Remember that time I told you about the best banana cake I’ve ever had?
I enjoyed obsessed over it at a family reunion the other weekend. My cousin made it and I stalked her down like a dessert creep and proceeded to talk her ear off about cream cheese frosting and spotty bananas for 35 minutes straight.
What? You don’t do that at parties?
It was the moistest cake I’ve ever eaten. Stick-to-the-back of your fork moist. The perfect cream cheese frosting, both sweet and tangy, sinking into the top of the cake made it even moister. Sweet, but not overpowering. Mega banana flavor, certainly more banana flavor than any banana bread I’ve ever eaten. Very buttery and cakey from creaming the butter and sugars. Just a ridiculously rich, decadent dessert.
The banana cake was dense, but not heavy. If that makes any sense? (Coming from the lady who talks about rotting bananas at social gatherings, but stick with me here.) The crumb was very soft, but they were tight crumbs. The cake didn’t fall apart when you took a forkful.
She told me this cake comes out perfect every time she makes it. And such perfection is reinforced, she told me, when absolutely everyone who has a slice begs her for the recipe. It is, hands down, the best banana cake I’ve ever had.
And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
How to Make Banana Cake
The recipe starts with 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas, or about 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas (above). Now, make sure those bananas are nice and spotty. The bananas you see above are just right (and it’s what you want for banana bread, chocolate banana bread, and banana muffins, too). More brown spots = sweeter, more banana flavor. Your cake will thank you. I simply mash the bananas in my mixer—the same mixer I use for creaming the butter and sugars. Beat the bananas on high speed for a minute, then transfer to another bowl. I don’t even wash the mixing bowl—just throw the butter right in and start creaming!
Can I Use Frozen Bananas?
Yes and I do this often. Thaw the frozen bananas at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
Here’s the batter. There will be some lumps.
One more thing to note: buttermilk. As you guessed, buttermilk is the moist-maker in this cake. The cake wouldn’t be what it is without it! You also need the acid in buttermilk to help the baking soda do its job. I rarely have buttermilk in my refrigerator, so I always sour whole milk instead. For this recipe, you need 1 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk. If you don’t keep buttermilk on hand either, you can make this buttermilk substitute: measure 1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar. Pour into a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk until it reaches 1 and 1/2 cups. Stir together, let it sit for 5 minutes, then use in the recipe. To keep the cake extra rich, I recommend whole milk when you are souring milk.
Is this not the silkiest and smoothest cream cheese frosting you’ve ever seen? Well, it’s the silkiest and smoothest cream cheese frosting I’ve ever tasted! It’s pretty similar to our cream cheese frosting that we use for carrot cake, but there’s a little less cream cheese for the amount of butter. So, this makes the frosting a little more silky. And definitely more buttery!
There’s also a lot of cream cheese frosting. When you begin slathering it onto the cake, you’ll probably go “Sally, this is way too much frosting!” But it’s not. You want a nice thick layer. It’s essential.
If you love baking with brown butter, the brown butter cream cheese frosting from my zucchini cake would be fantastic here. If you are not into cream cheese frosting or just want to try something different, try it with traditional vanilla buttercream, this salted caramel frosting, or even white chocolate buttercream frosting instead. All are seriously delicious combinations!
The best banana cake I’ve ever had. We love it so much we turned it into a chocolate marble banana Bundt cake and banana cupcakes, too. And if you can’t get enough sheet cakes, you’ll want to try this fresh apple cake next!
Print
The Best Banana Cake I’ve Ever Had
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is absolutely the best banana cake I’ve ever had! It’s supremely moist with cream cheese frosting, tons of banana, brown sugar, and cinnamon flavor.
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large bananas)
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar, plus an extra 1/4 cup if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13-inch pan.
- Make the cake: Mash the bananas. I usually just use my mixer for this! Set mashed bananas aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy—about 1 minute. Add both sugars and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, then beat in the mashed bananas. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly thick and a few lumps is OK.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45–50 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. After about 45 minutes, I usually place it in the refrigerator to speed things up.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add the extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar (I add it). Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. This helps sets the frosting and makes cutting easier.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 6. Cover the cake tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature, make the frosting, frost, and serve. Frosted or unfrosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature, and then frost if needed and serve.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack | Icing Spatula
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY buttermilk substitute if needed. Add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough room temperature whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 and 1/2 cups. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Cupcakes: I’ve gotten a few questions about turning this cake into cupcakes. For about 2 dozen cupcakes, fill the cupcake liners halfway and bake for about 20-22 minutes. Same oven temperature.
- Can I Turn This into a Banana Bundt Cake? I recommend using my extremely similar recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake instead. (There’s a little extra baking powder for lift, which is helpful when baking in a large Bundt pan.) You can leave out the chocolate swirl in that recipe.
