Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line with rounds of parchment paper.
Place all of the cake ingredients in the order listed into a large bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined. Divide batter between the prepared cake pans, smoothing the batter out evenly.
Transfer to oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes away clean. Remove from oven and cool completely in pans on wire rack.
For the frosting:
Place a medium-sized stainless steel bowl over a pot containing about 1-inch of simmering water.
Add the sugar, salt and water to the bowl and stir to dissolve. Add the egg whites and whisk to combine. Keep whisking until the mixture warms and becomes frothy.
Exchange whisk for a hand mixer. Beat mixture on high for 6 minutes until the frosting is very light and fluffy and holds stiff peaks.
Remove from heat and beat for an additional minute to cool.
Assemble:
Wait until the cake is completely cool before frosting. For a more professional cake, remove the domes from the tops of the cake layers with a cake leveller or large serrated knife. Add dollop of frosting to centre of serving plate and place one layer of cake on top. Spread about 1 cup of the frosting on top in an even layer. Add slices of banana in an even layer. Add top layer of cake and frost the entire cake. An offset spatula makes it really easy to get an even layer.
Sprinkle top of cake with 1/4 cup of toasted chopped pecans. Slice cake into generous wedges and serve as is.
Easy Banana Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs, room temperature, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
¼ cup sour cream
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
Seven-minute frosting:
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 egg whites
To decorate cake:
1 banana, sliced
¼ cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
Directions
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line with rounds of parchment paper.
Place all of the cake ingredients in the order listed into a large bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined. Divide batter between the prepared cake pans, smoothing the batter out evenly.
Transfer to oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes away clean. Remove from oven and cool completely in pans on wire rack.
For the frosting:
Place a medium-sized stainless steel bowl over a pot containing about 1-inch of simmering water.
Add the sugar, salt and water to the bowl and stir to dissolve. Add the egg whites and whisk to combine. Keep whisking until the mixture warms and becomes frothy.
Exchange whisk for a hand mixer. Beat mixture on high for 6 minutes until the frosting is very light and fluffy and holds stiff peaks.
Remove from heat and beat for an additional minute to cool.
Assemble:
Wait until the cake is completely cool before frosting. For a more professional cake, remove the domes from the tops of the cake layers with a cake leveller or large serrated knife. Add dollop of frosting to centre of serving plate and place one layer of cake on top. Spread about 1 cup of the frosting on top in an even layer. Add slices of banana in an even layer. Add top layer of cake and frost the entire cake. An offset spatula makes it really easy to get an even layer.
Sprinkle top of cake with 1/4 cup of toasted chopped pecans. Slice cake into generous wedges and serve as is.
Easy Banana Cake
5 / 5. 1
A luscious banana cake studded with toasted pecans and layered with our billowy seven-minute frosting…
This EASY BANANA CAKE recipe is perfect for when family and friends gather!
Heads up! There’s a lot of good coming your way, as in really, really scrumptious. This delicious, easy-to-prepare homemade cake comes hot on the heels of a number of other cake recipes. As you read on you’ll find us referencing this famous CARROT CAKE and our MILE-HIGH COCONUT CAKE RECIPE. Each has a similar process, but for now, it’s all eyes on this EASY BANANA CAKE recipe.
Here’s why this recipe works:
Bananas are the principal ingredient, and they lend a natural sweetness to the cake.
The batter for this cake is assembled in one bowl and stirred up with a spatula or wooden spoon.
This dessert is presented as a layer cake making it visually appealing; it’s kind of festive.
It’s assembled with our famous SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING which is soft, billowy and tastes like marshmallow.
Hopefully, you’re excited. Here are a few more things to consider when making this EASY BANANA CAKE recipe:
INGREDIENTS
Checking out this photo of the ingredients needed to make this cake recipe we’re hoping you’re thinking like us: nothing unusual. This cake is made with an easy mix of dry ingredients like unbleached all-purpose flour, baking soda and just half a teaspoon of salt. Wet ingredients include vanilla extract, large eggs and vegetable oil instead of melted butter. Two ingredients of note are brown sugar and sour cream. Even though the cake does contain granulated sugar, we also added some dark brown sugar to give the cake a bit of caramel flavouring. The sour cream, which we use instead of buttermilk, prevents the batter from being too thin. It helps give this cake its notable soft, tender crumb which is less dense than traditional banana bread.
BANANAS
And the survey says, BANANAS. Yup, you heard it here first, although I bet we all kind of knew, that bananas are ranked the most popular fruit in the world, followed by apples and grapes. We love the flavour and gentle sweetness of bananas in a cake, but let’s not forget they’re also good for us too. According to the nutritional information, one medium banana provides about 110 calories, 1 gram of protein, 3 grams of fibre plus around 10% of your daily intake of potassium. Bananas also provide vitamins and minerals like Vitamin B6, magnesium, Vitamin C and Vitamin A. Guess monkeys are on to a good thing!
MASHED BANANAS
When prepping the bananas for the batter, make sure to keep one to the side to use when we assemble the layer cake. Peel the rest then mash them up using a fork or potato masher. Watching the VIDEO created for this recipe, you may be thinking, “Those bananas look ripe, but certainly not mushy.” Correct, but this recipe works with overly ripe bananas too. Whew! One more reason to make this recipe and put those bananas to good use. Pro tip: don’t make the banana mixture too far in advance as mashed bananas go brown quickly.
BAKING EQUIPMENT
The above photo shows all of the baking equipment needed to make the cake. There are two things to note, the first being the pans. We found metal cake pans worked best for baking, with just a light spritz of cooking spray and a parchment liner. Second, we elected to bake the cake in round metal pans because we wanted to make a layer cake, but this recipe will also work if you use a 9 x 13-inch metal baking pan or glass casserole dish. Don’t try to make this recipe in a loaf pan (it’s not banana bread!). If you use the larger pan, do like we did with our CARROT CAKE and CHOCOLATE SLAB CAKE and ice and serve the cake straight from the pan. This is the easiest way to enjoy.
