Soft, sweet, and loaded with ripe bananas, this is truly the best banana cake recipe ever! You’ll love the light and moist crumb and layers of homemade cream cheese frosting.
This decadent banana cake with cream cheese frosting reminds me a lot of a carrot cake, made with mashed bananas instead of carrots. The bananas add a lovely moist quality to the cake, while the buttermilk and eggs add richness while keeping the crumb fluffy. This is an easy layer cake that’s perfect for spring and summer, though it’s the type of dessert I bake all year. There’s the option to decorate the cake with toasted coconut for even more tropical flavor!
What Makes This Banana Layer Cake So Good?
- Keep it simple. First of all, there are only simple, wholesome ingredients here! It makes a difference when you bake with real butter, fresh lemon juice, and whole milk.
- Brown sugar. Second, this banana cake recipe calls for a mixture of both granulated and brown sugar. The added brown sugar adds moisture and depth of flavor, which pairs beautifully with the banana.
- Fluffy and moist. Even though the cake is rich, the texture stays soft and fluffy thanks to the buttermilk in the recipe.
Ingredients You’ll Need
These are the ingredients needed to make a dreamy, 3-layer banana cake with cream cheese frosting. For the full recipe with ingredient amounts, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Milk – Whole milk will give the best flavor, but 2% is also fine.
- Lemon Juice – You’ll mix lemon juice with the milk to make a homemade buttermilk substitute. Although bottled lemon juice is fine, freshly squeezed will give a brighter taste. If you don’t have lemon juice, substitute white vinegar instead.
- Butter – The butter should be softened at room temperature.
- Sugar – You’ll need light brown sugar as well as granulated sugar.
- Eggs – Use large, whole eggs for a good taste and texture.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract, or vanilla paste. Avoid imitation vanilla because, well, it’s imitation!
- Baking Soda – Not to be confused with baking powder, which isn’t the same thing.
- Flour – You can use all-purpose flour in this recipe.
- Bananas – Make sure the bananas are ripe. If you need to ripen the bananas faster, see the section below!
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese – Soften one block (8 ounces) of cream cheese to room temperature.
- Butter – The butter should also be at room temperature for easy beating.
- Powdered Sugar – Powdered sugar gives the frosting body and sweetness.
- Milk – You’ll need a couple of tablespoons of milk to thin the frosting to the right consistency.
Tips to Make the Best Banana Cake
Let’s get into the process of making this indulgent banana cake! There are basically three parts: the cake, the frosting, and the optional toasted coconut. Here are tips to follow for a perfect banana layer cake.
Choosing the Right Pan
I bake the banana cake batter in three 8-inch round cake pans for a three-tiered cake. Alternatively, you can use two 9-inch round pans for a two-layer cake. Coat the pans generously with non-stick baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds to ensure the cakes don’t become stuck.
How to Ripen Bananas Quickly
Like baking banana bread, this banana cake is a great way to use up spotty, overripe bananas. The riper the bananas, the more flavor the cake will have. If you’re short on time, here are three easy ways to speed up the ripening process.
- Countertop: Place the bananas in a brown paper bag with an apple, loosely close the top, and let them sit on the counter for 1-2 days.
- Microwave: Liberally poke holes in the banana peel with a fork on all sides. Then, microwave the banana for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until it’s dark and kind of mushy. It isn’t ideal, but it’s definitely worth doing in a pinch!
- Oven: Preheat your oven to 300°F. Place the whole, unpeeled bananas on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes, but check them at 15 minutes. Bake them until they start to brown and get soft.
Toast the Coconut Flakes
If you’re using toasted coconut, it’s easy to make! Just place the coconut in a nonstick skillet and heat over medium-low, stirring frequently. Watch the coconut carefully, because it burns easily. Once the coconut turns golden brown, remove it from the heat and cool it completely before using.
Leveling the Cake Layers for Frosting
If your cake layers have domed while baking, use a cake leveler or serrated knife to carefully trim the rounded tops from the cakes. This makes them nice and level for stacking. Your banana cake doesn’t have to be perfect; just add frosting between each layer as you stack the cake, and then frost all around the outsides. Finish it off with toasted coconut by pressing the coconut into the frosting gently.
Frosting Options
Cream cheese frosting offers a delicious sweet-tangy contrast with the banana flavor, but if you’d prefer, you can easily frost this cake with classic buttercream frosting or any of the following:
- Brown sugar frosting
- Chocolate buttercream frosting
- Heritage frosting
- Peanut butter frosting (from my banana cupcakes)
Recipe Variations
- Garnishes: Instead of toasted coconut, try toasted walnuts or pecans.
