil is bad. Maybe you could use applesauce to replace the vegetable oil!?
Ashwini Pawar says
Vegetable oil is good for health. Butter is solid at room temperature. Butter contains saturated fat which leads to the rise of cholesterol level in human body. … Whereas vegetable oil is liquid at room temperature and contains unsaturated fats which are heart healthy.. that’s what i learn from internet.. so confused..🙄
DeeDee Alcazar says
This cake was so easy and my family loved it!
Thanks for the easy recipe. Simply delicious 😋
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that!
Mesa says
Awesome cake Jess! You are now my one-stop shop for recipes! I have made this before ,and it came out utterly delicious ,but I had eggs at the time. My friend is vegan ,and she suggested ,when short of eggs to make a ‘chia egg’ .Will this work in this recipe?
Jessica Holmes says
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cake Mesa! Unfortunately, I haven’t tested the recipe was an egg substitute so I can’t say I’m sorry.
Clea drayer says
I made this cake for my friend as a surprise! I am the one who got a surprise it was as though I only cooked it half way! About half of it appeared was raw! I want to try again but do not want to have the same thing to happen again again! Why did this happen to me?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Clea, every oven is different so always use cooking times as a guide only. It sounds like your cake just needed longer in the oven. You’ll know it’s ready when a skewer in the middle comes out clean.
AJ says
I made this cake a couple of weeks ago. I was told this is hands down the best banana cake and cream cheese frosting that they’ve ever had! It was DIVINE! I’m wondering can I use this recipe to make cupcakes? Any tips?
Jessica Holmes says
What high praise! So glad you enjoyed it AJ. You could definitely make it into cupcakes, you would just need to adjust the cooking time – maybe check them around the 20 minute mark.
Uche says
I want to make this cake but i am afraid of get the star ingredient wrong. Can you give a measurement to the banana, as my large might not be your large. Thanks cant wait.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Uche, excited you are going to make this cake. Two bananas when mashed will be equal to around 2/3 cup. Hope that helps!
Wendy says
Jessica, you are fast becoming my go-to lady for reliable, delicious recipes. I made this cake a couple of days ago and drizzled it with a thickish lemon icing (Mmmmm). It was lovely on day one, but even better on days 2 and 3 – and now it’s gone! So easy and just lovely. The buttermilk tip is great. Thank you, Going to make the chocolate bread next. 😀
Jessica Holmes says
Aw this makes me so happy! Thank you so much for your kind review Wendy! I love that you enjoyed this cake as much as I do.
Mais says
This looks great! How many people will it feed, given each person has a normal sized slice? Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, it makes one large 8-inch cake, so around 8-10 slices.
AJ says
Hello! May I use yogurt or sour cream instead of the buttermilk? Sometimes I do that and get away with it
Jessica Holmes says
Hi AJ, yes that can work. I have tried it myself with this recipe though. Ideally, I would substitute part milk for part sour cream or yogurt so the batter isn’t too thick.
AJ says
Thank you so much!! xoxo
Parisa says
Hey
Can I check can have you ever made the frosting without icing sugar?
Thanks
P
Jessica Holmes says
No I haven’t, sorry!
Edem says
I am about to bake this cake and realise that i don’t have brown sugar. Can i substitute with caster or granulated sugar???
Jessica Holmes says
Yes you can!
srishti :) says
can ii not add vanilla extact jessica? tahnk u so much !! im trying this fir the fist time for my aunties bday!i ope she likes it!!
Jessica Holmes says
Yes you can leave it out.
srishti :) says
Hey jessica! im a 13 year old and Im trying this recipie for the first time for my aunties birthday i hope she likes it !! May i ask one question? Earlier u said that we needed eggs but in the recipie there are no eggs involved ? why is that so? so do we add eggs or not? Love u !!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi! Yes you need eggs for this recipe. They are mentioned in step 3 of the recipe – hope that helps!
Josh says
I loved this cake, especially that creamy frosting.
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed it Josh, the frosting is the best part!