CAKE BATTER
As mentioned off the top, this recipe is similar to our CARROT CAKE in that it too is a one-bowl wonder. Simply add the various ingredients into a large bowl as detailed in the instructions down below. Stir to combine and voilà, the cake batter is done.
When making this dessert, take a moment to note the consistency of the batter and ensure it’s neither too runny nor too thick. It should be easy to divide the batter evenly between two pans. Make sure to give the filled cake pans a gentle tap on the counter before sending them off to the oven to bake. This will release air bubbles from the batter.
CAKE BAKE
You know the routine, bake as directed. That said, every oven is a little different, some running hot, others running cool. Our 30-minute total bake or cook time should be spot on, but feel free to check your cake a few minutes before just to make sure. As soon as a toothpick or cake tester comes away clean after being inserted into the centre of the cake, your banana cake is done. The edges and tops of the cake should be a lovely golden colour. If preparing the recipe in a rectangular pan, you may need a bit more total time. Make sure to cool the cakes in the pan, resting on a wire rack
SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING
Here comes the game-changer for this recipe, our hugely popular SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING. If you’ve never made frosting from scratch, this is the one to try; it’s quick and easy to prepare. That said, the frosting does involve whipping sugared egg whites in a medium bowl resting over a pot of simmering water. This double boiler method of whipping egg whites over heat for a prolonged period of time, six minutes, produces rich, billowy frosting. The last minute is simply an additional whip or whisk of the frosting off the heat to cool it down. This is the same frosting used in our MILE-HIGH COCONUT CAKE, one of my favourites. Now, let’s say you’re not into vanilla frosting, but would rather enjoy the flavour of lemon juice partnered with banana. You can use this LEMONY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING instead. Your call.
ASSEMBLE
Assembling this layer cake recipe is easy. For best results, trim away the plumped-up dome from the top of each layer. Doing so creates an even thickness so the finished cake looks like it’s out of a food or dessert magazine, fingers crossed. I love those trimmed-away bits because we also get a chance to do a quick taste test. Yum!
BANANAS AND PECANS
If the SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING is this cake’s game-changer, then the reserved banana and some chopped pecans are the bonus round. After positioning the first layer of cake on an attractive cake plate, tuck strips of parchment under the layer and add the frosting. Next, slice the reserved banana, adding the slices across the frosted top of the first layer. This adds even more banana flavour to the cake.
HOW TO ICE A LAYER CAKE
Make sure to watch the VIDEO attached to this post to see how we ice our cakes like a professional. There’s really nothing to it. Just go slow, keep the icing even as you apply it to the top and sides and make sure to protect the plate with those parchment strips, as suggested. You’ll be your very own cake boss in no time.
Adding the second layer and more frosting to the cake finishes the look of this stellar recipe. Using an icing spatula will help add the frosting evenly so you get that professional look. Add a sprinkle of the chopped pecans to the top of the cake and you’re ready to serve.
SERVE
We suggest cutting generous wedges of this EASY BANANA CAKE recipe for all to enjoy. You may wish to keep a damp cloth handy to give your blade a clean wipe before each cut. Wedges can be transferred to dessert plates and then doled out to guests to enjoy. No need for ice cream, additional frosting or whipped cream. The cake is perfect, as is. Oh, and what about storing the cake? You can cover it with plastic wrap or keep it in one of those fancy airtight cake storage containers. Enjoy within a few days, but it disappears pretty quickly.
This wonderful homemade banana cake recipe is so scrumptious, we suggest you PIN it to a favourite dessert or cake board on PINTEREST or BOOKMARK this tab for easy access. SHARE it with friends so they can make it too. We’d also appreciate seeing pics of all the delicious dishes you’re making these days. Use #weekendatthecottage when you post those pics on Facebook and Instagram. Thanks!
Hope you enjoy this EASY BANANA CAKE RECIPE. It’s easy and delicious!
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Ingredients
For the cake:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
½ teaspoon kosher salt
4 eggs, room temperature, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
¼ cup sour cream
2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 bananas)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
Seven-minute frosting:
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 egg whites
To decorate cake:
1 banana, sliced
¼ cup pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
Directions
For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 8-inch round cake pans. Line with rounds of parchment paper.
Place all of the cake ingredients in the order listed into a large bowl and stir together until thoroughly combined. Divide batter between the prepared cake pans, smoothing the batter out evenly.
Transfer to oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick comes away clean. Remove from oven and cool completely in pans on wire rack.
For the frosting:
Place a medium-sized stainless steel bowl over a pot containing about 1-inch of simmering water.
Add the sugar, salt and water to the bowl and stir to dissolve. Add the egg whites and whisk to combine. Keep whisking until the mixture warms and becomes frothy.
Exchange whisk for a hand mixer. Beat mixture on high for 6 minutes until the frosting is very light and fluffy and holds stiff peaks.
Remove from heat and beat for an additional minute to cool.
Assemble:
Wait until the cake is completely cool before frosting. For a more professional cake, remove the domes from the tops of the cake layers with a cake leveller or large serrated knife. Add dollop of frosting to centre of serving plate and place one layer of cake on top. Spread about 1 cup of the frosting on top in an even layer. Add slices of banana in an even layer. Add top layer of cake and frost the entire cake. An offset spatula makes it really easy to get an even layer.
Sprinkle top of cake with 1/4 cup of toasted chopped pecans. Slice cake into generous wedges and serve as is.
Until Cottage Season
