This is, hands down, the BEST banana cake I’ve ever had. It’s soft, moist and rich all at the same time! Once cooled this cake is topped with a totally irresistible lemon cream cheese frosting for a perfect dessert your family will love.
I love a good banana cake, it just reminds me of being a kid because my Grandpa and Grandma made the BEST banana cupcakes. I can still smell them baking in my grandma’s kitchen, waiting impatiently with my sisters.
This cake is reminiscent of my favorite banana cupcakes. It is soft and fluffy and incredibly moist and topped with my favorite ever lemony cream cheese frosting.
As much as I love a fluffy banana cake, I love it even more when it’s topped with an amazing cream cheese frosting! I add in a little bit of lemon zest and lemon juice for extra flavor in my cream cheese frosting but if you prefer, you can leave out the lemon and substitute vanilla.
Regardless of how you top it, once you try this cake, it’ll be your go-to. Every time you have overripe bananas on the counter you’ll want to make this recipe! In fact, I often buy extra bananas to ripen and make this cake!
Tips to ensure a soft moist result:
- Ensure your ingredients are at room temperature (eggs and butter)
- You need the acidity from the lemon juice (& milk) mixture. Subbing in just milk or cream won’t work. (You can use buttermilk in its place if needed).
- When mixing your butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla, beat the mixture until VERY fluffy, almost the consistency of a fluffy buttercream frosting. This should take about 5 minutes.
- When adding the flour mixture you want to mix until just combined. Over-mixing will cause a dense chewy result.
- The cooking time on this cake can vary! Check your cake at 55 minutes, if it isn’t ready, continue cooking until a toothpick comes out clean (this can be up to an additional 20 minutes depending on your oven). The result will be a moist and irresistible banana cake.
Happy Baking!
The Best Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice divided
- 1 ⅓ cup mashed bananas
- ⅔ cup butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
FROSTING
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 3-3 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
- Place 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice in a measuring cup. Top to 1 ½ cups with milk. Set aside.
- Mix together mashed banana with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, set aside.
- Beat together butter, brown and white sugar until combined. Add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Mix on high until light and fluffy (almost the texture of frosting).
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to egg mixture stirring just until combined. (Do not overmix). Fold in bananas. Pour into prepared pan.
- Put into the oven and reduce heat to 300°F. Bake 60 – 70 minutes (see note below) or just until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not over bake).
- Remove from oven and place in the freezer for 45 minutes to make the cake extra moist. Cool completely before frosting.
FROSTING
- Cream together butter & cream cheese until fluffy. Add in lemon zest and juice.
- Add powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach desired consistency. Spread over cooled cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This recipe has been retested and updated 11/20/16.
Very slightly adapted from food.com
I baked in glass pan- now I am afraid to put in freezer( exploding pan syndrome?) So cooling a little then will put in. I just thought about that after the fact.
Anyone do in glass pan? (Looks beautiful by the way!!!) smells so good.
You can definitely let the pan cool before popping it in the freezer, Deb!
My “first” banana cake attempt and it is DELICIOUS!!! Moist, tender, and perfect sweetness!!! Wow!!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!
This cake is AWESOME!! It is the best banana cake I’ve ever make or tasted! I did put it in the freezer. I also measured the flour on a scale! Thanks for the recipe!!
With 5 cups of sugar it was way to sweet! Tasted more like a Italian Cream Cake to us.
Do you wrap the pan at all before putting in the freezer or do you just put the hot pan straight into the freezer?
I put it directly into the freezer, but you can cool it for a little bit first if you prefer. But covering it is not required.
This cake is definitely moist and soft. Ever since i bumped into that recipe a while ago, o haven’t look for another recipe. Every time i make it, people request more. At times i don’t even get a piece for myself.. Many have also brought their banana so i can make for them.. THIS IS THE BEST BANANA CAKE RECIPE I KNOW! Thank you for sharing your recipe with us.
I’ve had bariatric surgery so I don’t get to eat much of goodies like this, but I love to bake and had some bananas I needed to use. Recipe was easy and made plenty to share with 2 neighbors (one who has cancer and loves the sweets I bake for her) and my adult kids who are great cooks and bakers themselves. Son said cake was “pretty dang good!” High praise from him! It was delicious, flavorful and so moist. I baked it in Pyrex, so was unable to put in freezer after baking, but didn’t seem to matter. Lemon zest and juice gave cream cheese frosting a nice departure from the usual frostings. I’ll definitely keep this recipe on hand to make again!
I have made this in the past and it was delicious. Now I am wondering if the dough can be distributed into 2 8 inch cake pans?
I haven’t tried making this recipe in a round cake pan but others readers have had great results. I would check the cake around 30 minutes into baking for doneness and gauge the cooking time from there. We would love to hear how it turns out for you.
I don’t have a lemon. Will the recipe be effected if I skip adding the lemon juice to the cake?
The lemon juice with the milk creates a soured milk, so the cake would be affected if you left it out. You could replace with vinegar to make sour milk or replace the milk with buttermilk. I hope this helps Jean!
This cake came out dry and gummy. There was no spice at all. The frosting tasted too much like butter and cream cheese flavors and not like other cream cheese icings I have made. I was careful to follow the recipe. It made me wonder where you’re located, and maybe it may have to do with the bake of the cake.
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this recipe as much as we do Krys. Thank you for trying it.
I never leave reviews, but I made this cake (and I am a terrible baker) and it was fantastic! I shared with neighbors and they went out of their way to tell me how fantastic it was! Saving this recipe and making again and again! Thank you!!
Hi, if using frozen bananas, would you suggest reducing some of the milk? The bananas produce a lot of liquid as they thaw.
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Martha, but I would not reduce the milk. You can lightly drain the thawed bananas and they should work just fine! If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
Hi.
I just finished baking this cake, (sampled it right away).. OMG it is soooo good.
I just have one question and I might have missed the info.. How should I store it?
I usually store it in the refrigerator and try to leave it at room temp at least 30 min before serving. Enjoy Lisa!
This banana cake is delicious I also added a cup of crushed walnuts
This cake is delicious and deserves 5 stars. I added 1 cup of crushed walnut
The banana cake with lemon frosting was a hit! The cake was moist and delicious; the frosting, with a hint of lemon, was yummy enough to eat with a spoon (and my husband did!). Since we can’t finish a larger cake, i baked two in 8×8″ pans. One is being enjoyed as I write this, and the other one is in the freezer. This recipe is a keeper and will be baked many more times to come!