The frequency with which I bake with bananas is dependent on how many we buy that go uneaten. When I see them get to that lovely, ripe, baking stage, I start scouring my brain, all available cookbooks, and the internet for banana recipes. Having made banana bread too many times to count, I really wanted to bake something a little different.
As I kept an eye on our latest batch of steadily ripening bananas, I remembered the glorious banana cupcakes at Billy’s Bakery, one of my favorite NYC bakeries. With those lovelies in mind, I started my search for something similar.
That leads us to this cake. I am a big fan of this cake. It’s denser and sweeter than banana bread. And, of course, there’s cream cheese frosting, which is one of my all-time favorite things. My initial instinct was to bemoan only having an 8-inch square cake. On further contemplation, though, I think having more of it around would be dangerous.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 large egg white, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 large ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup milk
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 & 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 2 tablespoons chopped toasted nuts (optional)
Instructions
To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 375°. Spray an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, oil, and sugar. Beat in eggs and egg white, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mash bananas with milk. Set aside.
Gradually mix half of dry ingredients into butter mixture. Mix in bananas. Mix in remaining dry ingredients. Pour cake batter into prepared baking pan.
Bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack.
To make the frosting:
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and vanilla. Reduce speed and gradually add confectioners’ sugar.
Spread frosting on cake. Sprinkle with nuts.
Notes
Recipe adapted from All You.
December 13th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Omgosh, I can’t tell you how fun it has been browsing through all of your recent posts. Every recipe is absolutely mouthwatering! I pinned this recipe, I know everyone would LOVE it!
December 14th, 2011 at 1:55 am
yummy.is it required to use only canola oil?can we use any other oil as well?
December 14th, 2011 at 7:46 am
Merin, I usually use canola oil and that is what the original recipe recommended. You should be able to use another kind of oil if you’d like.
December 15th, 2011 at 8:16 pm
Wow, this looks amazing. Thank you for the great alternative to the good old banana bread.
December 17th, 2011 at 11:19 am
I just placed this into the oven…can’t wait for it to cool and then frost. The batter was a good clue of how delicous this is going to be!
December 19th, 2011 at 7:04 am
I just died a little! Already saved the recipe so I can do it right after Christmas. It looks great and I can’t wait to make it!
January 2nd, 2012 at 4:05 pm
I love the sound of this and cannot wait to try it. I wonder (being a non-baker), if peanut butter icing would be good. Could you just add a dollop of peanut butter to the cream cheese?
January 2nd, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Susan, Martha Stewart has a good recipe for a cream cheese – peanut butter frosting. Click here!
January 7th, 2012 at 10:03 am
Just wanted to let you know I made this cake for a luncheon at work this week and it was an absolute hit. People were asking for the recipe and taking bowl of it back to their desks. Another great recipe! I attached the link to my post if you want to take a look. Thanks again!
http://lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com/2012/01/banana-cake.html
January 17th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
I just made this cake and it came out extremely dense…I have NO idea what I did wrong…the only thing I can think of is that I blended the ingredients too long..any ideas?
January 18th, 2012 at 8:38 am
Andrea, that would be my first guess. I’m sorry you had troubles!
January 18th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Mine also came out very dense…more like bread not cake.
January 21st, 2012 at 10:36 pm
You can add my attempt as also turning out quite dense. I bake quite a bit and haven’t had this happen in quite a while. I know the rule is generally 1 tsp. of baking powder for every cup of flour which this recipe does follow. Don’t quite know how to fix this one.
January 24th, 2012 at 6:33 pm
I will definitely be making this again, so I will try and see if I can fix the problem. Not that it was a very big problem, because it was still delicious!! Thank you for the recipe!
January 30th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Mine also came out dense. Kinda like banana bread.
February 6th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
This was not a hit at my house.. IT was very dry (tasted like flour)and more like a bread then a cake! maybe 2cups of flour is a little much.
February 12th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
This was very tasty! Based on others’ reports of the cake being a bit dense, I added 1/4 tsp of vinegar to the milk and let it sit for 5 minutes before adding (pseudo butermilk) to help the baking powder do it’s thing. I also added a small amount of chocolate chips and a little butter to the frosting. It was a hit at our dinner party!
