This sweet, moist banana cake is topped with a creamy vanilla frosting. Don’t be fooled by the simple ingredient list. This may just be the perfect banana cake.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Honestly, I can’t tell you what makes this Best Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting so outstanding. The original recipe was actually called “To Die for Banana Cake.” It’s really not much of an exaggeration.
This was a fabulous cake. The best part – aside from the banana cake – was the frosting. I have 2 kiddos that really don’t like frosting (even buttercream – sad, but true). They both loved this frosting. It only lasted one night and the next morning with the 5 of us and I look forward to having more rotting bananas in the future.
Kristi
I suspect the sour cream might be the secret, but really, the ingredient list seems so average.
Yet somehow the result is the best banana cake I’ve ever tried. And believe me, I’ve tried my share of banana cakes.
You’ll notice there aren’t any of the typical spices like cinnamon or nutmeg in this cake. Don’t be tempted to add them. It’s the reason this cake has such intense banana flavor.
My family felt the same way–none of us could stop eating it. Banana cake is okay for breakfast, right? Because of the bananas.
This banana cake is also perfect for dessert (of course!) or after-school and late night
This may just be my favorite way to use of over-ripe bananas.
This recipe can easily be halved if you’d like a smaller cake, or you just don’t have enough ripe bananas for the 9×13 version. But make a big cake if you can. You won’t regret it.
Believe me when I say this really is the BEST Banana Cake you’ll ever make. I hope you love it as much as we do.
LOVED This! Really quite tasty. The whipped cream frosting was amazing! This may have been the majority of my lunch today as I couldn’t stop! Thanks for sharing
Janelle
What Should I Serve With Banana Cake?
This banana cake can definitely stand on it’s own as a dessert. But I always like to offer a gluten-free option if I’m entertaining.
Here are some great, gluten-free dessert options to serve alongside this banana cake.
Ingredients
- Sugar
- Sour cream – light sour cream is fine
- Eggs
- Butter – I use unsalted butter
- Bananas -your bananas should be fairly ripe. The more ripe they are, the sweeter your cake will be
- Vanilla – I recommend pure vanilla extract for the best flavor
- Flour – all-purpose works just fine
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Heavy cream – you can also use buttermilk
- Powdered sugar
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Best Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas about 4 bananas
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the frosting:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups confectioner’ s sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl,cream together sugar,sour cream,eggs,and 1/4 cup softened butter.
- Stir in mashed bananas and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
- Add the flour,salt,and baking soda and mix well.
- Pour batter into a greased 9×13 inch pan. Bake about 25-30 minutes,or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
- To make frosting,beat butter and confectioner ‘s sugar together until smooth.
- Slowly add the heavy cream and mix until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Spread frosting over cooled cake.
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Nutrition
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8 comments
Bolo
Delicious recipe, you can’t grow wrong with banana
Jo Nell
The recipe I have and yours are similar. I am going to have to make yours to see who’s the Best. Will let you know the results!
eunice
Also, step 6&7, to “beat” and to “mix”. What’s the difference and what tools do I use?
eunice
Hi. It’s my first time baking a cake. I would like to ask, for step 2,3&4, do i use an electric mixer or just a wooden spoon?
Janelle
LOVED This! Really quite tasty. The whipped cream frosting was amazing! This may have been the majority of my lunch today as I couldn’t stop! Thanks for sharing!
Kristi
This was a fabulous cake. The best part – aside from the banana cake – was the frosting. I have 2 kiddos that really don’t like frosting (even buttercream – sad, but true). They both loved this frosting. We only frosted the pieces as we ate them and kept the rest of the frosting in the fridge (it is rather tasty when it is cold…not that I dipped a spoon in and tried it a couple of times…I am just assuming its tastiness 🙂
It only lasted one night and the next morning with the 5 of us and I look forward to having more rotting bananas in the future.
Rene
This looks amazing! And banana cake is absolutely acceptable for breakfast 😉
Patricia @ ButterYum
Hi Danelle – I was just looking at foodgawker and saw this cake and thought, “Hey, that looks like my To Die For Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting”. Then I visited your blog and found out it was! What a pleasant surprise. Thanks for linking back to my blog (sadly, some people aren’t as courteous). Anyway, love you photo!!
Take care,
Patricia @ ButterYum