- Layer Cake: I use this recipe to make my banana layer cake. If you want to make a 2 layer cake, divide batter between 2 greased 9-inch cake pans, and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 26-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Just took cake out of oven can’t wait to frost it then give it the taste test
I do agree… best banana cake EVER! I followed exact with one different technique. Instead of slowly alternating buttermilk and dry mix I dumped them both in and folded the batter until barely mixed. I was scared to over mix from other reviews. Turned out wonderful! My son already has called this his next birthday cake.
This recipe is superb ..truly is best ever ..moist and not too sweet …frosting is delicious
Absolutely amazing! I made this gluten free with a gf flour from the grocery store and it turned out delightful! I am going to make it again this upcoming weekend. Everyone who tried it said it was to die for- and they couldn’t even tell it was gluten free!
Thank you for using grams. It’s so much easier to weight each ingredient then to dirt several measuring cups.
I tried this recipe with great expectations after reading how its suppose to be the best. I followed the directions exactly. I honestly was very disappointed. I found the icing was amazing and the cake had good flavor but the cakes texture was not good. It was more like a pound cake. It was quite dense and not very moist. The only thing I can think is that I overmixed it when I added the dry ingredients. I am confused as why we have to add the dry mixture 3 times. Does this not lead to overmixing. I NEVER retry a recipe but I will try this one more time and will just stir in the dry ingredients without using my mixer and hopefully this solves the problem. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Absolutely fabulous cake. Would have to be one of the best cakes I’ve ever made.
Made this cake and it’s amazing! Have made many cakes on my time and this is perfect , tasty, moist, great size and cooked beautifully
I’ve finally found a Banana Cake that rivals the one my mom used to make many many years ago. Thank you! It tastes exactly like the one I remember!
Ouughhh Perfect recipe once again! Loved it! For the butter milk, I used a home made Indian yogurt with 1 cup yogurt + 1/2 cup milk! and I substituted the butter for Margarine ( because it was all I had) – so I reduced the amount of salt to 1/4 rather than 1/2. I baked it in 9X 10″ square pan for 50 mins! So so soft and dense and wonderful!!! This website always gives me the perfect cake! lols
Absolutely the best banana cake I’ve ever made (or eaten)
I really loved this recipe! I had a banana bread recipe that I lost while moving and have been trying to replicate since. This cake, well, took the cake! Moist, with a fine crumb yet sturdy without being too dense. I reduced the cinnamon in half and replaced the other half by grinding one clove and one cardamom pod into powder and the remaining volume with ground nutmeg. I’d love to have a stronger banana flavor the next time I make this – if I were to add another 100 g banana, how should I adjust the sugars and liquids, if at all, to account for the extra sweetness and moisture? Thanks again!
Hi Vidya, we’re so glad you enjoyed this cake! Since it contains so much moisture, adding additional banana would require tweaking the other ingredients. It would take some recipe testing to get just right. Instead, you could try adding a splash of banana extract. Be sure you’re using ripe bananas as well for the best flavor. Thank you again for giving this recipe a try!
I want to begin by saying I absolutely love your recipes! So I was eager to try this one as well. I wanted so badly to love this cake. I have made the cake twice now, and while it has a good banana flavor to it, it comes out dry and too dense. I am no amateur, and I followed the directions to the letter. I did not overmix it, and watched the bake time carefully. But it still came out dry and heavy. I agree with what another poster said, I think cake flour would make for a more fluffier cake. I also found the cream cheese frosting rather overpowering and far too sweet. (The first time I just used store-bought.) It was disappointing. I’m sorry. But I won’t be making it again.
Turned out perfect! Thanks!
Do you use a glass baking dish or aluminum pan to bake it in?
Hi Jacque, We baked this in a glass pan but you can use aluminum with no changes.
I can’t make this work at high altitude. I’ve tried twice using the adjustments and when it comes out of the oven it looks perfect but it sinks in the middle when it’s cooled. It ends up very dense and doesn’t looked baked through. I have tested this with a cake tester and every time the tester comes out clean so it’s misleading as to when it’s done. Maybe it’s just not meant for high altitude (I’m at 5280). I’m so bummed. I’ve made many recipes from Sally’s Baking Addiction and once I do the adjustments they come out great. Just not this one.
Cake turned out moist, fluffy and delicious! Great recipe and easy to follow. The frosting is perfectly matched, paired with a cup of tea and coffee. Thanks you, looking forward to more recipes on this site. 🙂
I just made this with GF flour and it’s amazing! Thankyou for sharing your recipe. You have made so many people smile with delight as they tuck in. Looking forward to trying many more of your recipes. ❤️
Delicious banana cake, I have made this 4 times after being given a huge bag of bananas. My first one was heavy (but still delicious) but after re-reading the instructions and following them more carefully it worked out as described. I like to sprinkle pecan nuts over the top for some crunch as I really dislike sweet frosting (British palate so not such a sugar lover!)
