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5 Secrets to 20 Minute Dinners!
Tips, tricks, and recipes for dinner in a hurry!
Banana Cake Recipe
For months, I have been testing out many recipes on the best banana cake, and this is IT.
This is the holy grail of all banana cake recipes!
This easy banana cake recipe takes only six (6) ingredients. It’s loaded with bananas, so moist, sweet, soft and absolutely delicious.
The banana cake is the BEST I’ve ever tasted.
There is no walnuts in the recipe, making it healthy and lower in calories. It’s also purest in its taste.
Once you make this cake from scratch at home, you will never go back to banana bread, I can guarantee you!
How to Make Banana Cake?
This easy recipe calls for very simple steps that anyone can make at home.
First, you beat the eggs until bubbly. Then you add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is foamy.
The little bubbles in the egg and sugar mixture make the cake super moist and light.
Next, you add the bananas, melted butter and flour. Mix the ingredients gently, bake in the oven and you’ll have gourmet banana cake!
Baker’s Tips
For the best results, please follow the tips below.
- Use overripe bananas for the sweetest flavors. Overripe bananas will also make the cake extra moist and soft.
- Use room temperature eggs. This is very important. If you have refrigerated eggs, leave the eggs with warm water until they become room temperature.
- Sift the flour. This will ensure a softer texture.
- DO NOT over stir the cake batter. You want to keep the bubbles in the batter so the cake is soft, airy and light.
- Use and stack up two pans for baking. This will make sure that the sides of the cake are thinner and hence make the cake extra moist and delicious.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 318 calories per serving. It serves 6 people.
What to Serve with This Recipe?
Banana cake is great with coffee or tea. For afternoon tea, I recommend the following recipes.
Banana Cake (The Best Recipe!)
Ingredients
- 200 g (7 oz) overripe bananas
- 120 g (4 oz) self-raising flour, cake flour or all-purpose flour (see Notes)
- 3/4 - 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs (room temperature)
- 100 g (3½ oz) powdered sugar
- 1 stick unsalted butter (melted (I used Challenge brand butter))
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a square cake pan (8" x 8" or 9" x 9")(20cm x 20cm or 23cm x 23cm) OR a regular loaf pan OR two mini loaf pans with butter. Line the pan(s) with parchment paper.
- Mash the overripe bananas in a bowl until fine, set aside.
- Sift the self raising flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- Add the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed (speed 5) for 1 minute and then increase to the highest speed (speed 10) for 2 minutes. The egg should become bubbly and foamy.
- Add the sugar and beat on the highest speed for 3 minutes. The egg and sugar mixture should be foamy, as pictured below.
- Add the mashed bananas into the egg mixture. Gently stir 2-3 times with a spatula to combine well.
- Heat the butter in a microwave for 20-30 seconds or until it melts. Divide flour into 3 parts. Add half of the butter into the egg mixture, gently fold and stir 2-3 times with a spatula. Next, add 1/3 of the flour, gently fold and stir around a few times until just incorporated.
- Add in the second part of the flour, stir gently to incorporate. Add the remaining butter, gently stir to mix, and finally add the remaining flour. Make sure the flour is fully dissolved. DO NOT OVER MIX. Please make sure the batter retains the air bubbles in the beaten eggs.
- Pour the banana cake batter into the pan. For the best results, place the pan on another empty pan before baking. To avoid the top of the cake from becoming too brown, cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil after the cake is set at the top, about 20-25 minutes into baking.
- Bake the banana for 40-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean in the center. Remove the cake from the oven, let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting into pieces.
Hi Bee! Your banana cake recipe is awesome. However I’m not able to successfully get it to bake to a light and fluffy texture. I’ve tried it twice and the second time I took extra care not to fold too much. Both times my cake will start to sink and peel from the sides of the pan when 80-90% cooked. When cut, the top half of the cake is fluffy and light but the bottom half is dense. But the cake is edible and very tasty. How can I get it to fluff up 100% without sinking into a dense bottom ?
Your didn’t mash your bananas evenly. Heavy and bigger pieces will sink to the bottom.
I attempted again last night (3rd time) and I mashed the bananas very finely (almost liquid form. Still it didn’t rise. Can I blend the bananas into a purée rather than mash with a fork? I use self raising flour and added 3/4 tsp baking powder. Is tat correct?
Yes, it’s correct. What do mean by didn’t rise? This cake is not going to rise very tall, it will rise a bit and the texture is soft and fluffy, like the pictures in my post. The other possibility is that you over mixed the batter and all air bubbles in the batter disappeared before you bake.