- Caramel banana: Drizzle caramel sauce in between cake layers and on top of the frosted cake.
- Chocolate chips: Fold chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips into the banana cake batter.
- Hummingbird cake: Hummingbird cake is a variation of banana layer cake filled with crushed pineapple and pecans.
How to Store
- Refrigerate. Store banana cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow the cake to come up to room temperature before serving.
- Freeze leftover slices. To keep the cake from drying out, press parchment paper or wax paper against the cut sides of each slice. Put the slices on a plate or cookie sheet in the freezer until the frosting is frozen solid, and then wrap the slices completely in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to two months, and thaw in the fridge or on the counter before serving.
More Banana Dessert Ideas
Banana Layer Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: serves 10 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This easy banana cake has soft, sweet layers filled with ripe mashed bananas and buttermilk, frosted with homemade cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3/4 cup butter, room temp
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3 cups flour
- 3 ripe medium bananas mashed, approximately 1 1/2 cups
For the Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1–2 tablespoons milk
- Optional: 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 325°F
- Coat 3 8-inch round cake pans or 2 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick spray. Cut parchment paper into rounds to fit into the bottoms of the pans. Place the parchment into each pan and coat again with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine the milk and lemon juice. Stir and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour and milk in alternating additions, beginning and ending with flour, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Finally mix in the bananas until just incorporated.
- Divide the batter evenly among the pans and bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans in the oven half-way through baking.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for 15-20 minutes and then remove from the pans and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the Frosting:
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and cream cheese together for 2 minutes until creamy. Turn mixer to low and add in the powdered sugar.
- Finally add in the vanilla and 1 tablespoon of milk.
- Turn the mixer up to medium and mix until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- If desired add in the remaining tablespoon of milk and mix until combined.
- Frost cake.
- If desired place the coconut in a nonstick skillet. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently. The coconut will begin to turn golden brown. Watch closely, as the coconut will burn quickly.
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow the coconut to cool completely.
- Garnish cake with the toasted coconut (if using).
Notes
- Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow the cake to come up to room temperature before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 837
- Sugar: 113.6 g
- Sodium: 387.4 mg
- Fat: 30 g
- Carbohydrates: 138.8 g
- Protein: 6.6 g
- Cholesterol: 117.8 mg
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I made this cake tonight and was disappointed that it tasted like a fluffy banana bread rather than a cake. With the title and description suggesting it was the best banana cake ever, I am dumbfounded why this doesn’t taste at all like cake.
Five star banana bread recipe. Two star cake recipe.
What’s the difference really? Banana bread never tastes like ‘bread’ it tastes like cake! Serious question!
I would love to bake this for an upcoming birthday party. My son has an egg allergy. What would you suggest I use as an egg substitute for this recipe?
use 1/4 cup applesauce for every egg 🙂
This is the BEST banana cake I have ever made. So moist. I made if for my dad for Father’s Day and it was a HUGH hit. I wish I could post a pic.. I topped mine with whole pecans.
Oh I bet that was delicious!!
Made this yesterday – it was a huge hit!
Awesome!! So glad you liked it!
My favorite part of this is where it says it serves 10… Maybe take away that zero and it would be about right. It looks amazing, I will have to try it.
Wow, I cooked this Banana Cake, and it is the very best. Sooooo yummy. I love these recipes. Thank you
Made this cake today for my birthday, and did not look like the picture. Followed the directions exactly. What went wrong?
How did it look? ANd more importantly how did it taste?
Can whole wheat flour be used in this recipe. Mom has to keep away from white and I don’t know if whole wheat would make it too dense.
I wouldn’t sub it out for whole wheat entirely… the taste and texture would be changed. I might sub half wheat flour. King Arthur Flour makes a white whole wheat flour that works great too!
this cake is some kinda good!!! I got 1 piece and the grand kids finished it before I could get another.
I made this yesterday and it was absolutely delicious. I can’t tell you how many compliments I got. It’s nice to have a quirky cake recipe like this (you can only do chocolate so many times) and the banana and cream cheese go together perfectly. Normally I’m averse to fruit in my desserts, and well banana cake seems a little old fashioned. So glad I took a chance! I’m saving this recipe in my arsenal for a potluck when I really want to blow away the competition. You’re a genius Shelly.
I am a sucker for old fashioned desserts 🙂 SO glad you liked it!!!