My first time turned out pretty heavy too, and I followed the instructions. What do you think made the difference with your second try? I put walnuts on top as well!
My family and I enjoyed this recipe so much
Wonderful recipe!! Thank you so much.
I did 1 cup of almond flour and 2 of all purpose flour and it turned out amazing. The consistency is so perfect and moist.
Wondering about cutting this recipe in half? How to alter recipe?
Hi Joy, you can simply halve all the ingredients to make a smaller cake. To halve the 3 eggs, use 1 whole egg and then take the second egg, crack and whisk it, and then use half of the beaten egg.
Should I use SR flour or plain as there is baking powder in it
Hi Jacqui, we do not recommend self-rising flour in this recipe. All-purpose flour is best.
I followed the recipe and it looked great coming out of the oven but then the sides fell. What would the reason be for this?
Hi Maureen, usually when cakes fall, they’ve been underbaked. Did you test the cake with a toothpick? The cake would likely benefit from a few more minutes in the oven next time.
Great recipe. Great cake. Great frosting.
Thank you!
Done very quickly . Great cake but fyi mine was done in 20 minutes
Hi! Would this recipe work as a stacked cake if the form is a 25 x 26 x 7 heart shaped form? Or should i scale the measurements up? Thank you 🙂
Hi Sam, here is everything you need to know about cake pan sizes and conversions. Happy baking!
i use to follow ricardo’s recipe and find it too heavy / sticky at the bottom but today i came accross yours and its the best banana cake ever seriously. definetely dethrone my mother in law’s recipe thanks a lot
This banana cake was fabulous! I followed the directions to a T and was perfectly done after 45 minutes. I have good results with all your recipes.
Something is SERIOUSLY wrong with this recipe. I have made this cake twice and both times it was a complete disaster.
Both times I followed the instructions to the letter!
The first time I made it, the cake came out amazing, fluffy and golden. The knife came out dry when I tested it, but after leaving it to cool, the centre and base solidified into a raw dough.
So I thought I had taken it out the oven too soon.
A week later I tried it again. I covered it with tin foil after 50 minutes because the top was just perfect, then cooked it for another 1 hour!
Once again the knife test came out dry, and you could see by the way it “bounced” to tapping, that the cake was perfect and fluffy.
So I let it cool overnight, looking forward to some lovely cake for breakfast.
ALAS! It came out even worse! The Cake had completely solidified. There wasn’t a single inch that had retained the airy fluff of the night before.
I can only think of two things that might have caused this:
1. Not beating the batter enough did not allow enough air to get in there.
2. The recipe should specify the use of Baking Flour as opposed to All Purpose Flour, because the former contains less gluten and makes for fluffier and lighter cakes.
Either way, I’ve made plenty Banana cakes to know that the issue is in the recipe.
In my experience, Baking is a science, and if a person is following the instructions to the letter and the results vary, there is something wrong with the letter.
I have noticed that a few other people in the comments have had the same disappointing results as I have.
I think it that the right thing to do, is revisit this recipe and fix it, so that it works 100% of the time and not “some” of the time.
Some less fortunate souls could be on a time budget and not be able to bake a second one, or even have very ripe bananas sitting around to try again on the same day if they need the cake for a special occasion and the cake turned out a complete flop.
For me, it was straight to the bin both times. I was fooled twice 🙁
Could this be an issue with overmixing actually? On another banana cake recipe (different site), there was this note: Careful not to overmix the batter, or you’ll overdevelop the gluten, and you’ll end up with a tough cake. Haven’t actually tried this specific recipe but I’ve tried quite a few others on here, just a thought.
Hello Luca, the reason is over mixing! I just figured it out! I tried this recipe several times in the past year and ended up with a tough cake every time, some times better and some times worse(The centre and base all solidified). But it still tasted good and my daughter liked it a lot. So I continued making it, not understanding why that happened. Today I was in a hurry and used spatula to fold the flour and buttermilk in instead of mixing 6 times using stand mixer( three times for flour and three times for buttermilk). And it came out fluffy and super moist in the center and not tough anymore! I was so happy but not sure if my daughter would enjoy it. She is so used to the tough cake!
This is a really great recipe, thank you for sharing! I will definitely make it again. It was very moist and tasty!
The only change I did was I halved the frosting and did half the cake with the cream cheese frosting & half with maraschino cherry almond buttercream (which my grandmother always put on banana cake) 🙂
Seriously so good! The frosting is delicious!!!!!
I’m wondering what you think of powdered buttermilk, not only this recipe but others that require buttermilk. Also, really like recipes! As an older baker, you’ve taught me a few new tricks. Thank you !
Hi MK, we typically reach for regular buttermilk, but many bakers report using the powdered buttermilk with success. Simply follow the directions on the side of the box to create the amount needed for the recipe. Thanks so much for making and trusting our recipes!