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banana cake with date frosting

Banana Bread Cake with Date Frosting (No added sugars)

Banana bread cake that is very similar to banana bread, but uses no added sugars and tastes like a chewy banana pancake. This kid-friendly cake can be baked in a 9-inch round pan, loaf pan, or muffin pan! Topped with a naturally sweet and caramel-y date frosting using no added sugars.

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
YIELD 1 9-inch cake

Ingredients

Banana Bread Cake

  • 1 ½ cups (300g) 3 large ripe bananas, peeled
  • ⅓ cup (76g) unsalted butter, melted, cooled
  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • ½ cup (4oz, 113g) plain yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 1 ½ cups (200g) cake flour
  • ¼ cup (25g) oat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ⅛ cup (16g) arrowroot powder *optional
  • 1 Tablespoon flax meal *optional

Date Frosting

  • 10 medjool dates, pitted
  • ½ cup (4oz, 120ml) warm water
  • 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) heavy cream

Instructions

Make the cake

  1. Preheat oven to 350℉/177℃. Line a round or square 9-inch cake pan or standard 4 ½ x 9 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

  2. Place bananas in a food processor and blend until there are no large pieces and it looks like a thick batter. Add in the melted butter, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla. Pulse it a few times to mix thoroughly.

  3. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, arrowroot starch, and flax meal.

  4. Pour the liquid ingredients from the food processor into the dry ingredients bowl. Mix using a rubber scraper just until combined. Pour into the prepared pan.

  5. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Adjust baking times longer (35-45 min) if using a loaf pan and shorter (20-25 minutes) if making cupcakes.

  6. Remove from oven to cool. Rest in the pan for 5 minutes, flip upside down onto cooling rack to remove cake from pan and continue to cool. Frost once cake is completely cooled.

  7. Note: To achieve a small layered cake, I cut my 9-inch cake flat across the top. Then, I used a 3.5 inch round cutter and cut 3 small cakes out of my 9-inch cake.

Make the frosting

  1. Place the pitted dates into the food processor and pour warm water over them. Let them sit for 5 minutes. Puree the dates until they form a smooth paste.

  2. Add the heavy whipping cream to the food processor and continue to pulse and mix until a thick, whipped frosting consistency is reached. Be careful not to overmix. Keep the frosting refrigerated until ready to serve. Cake can be frosted and placed in the refrigerator until served.

Recipe Notes

*If you'd like to add sugar, add it to the food processor mixture right after the bananas have been pureed.

**If dates aren't really your thing, you can use peanut butter to create a whipped peanut butter frosting instead.