BEST BANANA CAKE WITH VANILLA FROSTING — 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.
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.
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.
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
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 snacking. Especially with a glass of cold milk. 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.
Here’s what you’ll need to make the Best Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting
- Sugar
- Sour cream
- Eggs
- Butter
- Bananas
- Vanilla
- Flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar

Best Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting
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.
Ingredients
- 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
- 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 9x13 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.
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
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If you love this recipe, you might also like:
Banana Bread Coffee Cake
Banana Spice Cookies with Lemon Frosting
Zucchini Banana Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Who Dished It Up First: Adapted from ButterYum
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
Rene
This looks amazing! And banana cake is absolutely acceptable for breakfast 😉
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.
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!
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?
eunice
Also, step 6&7, to “beat” and to “mix”. What’s the difference and what tools do I use?
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!
Bolo
Delicious recipe, you can’t grow wrong with banana