March 24th, 2012 at 7:28 am
I think it might have needed 1 tsp baking soda to make it less dense. I have a similar recipe and that was the only real difference. I used your ingredients and it was very dense, will try adding the baking soda next time.
April 1st, 2012 at 12:48 pm
I am going to try this today. I was wondering if it can be doubled and baked in a 9×13 dish instead? I am debating on trying that or just making two different batches.
April 1st, 2012 at 4:07 pm
I made this recipe and it was so yummy!! I did end up doubling it and putting it in one 9×13 dish. I also substituted buttermilk for the regular milk because buttermilk makes everything better.
I also added about a cup of peanut butter to the icing. Yum yum yum! Thanks for the recipe!!
April 1st, 2012 at 7:04 pm
Jodi, I’m sorry I didn’t see your comment in time to answer. Glad it worked out!
April 12th, 2012 at 9:48 pm
This was really good but like other comments I couldn’t get it like a cake. It was much more like banana bread.. It was still very tasty though
April 26th, 2012 at 5:52 pm
… and then i tried this, died & went to heaven. thank you so much for posting this. yes, the cake is more dense than your typical cake BUT, it works so well with the depth of the cream cheese frosting. i shared on my blog and credited you entirely for it’s awesomeness. thank you again for sharing… simply delicious!
May 13th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I made this today for Mother’s day dinner at my house. I thought it turned out good (my 2 1/2 yr old loved it!). I was wondering, though, when I was mixing it all together, was I supposed to keep mixing it with the mixer to incorporate butter/eggs, etc. with the bananas and flour mixture (or was I supposed to stir/mix by hand)? I’m not a big baker, so I used the mixer with the eggs and sugar part, but wasn’t sure about with the flour mixture. I did use the mixer for all of it and wondered if that’s why mine was a little dense.
Just wondering…Thanks for any tips!
May 13th, 2012 at 3:40 pm
Erin, you can mix or stir the flour mixture. Either way is fine as long as you don’t over mix. The cake is supposed to be dense, so it sounds like you did everything right!
July 10th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
I found this today on Pinterest and made it and it is SO GOOD. I used buttermilk just because I had some. It is dense, but perfectly so. Will definitely make it again….thank you so much!
August 6th, 2012 at 11:21 am
I love your website! This is the first thing I have made from it. Is this cake suppose to be sweet? I’m not a big fan of frosting so I left that off. I’m thinking maybe I needed it! This was not a favorite, but I am excited to make other other things!
August 6th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Abbe, thank you! This cake is just a bit sweeter than banana bread. I think the frosting is just perfect, but I am a confessed cream cheese frosting fanatic. Happy baking!
August 15th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
I baked this yesterday, and was really disappointed. It was so dense that I was even questioning whether I forgot to add the flour! I don’t understand how it can turn out “perfect” for some, but not for others. Hmmm. Oh well, it DID taste good. Hubby had a small slice with some vanilla ice cream.
August 16th, 2012 at 8:41 am
This sounds delicious. I love baking and will try this one. I think my 2 year old would love it.
August 19th, 2012 at 8:25 pm
I really want to try this because it sounds like something my family would love. Before I make it I was wondering if the bananas should be black. I know for banana bread its best if you make it with really ripe black bananas, I’m wondering if it’s the same for this? I have never baked anything with banana in it so I’m a little clueless, I would love any suggestions :]
August 20th, 2012 at 6:55 am
Hayley, you just need overripe bananas, not necessarily black. Usually, I deem them ready for baking when we are no longer willing to eat them. That generally means the bananas have a lot of black spots on them.
August 20th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Looking to make this soon, think I can use frozen bananas?
August 20th, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Danielle, I’ve never frozen bananas. If you froze them when they were overripe, my guess is you should be able to thaw them and use them for this cake.
