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
Fantastic! Love the fact that this is a simple sheet cake. It’s moist and delicious and easy to make. The lemony cream cheese frosting is a great compliment. One of the earlier comments said they’d prefer to use vanilla rather than lemon, which would also be good, but, in my opinion, it’s that touch of lemon that takes this cake from really good to great. To each his own I guess.
Sooooooo Delicious!!!!!!! Best ever!!!!!
I see lots of people say the cake was moist, but did it turn out light and fluffy for anyone? Mine is so thick I can barely finish two bites. Does anyone know a trick or ingredient that will actually make the cake turn out light and fluffy? Tia!
Did you follow the troubleshooting tips in the recipe.
hi, I am making the banana cake now. It’s in the oven. Do you mean to put it in the freezer straight from the oven still in the same baking dish that it’s in? Mine is a glass baking dish and worried about it cracking
Thanks
Lesly
If I use pyrex I let it cool slightly (20 min) before putting it into the freezer.
Directly from oven to freezer? Won’t the hot cake thaw food out that’s in the freezer? Could I skip this step?
This really makes a difference in how moist the cake is. If I use pyrex I let it cool slightly (20 min) before putting it into the freezer.
I am going to try the banana cake, it sounds delicious. Also enjoy the newsletters. Big star for you.
Thank you so much Chris!
If I make the batter tonight can I wait to bake it in the morning?
I haven’t tried making the batter well ahead of time.
New Family Favorite!
Hi – your recipe calls for putting the cake into the freezer for 45 minutes. Is that directly from the oven? I’ve never done this before – just want to make sure I understand correctly!
Yes, this is directly from the oven.
The cake was off the chain!!! I’m hooked on banana cake. My husband loved it too!!!!
Have made this and will be making it for our Christmas dinner. Was wondering if I could keep it frozen for several days then take out and frost.
I have made this delicious cake and I will be making it for our Christmas dinner. Was wondering if I could keep it frozen until the 24th to put the icing on it.?
Yes, it freezes perfectly.
Thank you. Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas to you and your family too!
Hello! I just put my cake in the oven. And I am Still relatively new to baking, does the cake go directly from the oven to the freezer? Or cool for a few min then freezer?
Yes it goes directly into the freezer.
The frosting was TO DIE FOR! Ate a few spoon fulls haha. But I found the same issues as several others have, dense as could be. After the oven portion it looked fluffy enough but putting it in the freezer made it look like a pumpkin pie. It was edible but nothing I would make again. I had to re read that last step like 5 times to make sure I wasn’t going crazy… but I did as I was told and instantly regretted it.
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you, I can’t say for sure why as I’ve had such great success with this recipe.
I made the Cake in a Bundt Tin wanted to impress guests. It was worth the agrivation as was concerned it might be damp in middle, I baked cake an Extra 20 mins & was perfect Only placed in Freezer after 20 mins & definitively kept the cake moist. Within 24 hrs the cake is 95% eaten and enjoyed by those that Tested this New Recipe rated 5 * !
Hi I don’t have lemon juice or zest… Can I substitute for lemon extract?
You can leave the lemon out of the frosting (if you need it to sour the milk, you can use white vinegar to sour the milk).
Hmm I find it weird when you stated the baking soda 1/2 tablespoon but my measuring spoon goes from teaspoon up to 1 tablespoon max… So I don’t know what is going on but can you give an exact measurement in terms of Grams? like 1/2 tablespoon to gram is…?
½ tablespoon is 1.5 teaspoons.
My goodness!!!!! ..This is indeed the best banana cake i ever ate.. Thanks ,Holly.. I got the most amazing comments from my family… Im soo keeping this recipe
So glad they loved it!
The cake is awesome! I love baking and my husband suggested a banana cake instead of banana bread and found this recipe. I will be making this again.
OMG.. This recipe is absolutely amazing and moist. Easy to make and tastes wonderful. I added a half cup of minced walnuts as well. I only wanted to use my leftover ripe bananas and found this amazing cake recipe. Its easy and the instructions are great. Thank you
I’m so glad you loved it!
I was very excited to make this cake! Munkids fsvorite is banana cake and they stopped selling the box mix years ago. I followed instructions to a t. Skmethjng went wrong as it is very heavy. Frosting is delicious! I reread and see during the adding of the flour it states to STIR, not MIX. I was using a kitchenaid so certainly over Mixed this part!!!! Can you add a note at this part of the instructions? I will try again!