Banana Cake

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This is just a great basic banana cake recipe. Un-iced I pop it into my kid's lunchboxes, but if I want to be a little fancier for guests, I add lemon cream cheese icing.

A square piece of banana cake sitting on a white plate.

Why This Recipe Works

  • Basic ingredients
  • A no fail recipe
  • Delicious!

Ingredients you will need

To make my banana cake you will need 2 bananas, 2 really ripe bananas, the squishier the better! After that, it's pantry basics: Flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, and milk.

The ingredients to make banana cake laid out on a bench top with text overlay.

Substitutes

I haven't tested this recipe with many alternative ingredients. The brown sugar can be substituted for white sugar or any granulated sugar.

I am an ambassador for Countdown supermarket, they support my blog by providing ingredients for recipe creation and testing. I used cinnamon and brown sugar from their range in this recipe.


Step by step instructions

Step one: Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius

Step two: Cream the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla

creamed butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer.

Step three: Add the eggs and beat

Step four: Stir through the mashed bananas (I do this on low speed with my stand mixer)

A glass bowl of mashed bananas being held above a stand mixer.

Step five: Heat the milk until piping hot, I do this in the microwave approx 20 seconds. Stir the baking soda into the milk, it will foam and increase in volume as the baking soda activates.

Step five: Add the baking soda and milk to the cake batter, stir through. (I do this on low speed with my stand mixer)

Step six: Add flour, baking powder, and cinnamon to the cake batter and stir through, I use a wooden spoon for this step.

Banana cake batter in a large white mixing jug with a pink spatula.

Step seven: Pour the banana cake batter into a lined cake tin. I like to use a large rectangular tin (it means I can cut squares of cake that will easily fit in my kids lunchboxes.)

Uncooked banana cake batter  in a baking paper lined rectangle cake tin.

Step eight: Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when pierced into the morning of the cake. My tin is 22cm x 26cm, you can use another size but baking time may vary a little.

A woman's hand holding a bamboo skewer above a cooked banana cake.

Top Tips

Here is how you can make this banana cake recipe perfectly every time!

  • Use Ripe Bananas: I can't emphasise this enough, your cake will be much nicer with the ripest of ripe brown spotty-skinned bananas.
  • Dissolve the baking soda entirely in the hot milk, if it doesn't dissolve and froth up you, otherwise you can end up with the horrible baking soda taste in your banana cake.
  • I use a square cake tin to make cutting it up into lunchbox sized pieces easier
  • Lemon Cream Cheese Icing: My favourite way to elevate banana cake is to top it with lemon cream cheese icing.

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

  • I start by beating 50g softened butter and 100g softened cream cheese
  • I then add a pinch of salt, 2 tablespoon of lemon juice and a cup of icing sugar, and beat well
  • Next I add one more cup of icing sugar and beat until you have a lovely smooth soft cream cheese icing.
A square piece of banana cake frosted with cream cheese icing sitting on a white plate.

This recipe uses up old bananas, if you are looking for other healthy banana-based recipes be sure to check out my healthy banana bread, my banana baby cookies, banana blueberry baked oats, banana baby muffins my banana chia pudding, and my vegan chocolate banana bread.

FAQs

How long does banana cake last?

An uniced banana cake will last for 3-4 days in an air-tight container on the bench.

How to store banana cake?

Store un-iced banana cake in an air-tight container on the bench. This cake can also be double wrapped in cling film and frozen for up to 3 month.

A square piece of banana cake frosted with cream cheese icing sitting on a white plate.

If you made my banana cake or any other recipes on the blog please :

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A square piece of banana cake frosted with cream cheese icing sitting on a white plate.

Banana Cake

A simple no-fail banana cake recipe that uses pantry basics. Made with brown sugar this cake is soft, moist and delicous with hints of caramel flavour.
Print Pin Rate
Course: Baking
Cuisine: New Zealand
Keyword: Banana Cake, Banana Cake Recipe, Easy Banana Cake, Banana Cake with lemon icing, Banana Cake NZ
Servings: 20 pieces
Calories: 87kcal

RATE THIS RECIPE

4.54 from 32 votes

Ingredients

  • 125 g butter
  • 125 g brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essense
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 banana (very ripe) 200g when peeled
  • 2 tablespoon milk 30ml
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 225 g flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius
  • Cream the butter, brown sugar and vanilla
  • Add the eggs and beat
  • Stir through the mashed bananas (I do this on low speed with my stand mixer)
  • Heat the milk until piping hot, I do this in the microwave approx 20 seconds. Stir the baking soda into the milk, it will foam and increase in volume as the baking soda activates.
  • Add the baking soda and milk to the cake batter, stir through. (I do this on low speed with my stand mixer)
  • Add flour, baking powder and cinnamon to the cake batter and stir through, I use a wooden spoon for this step.
  • Pour the banana cake batter into a lined cake tin. I like to use a large rectangular tin (it means I can cut squares of cake that will easily fit in my kids lunchboxes.)
  • Bake at 180 degrees celsisus for 35 minutes or until a skewer come out clean when pierced into the morning of the cake.

Notes

Tips

  • Use Ripe Bananas: I can't emphasise this enough, your cake will be much nicer with the ripest of ripe brown spotty-skinned bananas.
  • Dissolve the baking soda entirely in the hot milk, if it doesn't dissolve and froth up you, otherwise you can end up with the horrible baking soda taste in your banana cake.
  • I use a square cake tin to make cutting it up into lunchbox sized pieces easier
  • Lemon Cream Cheese Icing: My favourite way to elevate banana cake is to top it with lemon cream cheese icing.
  • Store your un-iced banana cake in an airtight container on the bench for up to 3-4 days, or wrap the cake well in cling film and freeze for up to 3 months.

Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

  • I start by beating 50g softened butter and 100g softened cream cheese
  • I then add a pinch of salt, 2 tablespoon of lemon juice and a cup of icing sugar, and beat well
  • Next I add one more cup of icing sugar and beat until you have a lovely smooth soft cream cheese icing.

Nutrition

Serving: 1piece | Calories: 87kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 113mg | Potassium: 80mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 44IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 43mg | Iron: 1mg

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3 Comments

    1. Bread flour and cake flour have different amounts of gluten, but to be fair in a cake like this with a lot of banana content either should be fine, it may be a little drier with bread flour.