Banana Cake with Buttercream Frosting
This easy Homemade Banana Cake with buttercream frosting is made totally from scratch and has the best banana flavor ever! So moist and delicious!
A MOIST, FLAVORFUL HOMEMADE BANANA CAKE
I buy bananas like crazy. Every time I go to the store, I pick up a bunch. Mainly because my son and husband love them. Also because they can never eat them as fast as I buy them so I have excuses to make yummy goodness like Banana Bread or Banana Bread Crumb Cake and this Homemade Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting.
TIPS FOR MAKING BANANA CAKE:
- The riper the banana, the sweeter the cake! Keep that in mind whenever you make any baked goods with bananas. If they haven’t started to brown then your bread or cake won’t be as sweet.
- Try adding a touch of rum extract to the batter or to the frosting to create a flavor similar to Bananas Foster.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- sugar
- sour cream
- eggs
- salted butter
- super ripe bananas (a lot of brown spots)
- vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- chopped walnuts
- heavy cream
- powdered sugar
HOW TO MAKE BANANA CAKE:
Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, cream together sugar, sour cream, egg, and melted butter.
Add mashed bananas and vanilla extract.
Add flour, salt, and baking soda; mix well
Pour into greased pan.
Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
To make frosting:
Cream butter and confectioner’s sugar together until smooth. Slowly add the heavy cream; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract. Spread on cooled cake.
Cook’s Note: The frosting really is optional in this. This cake is so moist and is plenty sweet all by itself. It will be more like a snack cake without the frosting.
Like cream cheese frosting? Try adding 1/2 block (4 oz.) of softened cream cheese to the frosting mixture, adding a little more milk or heavy cream if necessary to make it spreadable.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Banana Bread
- Banana Pudding Poke Cake
- Banana Bread Crumb Cake
- Banana Bread Pudding
- Best Banana Pudding
- Banana Pudding Layered Dessert
- One Bowl Homemade Chocolate Cake
- Banana Pudding Pie
- Mini Banana Pudding Cheesecakes
- Banana Nut Muffins
- Pistachio Cake
- Italian Love Cake
- White Texas Sheet Cake
- Southern Pound Cake
Banana Cake with Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 4 ripe bananas mashed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chopped walnuts optional
For the frosting:
- 4 tablespoons salted butter softened
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, cream together sugar, sour cream, egg, and melted butter.
- Add mashed bananas and vanilla extract and continue to mix.
- Add flour and baking soda; mix well.
- Pour batter into baking dish.
- Bake for 25-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting:
- Cream butter and confectioner's sugar together until smooth using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer.
- Slowly add the heavy cream; stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.
- Spread on cooled cake. Slice then serve!
Video
Notes
- The frosting really is optional in this. This cake is so moist and is plenty sweet all by itself. It will be more like a snack cake without the frosting.
- Keep cake refrigerated.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published November 2011
Updated and republished: May 2019
A wonderful cake with great banana taste…and so easy to make! Whenever I have to frost a 9×13 inch cake, depending on the recipe, I usually just throw together the same ingredients that your recipe calls for, but I don’t measure them. In this case it was not quite two cups of the powdered sugar, about two tablespoons of butter, and about one tablespoon of vanilla. I didn’t have the cream, so I used some full fat sour cream….gave the frosting a slight tang….very tasty! I don’t care for frosting, but my husband has a huge sweet tooth and says it’s not a cake w/o it, so he’s happy with a thin layer. I sprinkled some chopped pecans on the top but left them out of the cake. Love your recipe!
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Thanks so much Vicki! I laughed a little at your comment because my husband is the same way – ha!
I haven’t done much baking during our COVID-19 stay at home order. Had some ripe bananas and the first thing I thought of was cake. It is a delicious cake made with things I didn’t have to risk going to the store for. Thanks for the recipe. My husband and I are enjoying the cake with a lovely cup of coffee.
Hi there! I was wondering— could you give a measurement for the amount of mashed banana? Like in general, when you make this cake to perfection, how many cups/grams/oz would you say the amount of banana comes to? I’m always afraid of recipes that just state the number of bananas because even with the “medium” descriptor— I fear it will vary.
Hi Michelle, you can’t really mess it up if you overuse the mashed bananas. The real key is to make sure they are very ripe. I’ve never actually measured the bananas. I’ll try to do that the next time I make it! 🙂
BEST Banana cake Ever
Woo hoo!! Thanks so much Adrienne!
