This is, hands down, the BEST banana cake I’ve ever had. It’s soft, moist and rich all at the same time! Once cooled this cake is topped with a totally irresistible lemon cream cheese frosting for a perfect dessert your family will love.
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)
- You need the acidity from the lemon juice (& milk) mixture. Subbing in just milk or cream won’t work. (You can use buttermilk in its place if needed).
- 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.
Happy Baking!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice divided
- 1 ⅓ cups mashed bananas about 4 medium bananas
- ⅔ cup unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest from 1 lemon, optional
- 3-3 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
- Place 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice in a measuring cup. Top to 1 ½ cups with milk. Set aside.
- Mix together mashed banana with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, set aside.
- Beat together butter, brown and white sugar until combined. Add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Mix on high until light and fluffy (almost the texture of frosting).
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to egg mixture stirring just until combined. (Do not overmix). Fold in bananas. Pour into prepared pan.
- Put into the oven and reduce heat to 300°F. Bake 60 – 70 minutes (see note below) or just until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not over bake).
- Remove from oven and place in the freezer for 45 minutes to make the cake extra moist. Cool completely before frosting.
FROSTING
- Cream together butter & cream cheese until fluffy. Add in lemon zest and juice.
- Add powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach desired consistency. Spread over cooled cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This recipe has been retested and updated 11/20/16.
Very slightly adapted from food.com
haven’t made yet .. and probably a stupid question. but do you remove it from the pan before freezing it ? 🤣 , can i make ahead freeze it then defrost on the day its needed THEN do the cream cheese frostinf ? if so would i need to wrap it before freezing
That’s a great question Tee, we pop it into the freezer directly in the pan. You can definitely make the cake ahead and defrost it when you need it. I would let the cake cool, fully wrap it, freeze it, and then take it out the night before and frost it right before serving. Enjoy!
I have used many recipes for banana cake, but this one is by far the BEST one I have come across in a long time. The cake was just the right amount of sweetness and was very very moist. My family loved it. Half the cake was eaten right out of the oven before I could frost it. In my opinion, no frosting is needed. :)
I want to make this as my babies 1st smash cake. is there a option to sub out the lemon juice? I don’t want it to be too sour for him
Hi Olivia, the lemon juice in this cake doesn’t make it sour but it does help with the rise the moisture in the cake so I wouldn’t omit it. You could replace it with white vinegar if you prefer.
Are you supposed to wrap the cake before placing in freezer? Cover with foil or plastic wrap or simply set it in?
I do not wrap or cover the cake, simply set it in.
Would this cake be okay to turn into a 2 tier birthday cake?
Many readers have made this into a layer cake. Let us know how it goes.
So when are you supposed to place in the freezer, can’t be immediately once baked. How long to cool on counter prior to going into freezer
Delta, you can set it on the counter for your dish to cool down a bit before popping it in the freezer if you are nervous. But it helps make the cake extra moist so I definitely recommend trying it.
I love this recipe, everytime I make it everyone tells me it’s the best banana cake ever! I dont use the lemon juice though i use a different juice and it takes so good.
I tried this recipe and it’s really easy and tasted so good too. Thank you for sharing!
Wow this is amazing recipe , thankyou so much , a very unique twist in the baking process which makes this perfect .
Amazing love it
Amazing! I didn’t even follow the directions correctly but it turned out beautifully. So soft & delicious!
Why do you set the oven at 350 but then turn it to 300 when ready to bake?
This helps to improve the rise while reducing the temperature helps the cake to cook without browning too much.
Excellent recipe. used ingredients I have in the kitchen. Super moist but not heavy as some banana breads and cakes tend to be. I added .5 rounded tsp cinnamon, cloves and ginger to satisfy a craving. This one is a keeper.
Can nuts be added to this cake?
Chrissy, yes nuts would make a delicious addition!