Hi Bee!
Unfortunately I can’t attach a pic for you to see. The top 0.5 cm was airy n fluffy like yours but the bottom 1-1.5cm is thick n dense with all the bananas there. Okay I’ll try again and make more effort not to over mix (a challenge to get all the flour into the batter). Hope I can share good news with you next time. Thank you!
When you mix, you need to flip up the mashed bananas or else they will sink to the bottom.
Made this today and it is AMAZING. thanks so much for sharing this!!
Hi Debs, thanks so much for trying. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipes/baking-recipes/. All my recipes are AMAZING.
I’m hoping to make a layered cake with some buttercream frosting in between. Have you ever tried stacking them before? Or are they too fluffy and fragile? Thank you!
You can try, but I haven’t.
Hi
Why were you used powdered sugar instead of castor sugar? Any reason???
You can use castor sugar but powdered sugar will make the beaten eggs lighter and cake will be fluffier.
We baked this cake following the measurements and it turned out to be amazing! Fluffy and tasty… I had never tasted a banana cake before, but loved it. Must recommend. Thanks a lot for such a great recipe.
Awesome, please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipe-index-gallery/
Hi Bee,
This is definitely the most purest taste banana cake ever. I bake during the day of fasting & couldn’t wait to break fasting to taste the cake. The cake come out fluffy light and moist! My husband couldn’t stop praising me while eating the cake piece by piece :p Thank you so much for the recipe.
Hi Ujie, awww thanks so much for your sweet comment. You made my day! Sounds so delicious for break fasting. You should bake two today!!! :)
Is it possible to replace sugar with maple syrup and obtain the same texture?
Please don’t substitute ingredients in this recipe. Maple syrup will make this recipe failed because sugar is dry and maple syrup is liquid.
Hi, may I ask 200g banana is just the flesh of the banana or its measured with the skin?
My banana cake didn’t rise and it is quite dense, I used cake flour and 4g of baking powder, the rest is the same as stated. Is there a reason why powdered sugar is used instead of caster sugar?
200g bananas without skin, that’s what you need in the cake. I am not sure why your banana cake is dense. You need to follow the quantity exactly.
Hello. This is the second time I’m making this gorgeous baba cake – smells heavenly and very moist and fluffy. However I noted that the bottom half of the cake was denser and not soo light, and the bananas seemed to have settled to the bottom somewhat. Any idea what possibly went wrong?
When you mix the batter, you need to flip the bananas. They are heavier and that’s why they might sink to the bottom. The other way is to mash it very finely.
Hello, will the baking time remain the same if I choose to use a loaf pan or a mini loaf pan?
Yes, mini loaf pans should be 5-10 minutes shorter. Loaf pan might be 5-10 minutes more time, depending on the oven, too.
Hi Hi,
The banana came smells so good, Fluffy and light. However, the inner part is too loose and it easily break apart. The top and the whole shape is perfectly fine. Can I have your advice please?
Sorry but I don’t know what happened since I didn’t have that problem whenever I bake this.
Thanks for ahring the video! However the steps on beating the eggs in the video and your steps seems to be different? Please advise! Thanks!
Emily, I adapted the recipe. The video doesn’t use any baking powder but most people will fail if so. Also, it’s very difficult to tell people to beat from medium to high speed in a matter of 2 minutes. In any case, you can follow the video, it’s up to you! I have baked this cake many many times before writing the recipe, to make sure everyone can be successful.
Can this recipe be doubled to make a 9×13 cake?
That’s a very big pan. You can try, I don’t know how it will affect the baking time and the center of the cake. I don’t recommend.
Hello Bee!!
I must say your recipe is superb!! I’ve baked this soooo many times and love it, everyone who ate this comment how fluffy and tasty this is.
Hi Jade, agreed, this is the holy grail of banana cake. You can’t find a better recipe because I have tried all of them. Please try more recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipes/baking-recipes/
Hi! U mentioned to wrapped aluminum foil on top of the baking pan, do u mean cover the baking pan with the aluminum foil before we start baking and remove it 20mins during baking or 20mins into baking then cover it with aluminium foil, then continue to bake for 40mins?
Here is what the recipe says: To avoid the top of the cake from becoming too brown, cover the top of the pan with aluminum foil after the cake is set at the top, about 20-25 minutes into baking. Cover, not wrap. Cover at 20-25 minutes after baking, once the cake is set at the top. Remove when done.