So, so good!!
You forgot to tell us in the directions when to put in the walnuts. I substituted pecans as I had a lot of them. I ground them in a food grinder first and then folded them into the batter after it was all mixed in my Kitchen Aid Stand Alone Mixer.
Usually add-ins are folded into the batter last as to not over work the batter and adding too much bulk so that the dry ingredients won’t incorporate with the wet properly and develop gluten from over mixing. And you should fold them in by hand.
It’s a great cake but the cooking time isn’t right…it took 50 min here…
This is the best cake ever.told son inlaw i was making it again,and didnt have time that day. He was really upset.lol made it today.tu very much for the keeper recipie. P.s hubbie loves it too!
Jeanette
What can I use if I don't haves our cream or yogurt? Thanks,
Michele
Just popped it in the oven! Cant wait!
I made this tonight! It was fantastic!
This cake is so yummy!
I am pregnant, this looks so yummy. I. will. be. making. this.
Thank you for sharing this recipe. The cake is amazing and I'm in love :)))!
I think I'll try it with a peanut butter cream cheese frosting, THANKS for the site and the great & easy to read and follow recipes!
2 Thumbs up!!
My mother and i tried this recipe because we had so many ripe bananas laying around and we wanted to get rid of them, it's amazing! thank you so much for this recipe, it will be made a million times!
This looks nice and easy. I do not have any bananas at the moment, but will buy some extra to ripen especially for cake. When we were growing up our neighbor made banana cake all the time and she always put a caramel icing on it. Lots of different ways to top it.
Must try this recipe. It sounds delicious. My mom always made banana cake with a pink butter icing made with chopped marachino cherries and some of the cherry syrup for colour. Wonderful memories… Thank you!
I am a big fan of moist cake and bananas, so this recipe is a hit! Made it this afternoon and the frosting will be put on the cake tomorrow. If there is any cake left by then remains to be seen.
I am so so glad that you are sharing this wonderful easy recipe, just like all the other recipes you have. This sounds so great and I will be making it for my husband's bday next month. I am really glad to have found this blog site of yours. Thank you Brandie, you are making my cooking days happier with your recipes.
Hi Cindy! I haven't actually tried this one as a bundt cake. If you give it a try though – I'd love to know how it turned out for you! ~Brandie
Hey Brandie, have you ever made this in a bundt pan?
Another winner Brandie! I can see this as a layer cake with frosting and layer of bananas in the middle!!! Yum!
My mom always made banana cake but frosted it with peanut butter frosting – you will have to try that – it was delicious! 🙂 LOVE your site and recipes! Thanks so much for sharing!
Wow..I love this cake! My family raved about it. I made it again today and somehow forgot to add in the sugar haha. It was a bit bland but the frosting made up for it! (I did a whipped cream cheese frosting this time). This cake is a total winner in our home 🙂
This is my third time making this cake – my family loves it! Thank you!
Hi Builder Mama – so happy you love it!! Thank you so much for letting me know!! 🙂
Best. Recipe. Ever.
Hello Norway!! I don't see why you couldn't make these into cupcakes. You'll have to adjust the baking times slightly though 🙂
I Love Banana Cake! This looks Delicious!
Love ur blog!!!
Do u think that i can use this recipe for cup cakes?
Thank u!
greetings from Norway;)
Oh this looks heavenly! You know, my monkey would love this one!
I know exactly what you are talking about ….. And this recipe looks delicious. Cannot wait to try this one.
Brandie, you always have such wonderful recipes. It is a real pleasure to visit your blog. I never leave empty handed. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Looks so great, moist and delicious – love this! frosting looks great too
Mary x
I've never thought of banana cake — only bread, or muffins. I'm thinking I'd like this cake even better!
This is one gorgeous cake. Holla!
I love this recipe!
A very dear friend requested a banana cake for her birthday that's coming soon. Thanks a bunch!
Brandie, this looks incredible! I've got a bunch of good ripe bananas, I'll have to give this a try! YUM!!!
Made this exactly to your recipe and went with the added walnuts. Perfection! We all loved it!
I love any banana recipes! Can't wait to try it!
Love the frosting!
Oh wow this cake looks to die for! I'm loving the flavors! 🙂
This sound and look delicious!! gloria