This Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting is my ideal cake recipe. It’s soft, fluffy, moist – and it’s a classic flavor combination that I personally love!
Going bananas over this dessert? Try my Bananas Foster Layer Cake next!
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
So this past Saturday was the hubs’ birthday. Our birthdays are super close together; I’m Christmas, he’s January 9th. And, to make it even crazier, my younger brother is January 5th. We get no break after Christmas. The gift-giving just keeps on going and so do the delightful meals!
I sure wish I had been with my fam when they had my brother’s birthday dinner last weekend – fresh lobster! But if I couldn’t have that, it’s a good thing we were at my favorite place, a place we’d gone to two weeks earlier for my birthday, The Melting Pot.
Oh my heavens. Best. Place. Ever. We both love it. It’s dinner and an experience all in one. Dinner took 3 hours. Never before have I been ok with dinner taking 3 hours. That place is an exception.
Plus, I had a victory and it was sweet – pun intended!
The last course of the meal is always melted chocolate with all the cake, fruit, etc., that you can dip into it. For the longest time we’d always get milk chocolate with Baileys, and that’s definitely still one of our faves. However, I love me some white chocolate, bananas and cinnamon. They have a bananas foster white chocolate that I love, but the hubs is always all, “I don’t really love white chocolate.” 🙁
So we’ve had it before, but it’s not a regular thing for that reason.
However! We had it for my birthday a couple weeks ago and for some reason the hubs fell in love with it this time. So much so that he picked it for his birthday! Sweet, sweet victory! I’ve converted him! Bananas and white chocolate for all!!
Seriously though, we are banana lovers, so this cake was obviously something we could agree on.
Plus, I’m kinda digging the 9×13 cake. You know I love a good, beautiful layered cake, but this baby was so easy to make and much quicker. Not gonna lie – that’s pretty nice sometimes. Plus, with it being a single layer it feels so much more snack appropriate. Even breakfast appropriate. I mean, hello banana bread.
I know, I know. You’re like, “Lindsay, I’m on a diet.” New Year’s Resolutions and all. Well lucky for us, I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions. I believe in cake, in moderation, of course. 🙂
How to Make The Best Banana Cake
So like I said, this cake is pretty easy to make. It uses the traditional creaming method, which adds air and fluffiness to the cake. Don’t shortchange the creaming time!
Next you’ll add some vanilla and sour cream. I love the flavor sour cream gives, plus it’s moisture city.
Then the eggs. Best to add them in a couple batches so they incorporate better. Next comes adding the dry ingredients and remaining wet ingredients alternatively. This helps prevent the batter from curdling. Important stuff.
Then bake, cool, frost. You will love this cream cheese frosting. Best stuff ever!
Who’s ready for a snack cake?!
More Banana Dessert Recipes
- Easy Banana Bread
- Bananas Foster Cheesecake
- Banana Cream Cheesecake
- Banana Pudding Icebox Cake
- Moist and Chewy Banana Oatmeal Cookies
- Bananas Foster Layer Cake
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
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Ingredients
BANANA CAKE
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 medium sized bananas)
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 8 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
- 3/4 cup butter (room temperature)
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp water
- Banana chips
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13 cake pan and preheat oven to 350℉.
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add vanilla, sour cream and vegetable oil and mix until well combined.
- Add eggs and egg white in two batches, mixing until well combined.
- Combine dry ingredients in another bowl.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until well combined.
- Add the mashed bananas and mix until well combined.
- Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
- Pour batter into cake pan and bake 34-36 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.
- Allow cake to cool completely.
- To make frosting, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
- Add vanilla extract and water and beat until smooth.
- Add remaining powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
- Frost the cake with the cream cheese frosting.
- Use a piping bag and tip (I used Ateco 844) to pipe swirls around the outer edge of the cake and garnish with banana chips.
Nutrition
The nutrition facts provided are calculated using a third-party tool and are estimates only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on the ingredients and brands you use, as well as portion sizes. For accurate results, please consult a registered dietitian or nutritionist.
Enjoy!
Can I use cake flour?
You could try it. I haven’t personally and I generally prefer all purpose.
I’m keen to make this recipe again, but need to make it in advance. Do you think it would freeze OK (pre-frosting)?
hi ! ive tried your recipe and its fabulous! so soft and delicious. not dry at all.
but can i substitute sour cream with yoghurt instead ? as our country is running out of sour cream.
if yes , should i use greek yoghurt or just plain yoghurt ? what are the measurements.
thank you !!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yogurt should be fine. I’d use Greek yogurt.
Hi Lindsay. Do you cool this cake in the pan or turn it out onto a rack to cool? Thank you.
I turn it out onto a rack to cool.
Hello, Have you tried making this with a good Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream?
I haven’t tried it, but you could. It should be ok.
Hi can the sugar in the cake be left out or even reduced? This looks like the most delicious banana cake recipe I’ve seen can’t wait to make this.
Reducing the sugar can change the texture and moisture of the cake. I wouldn’t recommend it, but you could try it and see what you think.
Would this be enough batter to do 3 layers for a 6 inch pan that is 2 inches tall? I’d probably have to double it right?
It’s enough batter to make a three layer 8 inch cake that looks like this. If you make 6 inch cakes, it’ll be a very tall cake. You may actually want to reduce the batter a bit.
Another simple, yet fantastic recipe! I had ripe (ok, VERY ripe) bananas at home, and I hate throwing food away. Decided to see if I could find something here, and jackpot! The cake was absolutely delicious!! So light and fluffy, moist, and yet the flavor was so great! I took some to work, and everyone was raving. I told them about your blog 🙂
The only changes I made were that I added 4 bananas (had to use them up!), realised I didn’t have sour cream, so I added buttermilk (a little over a cup to compensate for the extra bananas), and added some chopped walnuts to the cake and threw some on top of the cream cheese too. This one is a winner. Simple, yet so flavorful. Needless to say, I will be making it again! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipes with us!
P.S. – Looking for some inspiration for a Thanksgiving cake. Any suggestions? 🙂
Greetings from Germany!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them – thanks for sharing the blog with everyone! Here are a few recent cakes that would be great for Thanksgiving – Browned Butter Pecan Layer Cake, Pumpkin Tiramisu Layer Cake, Caramel Apple Pecan Layer Cake. If none of those do it for you, there are lots of options here.
How do you think it would as cupcakes?
Yes, it should be fine as cupcakes. I’d fill the liners about half way and bake for 18-20 minutes.
This looks so good! My whole family loves banana bread so I am sure this would be a hit for my family.
Hi! I’ve never seen a banana cake that looks this good 🙂 What did you sprinkle on top of the cake?
Thanks Alma! It’s toffee bits.
Another gorgeous cake! I have to make this one, soon. You do such beautiful work, Lindsay!
A quick question…is there a way to put the comments area diectly following each recipe? It took me a while to even notice there was a place for comments to be posted.
There isn’t much better than a yummy banana cake and some deep cream cheese frosting. This is making me hungry at 8 am! Yum!!
We go to the Melting Pot every year on my birthday. And we got engaged there! I kid you not, Lindsay. That’s how much I love it there. They have this salad (the California salad) with raspberry dressing that I could suck up with a straw. And the dessert dippers…I could really go on forever. Really.
Banana cake is the best, and I love how your sheet cakes are just as gorgeously decorated as your layer cakes!