My Easy Banana Cake recipe happened because I always have over-ripe bananas in my freezer. Frozen bananas make baking incredibly simple. You can freeze overripe bananas instead of throwing them away. When you’re ready to bake, just thaw them on the counter. The bananas become super soft and mushy, which is perfect. You don’t need to mash them much at all. Simply squeeze the bananas out of their peels into your bowl. The texture works beautifully in cakes, banana bread and muffins. Freezing actually breaks down the cell walls, making them easier to incorporate. This method saves time and reduces food waste. Keep frozen bananas on hand for spontaneous baking sessions.
Bananas contain natural sugars and moisture that create incredibly moist cakes. The fruit’s soft texture breaks down easily during mixing. This releases water and natural oils into your batter. Bananas also contain pectin, which helps retain moisture during baking. The starches in bananas gelatinize when heated, trapping water molecules inside. Ripe bananas work best because they have higher sugar content. These sugars caramelize slightly, adding flavor and maintaining tenderness.
My Easy Banana Cake stays soft for days thanks to these natural properties.
The fruit’s acidity also tenderizes gluten in the flour. This prevents your cake from becoming tough or dry.
Butter creates superior flavor that vegetable oil simply can’t match. The milk solids in butter add rich, complex notes to your cake. Butter also helps achieve better structure through the creaming process. When you cream butter and sugar together, you incorporate air bubbles into the batter. These air pockets expand during baking and create a lighter, fluffier texture. Additionally, butter contributes to a more tender crumb. Your cake will taste more homemade and less commercially produced when you choose butter over oil.
A light dusting of icing sugar adds the perfect finishing touch to my Easy Banana Cake.
The white powder creates beautiful visual contrast against the golden-brown cake. It looks elegant without requiring any fussy decorating skills. You simply sift the sugar over the top and you’re done. The sweetness remains subtle, never overwhelming the banana flavor. Icing sugar dissolves slightly on your tongue, creating a delicate sweetness. This differs from heavy frosting that can mask the cake’s natural taste. The powdered sugar also adds a hint of vanilla if you use the confectioner’s type. It makes the cake look bakery-worthy with minimal effort. Guests always appreciate this simple, classic presentation. The sugar catches the light beautifully when you photograph your cake. You can dust it right before serving for maximum freshness.
I hope you enjoy making this Easy Banana Cake as much as I do! If you loved this recipe, please sign up for my blog to receive more delicious food ideas. Don’t forget to share this recipe with your friends and family who love banana desserts. Your support means the world to me. Happy baking, and I can’t wait to hear how your cake turns out!
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (about 3 large bananas)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3/4 cup butter, room temperature soft
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350*F
- Butter and flour an 10" bundt pan.
- Stir the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl and set aside.
- Place the mashed bananas and lemon juice in a small bowl, mix together and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes. It should be light and fluffy.
- Beat eggs in one at a time until well incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add vanilla and mix thoroughly.
- Add the flour mixture alternatively with the buttermilk in thirds. Mix each addition thoroughly, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
- Mix in banana and lemon juice.
- Pouring batter into bundt pan and smooth top with a spatula.
- Check the cake at 50 minutes. The cake is done when a bamboo skewer inserted into the highest point of the cake comes out clean. This could take as much as an additional 15 minutes. Be patient, every oven bakes differently.
- Once baked, remove cake from oven onto a cooling rack. Leave cake in pan to cool for 15 minutes.
- Carefully turn cake out of cake pan to finish cooling completely on cooling rack.
- Once cake is completely cooled you can dust it with icing sugar or frost with your favourite frosting.
Notes
The Love: It's a dense cake so make sure you give your cake enough time to bake. The bamboo skewer should be dry when it comes out of the cake.
