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banana cake recipe with a bite taken out

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Recipe ByLaura Reigel
Servings :16 slices
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 2 hours

EQUIPMENT

INGREDIENTS

Banana Cake

  • 2 ½ cups cake flour
  • 3 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (affiliate link)
  • 3 medium bananas very ripe, peeled, and mashed
  • 1 cup sour cream room temperature
  • 3 tsp vanilla
  • 1 ½ cup sugar (affiliate link)
  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks) room temperature
  • 2 large eggs room temperature
  • 2 large egg yolks room temperature

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 16 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) room temperature
  • 4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 cups powdered sugar measured and then sifted
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt (affiliate link)
  • heavy cream to thin, if needed

INSTRUCTIONS

Get ready to bake

  • Position the oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 350°F degrees.
  • Grease and flour two round cake pans. I add a round of parchment paper to the bottom of each pan. I love the pre-cut parchment rounds.

Make the batter

  • Mash the bananas in another bowl. [I use a flat bottomed bowl and a potato masher.] Add the sour cream and the vanilla to mashed bananas. Mix well. Set aside.
    3 medium bananas, 1 cup sour cream, 3 tsp vanilla
  • Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Set aside.
    2 ½ cups cake flour, 3 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Beat the sugar and butter together in a large bowl using an electric mixer. Beat for at least 5 to 10 blended.
    1 ½ cup sugar, 1 cup butter
  • Add the eggs and egg yolks. Continue beating until well blended.
    2 large eggs, 2 large egg yolks
  • Alternately, add the mashed bananas and flour mixture to the wet mixture. Add half the bananas and half the flour and mix until everything is incorporated. Then, add the remaining banana and flour. Mix again. Do not overmix.

Bake

  • Pour half of the batter into each prepared pan. (I use a food scale to measure).
  • Bake for 35 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The internal temperature of the cake should be about 200°F (93℃).
    Oven temperatures can vary greatly. For best results, use a probe thermometer.

Cool the cake

  • Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes and flip onto a wire rack. Before frosting, allow the cake to cool on a wire baking rack for several hours.

Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together using an electric mixer.
    16 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup unsalted butter, 4 teaspoon vanilla
  • Add the salt, and then the sifted powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
    3 cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Beat until smooth after each addition. Add a little heavy cream to think the frosting, if needed
    heavy cream

RECIPE TIPS

  • Dry Ingredients: Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. I've used both all-purpose flour and cake flour in this recipe. I didn't notice a significant difference either way. The cake is moist and fluffy, using either type of flour.
  • Sugar: I use granulated white sugar in this cake recipe.
  • Butter and Eggs: Make sure the butter and eggs are room temperature. I always use unsalted butter when baking.
  • Bananas: 3 very ripe bananas (about 1 generous cup). The blacker, the better. Overripe bananas have a lot of sugar and give this cake its sweet banana flavor. You will want to peel and mash the bananas with a fork or a potato masher. Add the vanilla to the banana and mix.
  • Sour Cream: Sour cream is the key to getting a light, fluffy crumb in this cake. Sour cream has a perfect balance of acidity and fat. The acidity helps to bolster the performance of the baking soda. The fat and acid help to inhibit gluten formation in the flour, so the cake crumb remains tender and moist.
  • Other: Vanilla and Salt
Note about the cream cheese frosting:
  • This makes a ton of frosting.
  • I used probably only 75% of it for the cake in the photos. 
  • There is extra if you want to do any piping or decoration, which many of my readers have done. 
  • If you make this cake as a sheet cake, only make one-half of the frosting. 
  • Too thin: Add more powdered sugar if the frosting is too thin. Add a few tablespoons at a time. 
  • Too thick: If the frosting is too thick, add heavy cream to thin. Add one tablespoon at a time. 
Nutritional Info:
Assumes 75% of the frosting was used. 
PRO-TIP:
Are your bananas too green? Ripen them in the oven. Five minutes at 350℉ degrees blackens them right up. 
Piña Colada Filling (optional)
  • 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
  • optional: a few tablespoons of coconut cream (I like Kara's brand)
  • 1 small can of crushed pineapple, drained (you'll use 1/3 to 1/2 cup of crushed pineapple.)
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup of shredded coconut
  • 1/2 teaspoon of coconut extract. I usually use coconut extract paste. You can adjust this to taste.
  1. Whip the heaving cream until it is nice and fluffy. You want it to be a little bit on the stiff side.
  2. Fold in the remaining ingredients.
  3. I don't ever add extra sweetener. But if you wanted the filling a little bit sweeter, you could add a few teaspoons of brown sugar.

NUTRITION

Serving: 1 slice | Calories: 521kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 131mg | Sodium: 483mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 37g | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 1mg