So a couple of years ago when Sara and I were doing Time Out for Women, we got to be good friends with so many of the other presenters and behind-the-scenes people, especially the ones we were frequently traveling with. We kept hearing about Brooke Stone’s legendary banana cake, who sings in a group called Mercy River.
So after a couple of years of all the banana cake talk, I awkwardly requested the banana cake recipe. Turns out Sara did the same thing, so it’s good we’re on the same page here.
It was everything I was hoping for in a banana cake–light and fluffy and moist and banana-y. I topped it with cream cheese frosting, but the whole time, I was wishing I had frosted half of it in the brown butter frosting from this snack cake. I like options.
That said, according to Sara and the instructions, this cake is heavy and dense like banana bread. That wasn’t my experience at all–it was like the lightest, fluffiest, moistest cake in the world. And I liked it that way, so I’m gonna roll with it. I’m going to try and re-create every little thing I did to (unintentionally) procure the moistest and fluffiest cake in all the land.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Salted butter – Always use real butter if you can. If you must substitute, try to find something that matches the fat content, saltiness, and texture of butter as closely as possible.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs – Room temp is best to create a cohesive batter.
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have buttermilk, mix 1 1/2 cups milk with 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar and allow to sit for a few minutes to thicken before adding to the recipe. This adds back the acidity and viscosity you’d be missing if you swapped the buttermilk for straight milk.
- Lemon juice
- Mashed banana – You want your bananas nice and ripe. Look for large brown spots beginning to form on the peel.
How to Make Banana Cake
- You’ll start by creaming butter and sugar, then follow a pretty standard protocol for cakes, adding the eggs one at a time until well mixed, and then alternating wet and dry ingredients until everything just comes together. It’s important not to overmix this batter!
- Then you’ll add your bananas and transfer the cake mix to a prepared pan to bake. The baking time is pretty wide here, so you’ll have to check for doneness with a toothpick and remove the cake from the oven when the toothpick comes out clean.
- You’ll let that cake cool all the way and then top with your choice of frosting: cream cheese or brown butter. You really can’t go wrong with either one!
Storing and Other Tips
- If frosted with cream cheese frosting, you’ll want to cover the cake tightly with plastic and store in the refrigerator. Enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- If frosted with brown butter frosting you could leave this cake out, covered, at room temperature and enjoy within 2-3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure! If you’d like to plan ahead, make your cake a day ahead of time and cover tightly with plastic once cooled. Store at room temperature and then frost when ready to serve for best results.
This cake freezes best unfrosted. Wrap individual pieces tightly in plastic wrap and then foil. Place pieces in a zip top bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese or Brown Butter Frosting {You Pick!}
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- ¾ cup salted butter softened to room temperature
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour very lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ cups mashed banana about 3 medium bananas
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 8- ounce packages cream cheese light works fine, although it will yield a slightly softer frosting at almost room temperature
- ½ cup salted butter at almost room temperature
- 2 cups sifted powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract or both
Brown Butter Frosting
- ½ cup butter salted
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ heavy cream plus more if necessary, just enough to reach desired consistency
Instructions
Banana Cake
- Grease a 9×13″ baking pan and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- In a small bowl, mix banana and lemon juice. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix flour and baking soda.
- In large bowl, mix butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Add ½ flour mixture, followed by ½ the buttermilk. Mix until just incorporated, then repeat with remaining flour mixture and buttermilk. Add bananas. Do not overmix.
- Pour into prepared 9×13 pan, and bake for 35-50 minutes (mine was perfect right at 38, but my oven bakes fast), or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost with cream cheese frosting or brown butter frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Whip together the cream cheese, butter, and extract until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and whip until smooth and fully incorporated. Refrigerate any leftovers (or anything you’ve frosted that doesn’t get eaten immediately).
Brown Butter Frosting
- While the cake is cooling, place ½ cup of salted butter into a small saucepan and heat over medium, stirring frequently, until it starts to bubble. When it begins to bubble, reduce the heat to low. Don’t go anywhere–things can go south quickly.
- Once the butter becomes very frothy, you’ll start to notice a caramel-like smell–that means the butter is browning. When the butter is brown (and before it burns), remove it from heat.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine ¼ cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, the powdered sugar, and the melted butter and mix on high speed with a stand or electric mixer. Add additional heavy cream in order to reach the desired consistency.
- When the cake is completely cool, spread the frosting over the cake and cut into squares.
Notes
- If frosted with cream cheese frosting, you’ll want to cover the cake tightly with plastic and store in the refrigerator. Enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- If frosted with brown butter frosting you could leave this cake out, covered, at room temperature and enjoy within 2-3 days.
Questions & Reviews
ok, I went back and read the recipe again, because my cake turned out like a cross between gum and a wet sponge. I think the part where it says “don”t overmix!” might be important! But the flavor was amazing. Loved the lemon. Can’t wait to try this again.
ok, I went back and tried this again…and again…and again. It turned out wonderfully light and delicious after that first mess-up. My main problem is catching the bananas at the right ripeness. They’re either green, or the creature from the black lagoon.
My family has this recipe (minus the lemon juice). What we like to do is poke it full of holes when it’s warm and pour a powdered sugar glaze over it. Definitely want to try with the brown butter frosting!
Yes, ditto Brooke. I stole it off a public Facebook convo where I saw Brooke give it to Cheri!
I LOVE that you posted this!! But it was actually the other way around–I gave it to Cherie…she hates cooked bananas.. 😉 And it is rather dense for me too, but that’s one of the things I love most about it! I am DEFINITELY going to try that browned butter frosting stat. Also have you tried it cold yet? Heaven help me. Thanks for sharing the love!
I don’t know why I thought it was the other way around! I’m so sorry! I’m a jerk. I fixed it. 🙂
So glad you posted this! My soon to be 5 yr old daughter requested a banana cake with pink strawberry frosting and My Little Ponies on it. I was afraid I’d end up with something like banana bread. You saved me a ton of trouble! Woohoo! Can’t wait to make this in a couple days!
Thanks so much for sharing! This sounds delicious!
I pinned to my dessert board.
I love love love the comment of why Becky would rather call it snack cake. She made me laugh! I am going to have to still that concept! I am going to have to try this and see what side of the light or heavy side my rendering produces. I would be happy with either, but it would be more fun to have light a fluffy, because there are banana bread consistency recipes galore.
Looks delicious! The recipe I use from Allrecipes is almost identical to this (not quite as much vanilla and lemon juice) but you cook the cake at 275 degrees for 1+ hour and then immediately place the cake in the freezer for 45 minutes. It is moist and delicious every.single.time. Those who find the cake dry or dense and heavy like banana bread may want to use this method.
This looks delicious!
Plus, I like it when a cake is called a “snack cake,” because I feel like I can justify eating it more regularly as a snack and not leave it in the Dessert Only category 🙂
You’ve joined the banana cake bandwagon! It’s funny yours turned out light fluffy, the one my friend makes is basically banana bread with frosting. So good, either way.