August 28th, 2012 at 7:31 pm
My family LOVED this recipe! We didn’t find it too dense at all. Thanks so much for posting this new family favorite:)
September 5th, 2012 at 6:50 am
I have been thinking about this little cake since you posted it..I had too many over ripe bananas and froze them. Each time I open the freezer, there is my reminder to make the little cake. So today is the day!
For those in comments asking about frozen bananas, just freeze the overripe bananas in their skins and when you want to use them, simply place in a bowl or small dish to thaw, remove the skins and mash! Easy peasy!
Happy baking everyone!
September 5th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Made this today & it is amazing. I didn’t have three eggs so I substituted 1/4 cup applesauce for one egg, used vegetable oil instead of canola and added peanut butter to the frosting. It was delicious!!
September 13th, 2012 at 7:36 pm
I have a similar recipe for banana cake that came from better homes and gardens mag that has a browned butter frosting. it is out of this world!!! it just has butter browned in a skillet, powdered sugar, vanilla and a touch of cream. i dont know the exact recipes.
September 16th, 2012 at 9:21 am
can this be baked in a 9×13 pan without doubling ?
September 16th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Karen, a 9×13 is essentially twice the volume of an 8×8, so you’d need to double the recipe.
December 30th, 2012 at 1:20 pm
Using gluten free flours I converted this recipe for my husband. It was wonderful! Baked so nice! Even my mother who is sometimes skeptical to try try my gf goodies loved it! Thanks for a great recipe!
December 31st, 2012 at 9:44 pm
My daughter requested I make this recipe for her bday cake for tomorrow’s celebration. Very easy! Although, I used two 8 x 3.5 loaf pans instead of one 8 x 8 pan. Just added 5 more minutes at 300*. Perfect!!! Will check back tomorrow after we blow out the candles.
January 27th, 2013 at 2:49 pm
Im making this cake right now, and the edges of the cake are getting burnt while the center is still doughy.
February 8th, 2013 at 7:42 pm
Just made this today! I’m really not a big fan of banana bread, but this has a nice mix of banana flavour and cream cheese. About the cake being too dense, I added 1/4tsp of baking soda. It came out fine, although I think the outside bakes much more quickly than the inside. So the inside was a lot doughy and had to be baked at a lower temp for longer. It came out pretty good though. I used a bundt pan and drizzled it with frosting, walnuts and pecans.
Good recipe. I cut the confectioner’s sugar in frosting by half, though, was too sweet for me!
February 16th, 2013 at 12:56 pm
Just baked this today and…yummy! Swapped the oil for vanilla fat free greek yogurt and still very moist. I doubled the recipe to make a layer cake, I only had 6 large bananas, so I added a few extra tablespoons of yogurt and it still has very good banana flavor. I think Deej’s comments on the temperature or bundt pan are great as I had a small doughy center as well. Thanks!
February 18th, 2013 at 7:47 pm
Made this tonight, and while I think the flavor of the cake is awesome, it needs a little help. It is very dense, definitely not cake consistency, and the bottom and sides browned too quickly while the center remained gooey. I suggest a lower oven temp, but as for the density I’m at a loss. Also, I decreased the sugar in the icing to just a 1/2 cup, just a personal preference.
February 22nd, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Added 4T butter to the icing. Yummy! Thank you.
March 17th, 2013 at 9:34 pm
I had a friend and her children over this weekend and had many over ripe bananas so I went to my Pinterest board and decided to make this cake. My gosh it was sooo good. super easy to make. I followed to recipe to a T… almost I had to use egg substitute as my son is anaphalactic to eggs and tree nuts. It was very moist and had a light sweetness about it. The topper was the cream cheese icing. I will def make this again.
April 8th, 2013 at 8:55 pm
The cake was extremely dense. Followed the recipe to a tee. I will look for other recipes. Disappointed. Frosting was very tasty.
May 23rd, 2013 at 12:17 am
I would love to make this into a 9 inch round cake. Will the bake time need to be adjusted?
May 23rd, 2013 at 10:11 am
Hi, Jeannette! You shouldn’t have to adjust the baking time. The volume of the two pans is very comparable, so the cake should have the same thickness in either pan.