Easy Homemade Banana Cake Recipe
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Growing up I was familiar with banana bread. It was a special treat that we would get whenever my Grandma had overripe bananas sitting on the counter. However, it wasn’t until I was in college that I learned what banana cake was, and now it’s become a special dessert that my family looks forward to whenever we have overripe bananas sitting on our counter.
How banana cake came about
When I was in college, I worked in a group home for children. We were responsible for teaching them life skills and helping them with the day to day responsibilities of life. One of those life skills that we helped them with was cooking.
One of the kids that I worked with adored helping out in the kitchen. He also adored bananas. And sometimes during the summer when the kids weren’t in school, the days would seem so long.
One hot summer day, we discovered that there were bananas sitting on the counter that were about to go bad. With nothing to do that day, the other staff members and I decided to gather the kids and try to make something with them. We all agreed that we didn’t want bread. We knew that the kids loved cake, so we figured we didn’t have anything to lose and would combine our knowledge and try our hands at a banana cake. The result was to die for!
How to make it
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Cream together 1 3/4 cups sugar with 1/2 cup of softened butter. I used salted butter, but it’s good with unsalted butter too.
When the mixture is light and fluffy, add 2 eggs and continue beating until smooth.
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda into 1/2 cup of buttermilk. Stir into the batter.
Add 1 cup mashed bananas.
Then add 2 1/4 cups sifted flour. If you have cake flour, it works perfectly. But all purpose flour works well too.
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Mix well, and pour into a greased 9×13 inch pan.
Bake for 30-45 minutes or until done. Then cool.
To make the cream cheese icing
Warning: This icing is so stinking good that I could eat it straight from the bowl without the cake. You’ve been warned. You’re welcome!
Beat 1 package of softened cream cheese with 1/4 cup of butter (Again, I use salted, but it tastes great with unsalted butter.), 2-3 tablespoons of milk, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until smooth.
Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, on low speed until smooth and spreadable.
Spread on cooled cake. Keep refrigerated since it has cream cheese in the icing.
Enjoy! I like mine with an ice cold glass of milk on hot days. But it’s also great with coffee for breakfast. It’s got bananas in it, that counts as a fruit, right?!
Easy Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup mashed bananas
- 2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- ¼ cup butter, softened
- 2-3 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
- Cream together sugar & butter.
- When mixture is light and fluffy, add eggs and continue beating until smooth.
- Dissolve baking soda in buttermilk.
- Stir into batter.
- Add mashed bananas, cake flour, & vanilla.
- Mix well.
- Pour into greased 9×13 inch pan.
- Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
For the cream cheese frosting
- Beat cream cheese, butter, milk, and vanilla in medium bowl on low speed until smooth.
- Gradually beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, on low speed until smooth and spreadable.
- Spread over cooled cake.
- Refrigerate the cake.
Notes
I was looking for a way to use up some old bananas that was NOT banana bread (I don’t like it). This cake bakes up light and fluffy, so delicious! My new go-to recipe for old bananas.
Yay! So glad you loved it, Christina!
I love Banana cake but never had this with cream cheese icing. I cannot wait to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, Marita! I’d love to know how it turns out for you.
I love banana cakes and this one looks amazing!!!
Thanks, Inga! It’s one of my favorites!
Yum! This sounds amazing! I also love that you worked in a group home. I am a counselor for teens and many of them come from or currently live in group homes. They can be a challenging population at times but also so bring so much joy and fun!
It’s soooooo good, Leah! Oh my goodness! You are so right about the joy and fun that they bring! I have such good memories of those kiddos to this day!
Oh, it looks so yummy with the cheese frosting! A simple, straightforward recipe with a nice story behind it:)
Thanks, Mihaela! It’s one of my favorites!
Sounds delicious . The recipe for the cake part is very similar to a banana bread recipe that I make. I never thought of making it into a cake with cream cheese frosting. Yum!
Once you do, you’ll never look back.
This is probably one my favorite kind of cake! Looks amazing.
Mine too, Gregory!