Best banana cake recipe – yes that’s what I decided to call this banana cake because this is hands down the best banana cake recipe I have ever come across, baked, and tasted. I tasted this banana cake for the first time when I was in Sydney. I have a colleague there who loves baking almost as much as I do and she bakes cakes for people in her team very often. She brought this banana cake and a flourless chocolate cake the day I landed. They were both divine.
Australians love their banana bread and banana cake. It’s a staple in all coffee shops – thick slabs of banana bread served toasted with salted butter. Ah, bliss.
The moment I had my first taste of this banana cake made by a colleague, I decided I not only want the recipe, but I want the book it came in as well. I asked her to bring it in the next day so I could jot down the recipe, and ordered it online the same day from Book Depository. Mix and Bake by Belinda Jeffery is a great one to own and bake from, you all!
I made it exactly the same way mentioned in the book the first time. It tasted wonderful – quite dense, sweet, deliciously banana-ey. The cream cheese frosting was the perfect indulgence along with the humble banana backing. The beauty of this cake is, it can be entirely made in a food processor so use yours if you have one.
I have an immersion hand blender that has a processor/chopper which worked perfectly. If not, you can just use your hand-help whisk or electric beater to bring the batter together. A blender may work well too.
The second time around, I decided to make it less sweet with no frosting, perfect for breakfast or to carry in a tiffin box to school, work, or a picnic.
Also check out this banana bread recipe
eggless banana oatmeal cookies
eggless chocolate banana pound cake
Best Banana Cake Recipe Ever
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup / 110gm plain flour
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 very ripe large banana about 1/2 to 3/4 cups when mashed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar regular white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup / 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 50 ml sour cream or buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For Cream Cheese Frosting
- 125 gm cream cheese cut into chunks, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup / 4 tablespoons butter cut into chunks, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup / 150gm icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F / 180C.
- Grease a 9" cake pan. This size is actually for the recipe which I have halved here so you can only make a thin single layered cake if you use a 9" pan. Try a smaller pan if you want to frost the cake in layers.
- Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda into the food processor and whiz them together for about 15-20 seconds.
- Tip into a bowl and set aside. If mixing by hand, just put everything into a bowl and blend together using a whisk or a fork.
- Chop the bananas into the food processor next and whiz into a pulp. Make sure the banana is really ripe. Again, you can do this step by hand using a fork or potato masher, in a separate bowl.
- Add the sugar and egg to the mashed banana and whiz for another minute.
- Then add the butter and whiz for another minute until the mixture is thick and creamy. (Cream together for about 5 mins if doing by hand).
- Next, add the sour cream (or buttermilk) and vanilla extract and whiz in quick pulses until just blended. Fold together if doing by hand.
- At this stage, you can either tip the flour mixture into the food processor or fold together in a separate bowl. My chopper bowl is not that big so I did this in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold until just blended. Don't overdo the mixing part.
- Scoop into greased tray and smooth out the top layer evenly.
- Bake for about 40 mins or until the top turns golden brown and the cake passes the skewer test.
- Remove and let cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting
- Blend the cream cheese and butter together until smooth
- Add the icing sugar and vanilla and process again until completely smooth and creamy - about 3-5 minutes
- Refrigerate until needed.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting
Notes
- I halved the recipe in the book to make one cake. You can double the measurements above to get a 9" layered cake
- The frosting is optional, the cake is sweet and delicious enough on its own, in my opinion
- The banana needs to be really ripe for best results - please see picture below
Step by Step Pictures for Best Banana Cake Recipe:
1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease a 9″ cake pan or a brownie pan like I used.
Make sure your banana is really ripe before you attempt this banana cake recipe
2. Put the flour, baking powder, salt, and soda into the food processor and whiz them together for about 15-20 seconds. Tip into a bowl and set aside. If mixing by hand, just put everything into a bowl and blend together using a whisk or a fork.
3. Chop the bananas into the food processor next and whiz into a pulp. Again, make sure the banana is really really ripe. Again, you can do this by hand using a fork or potato masher, in a separate bowl.
4. Add the sugar and egg to the mashed banana and whiz for another minute. Then add the butter and whiz for another minute until the mixture is thick and creamy. (Cream together for about 5 mins if doing by hand).
5. Next, add the sour cream (or buttermilk) and vanilla extract and whiz in quick pulses until just blended. Fold together if doing by hand.
6. At this stage, you can either tip the flour mixture into the food processor or fold together in a separate bowl. My chopper bowl is not that big so I did this in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and fold until just blended. Don’t overdo the mixing part.
7. Scoop into greased tray and smooth out the top layer evenly.
8. Bake for about 40 mins or until the top turns golden brown and the cake passes the skewer test. Remove and let cool completely before frosting.
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
Whiz together all ingredients in the food processor for about a minute until well blended. Chill until needed to frost. You can mix by hand too, just make sure the butter and cream cheese are softened to room temperature so that they blend well when mixing with hand.
When the cake is cool, layer on the frosting on all sides. Cut and serve. With sour cream, the cake turns out much much softer so try and use it instead of buttermilk, if you can. Yum.
For banana cake recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Malay, Urdu, etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.
“Bakeroo’s ode to the ‘Banana Cake’ is a delightful journey into the heart of comforting flavors and moist, banana-infused goodness! 🍌🍰 Each blog post is a sweet invitation to explore the simple yet irresistible joy that a well-crafted banana cake brings.
Thank you so much for the blog post. I found it to be very interesting and enjoyed reading about what your thoughts are on this subject!
Hi lovely recipe is there any substitute for egg or eggless version of the same?
I like bananas. Thanks for the banana pie recipe. I will definitely try.
This cake sounds fabulous. Thanks for the recipe. I love it.
yummy recipe , well explained and nice presentation with step by step photoes