Before I tell you all about this Banana Cake with Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting, let me tell you I believe there are two kinds of bakers in this great big wide world. The kind who thrive on following directions, and the kind who thrive on cheating away from them. I fall very firmly into the second category. It takes an extreme amount of discipline for me to make a recipe the same way twice. This gets me into trouble all the time! But in this case it worked out just fine, which only fuels my rebel spirit.
This cake is really just my very favorite banana bread recipe baked in a 9 by 9 inch baking dish instead of a loaf pan, with a generous slab of my favorite cream cheese frosting – just like I’d put on cinnamon rolls.
The boys saw some ripe bananas on the counter and begged to make their favorite banana bread. I told them we could do even better than that! How about Banana Cake? They were game so we gave it whirl. And we loved it!
We already love our banana bread, but this made it just that much more awesome and it’s always fun to eat cake for breakfast right?
If you haven’t tried this banana bread/cake recipe yet, I think the crumb is just perfect! I love what crushed up sliced almonds does for the texture too, giving each bite the most delicate crunch (I like the Diamond of California brand you find in the baking aisle). No matter what kind of baker you are, I think you’ll LOVE it!
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Banana Cake With Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 38 mins
- Total Time: 58 mins
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
My very favorite banana bread recipe baked into a sweet, moist cake with the best and fluffiest cream cheese frosting!
Ingredients
For the Banana Cake
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup banana pulp mashed (about 3 ripe bananas)
- 1/4 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup nuts, divided (I use sliced almonds, and squeeze the bag to crush them)
For the Frosting
- 6 ounces cream cheese, very soft
- 2 tablespoons butter, very soft
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 by 9-inch baking pan by spraying with nonstick spray, and lining with parchment paper. Let two ends of the parchment paper hang over the edge of the pan for easy removal later.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in between.
- Add vanilla extract, banana pulp, and yogurt or cream, and mix well.
- In another medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the batter and mix together on low speed. Add 1 cup of crushed, sliced almonds and mix to incorporate.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The top will be brown.
- Remove the pan from the oven, and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan to a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk cream cheese, butter, and powdered sugar together until smooth and creamy. Add heavy cream and vanilla extract, and whisk for a minute or so on high speed, until the frosting is light, fluffy and smooth. Spread over cooled banana cake. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup crushed almonds over the frosting.
- If you are not serving immediately, you can use the parchment paper liner to place the cake back into the pan, and cover.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 427
- Sugar: 32g
- Sodium: 286mg
- Fat: 24g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10.6g
- Trans Fat: 0.5g
- Carbohydrates: 49g
- Fiber: 2.6g
- Protein: 7g
- Cholesterol: 78mg
Dev says
I just had a piece of banana cake today :), and I think idea adding cream cheese frosting will take it’s taste to the next level. Can’t wait to try this dessert recipe, as I always have some ripe bananas left by the end of the week, which otherwise I freeze for smoothies.
Lisa says
Well I made the mistake of using an 8×8 pan and my cake didn’t cook. I baked it for the full time, toothpick came out clean so I thought it was done. After cooling a while I realized it was raw batter in the middle. I tried baking it a while longer but it was still raw. So bummed.
Julie says
I’m sorry to hear that Lisa. :0(