Everyday Banana Cake

Fun fact about this banana cake: it was actually the toughest of all my ‘everyday cake’ series to create. I mean, it’s banana so it should’ve been so easy and straightforward right? I think my problem was I was trying to turn a banana bread recipe into a banana cake, rather than just working off of my existing everyday butter cakes. So, it took me a proper year to get it right, and, now that I have done, I really hope you all agree that it was all worth it. 

Recipe Origins 

Instead of working off a banana cake recipe or a banana bread recipe, I used my everyday pumpkin cake as a template for this one. In fact it is almost the same with some spice swap! I did however bring in cake flour because I found that using all purpose gave me a denser cake than I wanted; cake flour gave it an airier texture that felt more cake than bread. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Butter: unsalted butter, cold is fine. 

Cinnamon: ground cinnamon. Pumpkin spice would also be good here, as would cardamom. 

Salt & vanilla: fine sea salt and pure vanilla extract. If using table salt, halve the amount. 

Brown sugar: light or dark. It should be soft. 

Eggs: whole large eggs. 

Banana: overripe bananas, mine were a little bigger than medium but I’ve also tested this with large (hence the range given in the recipe). 

Cake flour: this is flour made from a softer wheat and is more finely milled than all purpose. It will give the cake more of a ‘cake’ texture as opposed to ‘banana bread’. If you need to, you can sub with all purpose, knowing the cake will be a bit more dense. 

Baking powder: to leaven the cake. Check that it’s fresh. 

Sour Cream: we need just a bit of this, it helps deepens the moisture of the cake. Can be subbed with yogurt if necessary.

How to make this Everyday Banana Cake 

Preheat the oven to 350 F and line an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper. 

Brown the butter: 

Add the cinnamon & let cool: 

Mash the banana 

Add the flavorings and sugar to the butter and whisk well: 

Crack in the eggs and whisk

Scrape in the mashed banana 

Sift in the cake flour & add the baking powder and sour cream, then stir: 

Spread the batter into the prepared pan

Bake until a cake tester comes out clean 

Once cool, make the topping by beating together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt until smooth. 

Spread over the cooled cake. 

Add-ins for the cake 

Nuts: chopped pecans, walnuts or even slivered almonds would be great here. I probably wouldn’t add more than half a cup. 

Chocolate chips: ⅔ of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, the mini chips would be really great here because they will distribute more evenly in the cake! 

Toppings for the cake 

Besides the cream cheese ‘frosting’ (I put that in quotations because my frosting doesn’t have butter!) you can also do: 

Cream cheese buttercream: for this you’d take out half of the cream cheese listed in the recipe below and add a stick of butter. Beat it first then add the cream cheese and proceed. You may need more powdered sugar to make it stiff. 

Cream cheese or vanilla glaze: 130g or 1 cup powdered sugar, whisked with 2-3 tablespoons milk or heavy cream, vanilla and a pinch of salt. If you want to add cream cheese, make sure it’s very soft at room temperature. 

Crispy sugar topping (the classic everyday cake topping!): sprinkle on some turbinado or organic granulated sugar before baking. This is my favorite topping for this cake! 

Streusel: because it’s a banana cake I feel like we can venture into ‘cake for breakfast’ territory and now we have an excuse to add yummy crumbs! There is a streusel recipe in these pumpkin muffins that I would make to add to the top of the cake before baking. 

Everyday Banana Cake Recipe

Everyday Banana Cake

Fluffy and moist brown butter banana cake made in one bowl and baked snacking-cake style.

Prep Time: 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Yields: 1 square cake

5 from 4 votes

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Ingredients

Banana Cake

• 226g or 1 cup butter unsalted, cold is fine
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¾ tsp fine sea salt
• 200g or 1 cup brown sugar light or dark
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 250-300g or 3 large bananas mashed
• 260g or or 2 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips optional
• 3 tablespoons coarse sugar for sprinkling on top (do this only if not planning to frost)

Optional: Cream Cheese Frosting

• 226g or one brick full fat cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 150g or 1 ⅓ cups powdered sugar sifted and preferably made with tapioca starch
• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
• ½ tsp fine sea salt

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line an 8 or 9 inch metal pan with parchment paper (this will make it easier to lift the cake out).
• In a skillet or frying pan add the butter and set it over medium heat. Cook until all the little bits at the bottom of the pan have turned a warm toasty brown and the butter smells nutty. Immediately transfer to a large bowl, scraping up all the brown bits. Add the cinnamon and whisk gently. Let the butter cool for 5-10 minutes.
• Set the eggs in a bowl of hot water if they aren’t at room temperature.
• Mash the bananas on a chopping board or plate and set aside.
• Into the bowl with the butter, add the salt, vanilla and sugar and whisk for about 30 seconds. Add the eggs and whisk very well, until the mix is thick and shiny.
• Scrape all the banana into the bowl and whisk well.
• Sift in the cake flour and add the baking powder. Add the sour cream and stir to just combine and there’s no visible flour bits. Don’t over mix this. If adding chocolate chips, stir them in now.
• Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. If not frosting the cake, sprinkle the top with coarse sugar.
• Bake the cake until a cake tester comes out clean or the top bounces back when pressed, about 30–40 minutes.
• If planning to frost, let the cake cool completely then make the frosting: add the cream cheese to a bowl and use the back of a wooden spoon or a spatula to press it into the bowl (this helps get rid of lumps). Add the sugar, vanilla and salt to the bowl and use a hand mixer to beat until smooth. Spread over the cake.
• Leftovers can be stored in the fridge (if frosted) or on the counter (if not frosted), in an airtight container.

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