Granny’s Old Fashioned Butter Cake with Butter Cream Frosting

Looking for the best banana cake recipe? This is the best banana cake recipe that I have ever had. Moist and delicious with cream cheese icing on top, this Banana Bread Cake is sure to please.

I love a good banana cake, it just reminds me of being a kid because my Grandpa and Grandma made the BEST banana cupcakes. I can still smell them baking in my grandma’s kitchen, waiting impatiently with my sisters.

This cake is reminiscent of my favorite banana cupcakes. It is soft and fluffy and incredibly moist and topped with my favorite ever lemony cream cheese frosting.

As much as I love a fluffy banana cake, I love it, even more, when it’s topped with an amazing cream cheese frosting! I add in a little bit of lemon zest and lemon juice for extra flavor in my cream cheese frosting but if you prefer, you can leave out the lemon and substitute vanilla.

Regardless of how you top it, once you try this cake, it’ll be your go-to. Every time you have overripe bananas on the counter you’ll want to make this recipe! In fact, I often buy extra bananas to ripen and make this cake!

Tips to ensure a soft moist result:

Ensure your ingredients are at room temperature (eggs and butter)
When mixing your butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla, beat the mixture until VERY fluffy, almost the consistency of a fluffy buttercream frosting. This should take about 5 minutes.
When adding the flour mixture you want to mix until just combined. Over-mixing will cause a dense chewy result.
The cooking time on this cake can vary! Check your cake at 55 minutes, if it isn’t ready, continue cooking until a toothpick comes out clean (this can be up to an additional 20 minutes depending on your oven). The result will be a moist and irresistible banana cake.

Banana Cake Flour Notes:

To make this whole-grain cake fluffy and tender, I switched from whole wheat flour (too dense) to a mix of white whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour (both are 100% whole wheat but made with white wheat berries, so they’re lighter in flavor and texture).

Look for those flours at a well-stocked grocery store, either in the bakery or health section. Trader Joe’s sells white whole wheat flour.

You can substitute all-purpose flour for pastry flour if you can’t find it. Actually, you could make this cake entirely with all-purpose flour, if that’s all you have on hand.

Happy Baking!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CAN I MAKE THIS CAKE AHEAD OF TIME?

Yes, you can make this banana cake ahead of time. You can store it with frosting, covered in the fridge for up to 4 days. Allow the cake to come back to room temperature before serving, so the cream cheese frosting softens.

CAN I FREEZE THIS CAKE?

This cake is freezer-friendly! You can freeze this banana cake frosted or unfrosted, whole or sliced. To freeze, allow the cake to cool to room temperature before wrapping it tightly with plastic wrap and then tin foil. Store for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, thaw in the fridge overnight, bring to room temperature, and frost if needed before serving.

How to reheat banana cake?

Frozen banana cake can be left out to defrost, warm up in the microwave,

WHAT IF MY BANANAS AREN’T RIPE?

If your bananas aren’t ripe enough to mash, place the bananas on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until the skin blackens and the bananas are soft. Allow the bananas to cool a bit before peeling them to mash.

If you have some close to ripe bananas and a little time, you can store them in a closed paper bag, and the ethylene they naturally emit will ripen them quicker.

Is Banana Cake The Same As Banana Bread?

While both of them are very similar, they are different in texture, ingredients, techniques and recipe instructions.

The former is a cake prepared using banana as a primary ingredient and there is no walnuts in the recipe. The texture is also softer.

Banana bread is a type of quick bread made with all-purpose flour and has a denser texture.

Banana bread usually has extra ingredients such as walnuts or chocolate chips.

What Pan To Use For Baking Banana Cake?

You can use a round pan or a rectangle pan (8 x 8-inch or 9 x 9-inch).

You can also use a regular loaf pan or two (2) mini loaf pans.

Can I Store The Cake Overnight?

Yes, absolutely. You can store the cake overnight by wrapping it tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

This recipe yields very soft and moist cake so you won’t have dry cake if you keep it overnight.

You can also keep the cake in the refrigerator. Reheat in a toaster oven or microwave before serving.

What to Serve with This Recipe?

Banana cake is great with coffee or tea. For afternoon tea,

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

3 Large mashed bananas

3 cups flour

1 ½ c. Whole milk

2 ½ tbsp. Lemon juice

½ tbsp. Baking soda

½ tsp. Salt

⅔ c. Butter at room temperature

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 c. Granulated sugar

½ c. Brown sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

For the Icing:

⅓ c. Butter

8 oz. Cream cheese

1 ½ tsp. Lemon zest

1 tsp. Lemon juice

3 c. Powdered sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mash up 3 large bananas, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to them, and set aside.

Pour 1 ½ tablespoon of lemon juice into a measuring cup, and add 1 ½ cup of milk. Set the milk mixture aside for later use.

Using a stand mixer, beat together ⅔ cup room temperature butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and ½ cup brown sugar.

Slowly add 3 eggs a little at a time to the butter mixture.

Pour in 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and beat the butter and sugar mixture until it is fluffy and creamy.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Add the flour mixture a little at a time to the butter mixture, alternating with a bit of the milk and lemon mixture. Be sure not to overmix the batter at this time.

Once all of the flour mixture and milk have been incorporated into the cake mix, fold in the mashed bananas, and pour the batter into a greased 13×9 pan.

Bake the cake in the oven for 60 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean when inserted into the center.

When the cake has finished cooking, set it off to the side to cool.

In a mixing bowl, beat together ½ cup of softened butter and 8 ounces of cream cheese until well blended. Add in 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 ½ teaspoon of lemon zest.