I’ve had a real thing for banana breads and cakes lately. In fact, I just now took a loaf of banana bread out of the oven before I sat down to write this post about banana cake. Bananas have been abundant in our kitchen, leading to some quite ripe bananas here and there. I’m not sure what you all do with over-ripe bananas, but I immediately start searching for a banana bread or banana cake recipe; one that I haven’t used before or one that calls for ingredients that I have on hand already. I came across a highly-rated banana cake recipe on my go-to recipe site, taste.com.au, a while ago and had bookmarked it.
Last week, when I was faced with a handful of soft, black-spotted bananas, I turned to this recipe. It’s super quick and easy, and in no time, you’ll be enjoying a delicious banana cake.
Some of the reviews of this recipe said the cake was too sweet and the reviewers had reduced the amount of sugar. I took their advice and only added 225g of sugar, instead of 315g. Just make sure your bananas are really over-ripe, and they will provide extra sweetness so that you could probably cut down on the sugar a little bit more if you like. The only other change I made was to use 3 medium bananas instead of 2 large.
Okay, I’ll admit, I didn’t actually make the frosting. I used the brand new lemon cream cheese frosting from Philadelphia, which I also used to frost these red velvet zombie Halloween cupcakes. The frosting was a perfect match for banana cake, as well as the red velvet cupcakes! It made the preparation time for this cake even less.
The recipe uses buttermilk, but if you want to cheat, remember that you can make your own buttermilk by using 1 cup of regular milk and 1 tablespoon of either fresh lemon juice or white vinegar. Give a gentle stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then measure out how much is needed for the recipe.
The cake was nice fresh from the oven, but I actually preferred it cold, straight from the refrigerator! The refrigerator makes the cake firm and the firmness seemed to suit the cake well, if you know what I mean? The photos I am showing you in this post is of the cake fresh from the oven, when it was fluffy and soft. The cake has an obvious firmer look when served cold from the refrigerator.
I normally don’t make the same recipe twice, but this cake is a real winner and I’m sure I’ll be making it again. It’s just the thing for a morning or afternoon tea with coffee and a couple of friends.
Do you have a go-to recipe for sharing with friends that everyone loves? If you don’t yet, try this cake; I’m sure it will be loved! 
- Melted butter, to grease
- 125g butter, at room temperature
- 225g caster sugar
- 1¼ cups mashed overripe banana (about 2 large bananas)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100ml buttermilk
- 225g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 banana, extra, to decorate
- Fresh lemon juice, to brush
- 250g tub Philadelphia Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a round 20cm (base measurement) cake pan with melted butter to grease. Line the base and side of the pan with non-stick baking paper.
- Place the butter, sugar, banana, eggs and vanilla in the bowl of a food processor, and process for 2 minutes or until well combined. Add the buttermilk and process until combined.
- Add the flour and bicarbonate of soda, and process until just combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Shake the pan to settle the mixture.
- Bake in oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool slightly, before transferring the cake to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Frost the cooled cake with Philadelphia Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting (or prepare the original frosting recipe used with this cake). Peel and thinly slice the 1 extra banana and brush 1 cut side of each slice with lemon juice. Arrange the banana slices, lemon juice side up, around the edge of the frosting to serve. Serve immediately. Store leftovers in the refrigerator 2-3 days.
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