Best Ever Banana Cake
If you’re a banana bread lover, then you will go bananas over this best ever banana cake recipe. It’s melt in your mouth moist with killer banana flavor. It isn’t too sweet and the fluffy cream cheese frosting that covers it will make you think you’re in heaven. And best of all–it’s easy to make!
Why is This Banana Cake so Great?
What makes this banana cake recipe so great is its ease of preparation. This is one of the easiest cakes you can make! That’s partly because bananas make baked goods really moist. If you’ve ever tried my Best Ever One Bowl Banana Bread, then you can understand why!
Another couple of reasons why this cake turns out so moist is because it uses vegetable oil in addition to butter. While many folks don’t love the idea of baking with oil, it really does have its place and this is one of them. The sour cream also not only adds moistness, but it also activates the baking soda and gives it more boost. This means you’ll have a fluffier cake than if you’d just used milk, so you can’t go wrong!
Can I Add Chocolate Chips or Nuts?
You absolutely can! Adding chocolate chips or nuts would take it to another level adding another layer of sweetness and texture. For these or any other mix-ins, add 3/4 – 1 cup. You add them to the batter just as you mix in the dry ingredients.
Can I Half the Recipe?
Most definitely. If you don’t want to make an entire 12 servings worth of banana cake, you can make half a recipe and it turns out fantastic. Simply divide the batter into two 6 inch cake pans. They will take less time to bake also, so begin checking them after around 20 minutes.
If you need to bake a cake right now and don’t want to fuss too much, then give this best ever banana cake recipe a try! And when you do, please rate the recipe and leave me a comment about how it turned out for you!
Best Ever Banana Cake
Ingredients
CAKE
- ⅓ cup butter, soft
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1½ cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 4 bananas, ripe
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspooons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 1 package cream cheese, softened 8 ounces
- ½ cup butter, soft
- 3-4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat oven to 350℉/177℃. Grease two 8 inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, cream butter. Add sugar gradually and beat until light, about 1 minute. Add oil and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Now beat in sour cream, scraping sides of the bowl as needed to incorporate well. Beat in vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, mash bananas with a fork very well until smooth. You do not want any chunks of banana remaining. Add to the butter mixture and blend well.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in by hand using a rubber spatula, scraping the sides of the bowl well. Do not over mix. Once the batter is well incorporated, divide evenly among the 2 prepared pans. Bang the pans a couple of times to release any air bubbles.
- Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes or until golden and cake tester inserted comes out clean. Cool cakes in the pans on wire racks for 10-15 minutes before turning out. Remove parchment paper and allow to cool on the racks completely before frosting.
FOR THE FROSTING
- In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese and butter. Beat well until fluffy and smooth, about 1 minute. Add confectioner's sugar gradually, scraping down sides of bowl often to ensure all sugar gets blended in. You may not need all of the sugar called for in the recipe, it just needs to be a spreadable consistency that holds its shape.
- Add vanilla and salt. Continue creaming frosting for another 3 minutes or until it turns a very light color and becomes very fluffy. Add more confectioner's sugar if necessary as you do not want the frosting to be too soft. Frost the completely cooled cakes by using just over ⅓ in the middle and the remaining frosting on the top and sides. Keep cake refrigerated.