Banana Cake

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If you have several ripe bananas sitting around, this banana cake is for you. Banana cake has a tender, buttery crumb that is light and moist, getting most of its flavor and sweetness from the bananas themselves. This easy banana cake recipe will become your newest favorite way to enjoy bananas!

How To Make Banana Cake

Bananas

The most important step to any banana cake recipe is to use spotty, brown and slightly overripe bananas. The more brown spots you have, the better, as they get sweeter and more flavorful over time. I’ve added in a little bit of cinnamon with the dry ingredients to complement the prominent banana flavor in this cake.

The Cake

The base of this cake starts with your simple mix of creamed butter and sugar. I add a couple tablespoons of oil in there to give the cake a moist, tender crumb. After giving these ingredients several minutes in the mixer to get light and airy, you’ll add in your eggs, one at a time, and then the mashed, ripe bananas and the rest of the ingredients.

I like to use buttermilk in my cakes, especially in this banana cake recipe, because it adds a tanginess that complements the sweet banana flavor. If you don’t have buttermilk you can use the same amount of sour cream or a combination of milk and yogurt to get similar results. Either way, dairy is your secret to making this banana cake stand out.

Cream Cheese Frosting

The cream cheese frosting tastes amazing and gives the cake extra texture, but the cake is delicious on its own so you don’t have to add it. I don’t like a frosting that is overly sweet so I don’t add a lot of powdered sugar, but you can add as much as you like until you get a stiff frosting. If your frosting is still quite runny yet you don’t want to add more sugar, pour the frosting over the cake in the pan and refrigerate it. It will firm up once chilled.

Do Not Overmix

The key to a light, fluffy banana cake is to not overmix your batter. Once you have all your wet ingredients mixed together, add in the sifted dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Do not overmix. The less you mix, the lighter your final cake will be and that is what makes this banana cake one of the best in the world.

To take this banana cake one step further, at this point you can fold in any optional mix-ins you’d like. My favorites are chocolate chips or toasted walnuts, just like in my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread recipe.

More Banana Recipes:

5 from 2 votes
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Banana Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 ¾ cups (385g) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter , softened to room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (100g) light or dark brown sugar
  • 4 large eggs , at room temperature
  • 4 large ripe bananas
  • 1 ¼ cups (300ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease a 9×13-inch pan.
  2. In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set it aside.

  3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter, sugar, and oil on medium speed for 3-4 minutes until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla extract and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the dry ingredients and beat just until combined, then add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Do not overmix, the less you mix, the lighter the cake will be.

  4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool to room temperature. Frost cake with cream cheese frosting.

  5. Store cake in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

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