Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting

This is the best banana cake we’ve ever eaten! Super moist and scrumptious. And the chocolate buttercream frosting is perfect with this cake if you’re a chocolate lover.

I made this cake for friends and family dinner last week and it was a huge hit. After giving away a [stingy] piece to my sister, I froze some of the leftovers, ate the rest and then promptly took out the part I froze and ate that too. So good.

piece of banana cake with chocolate frosting on plate

The moistness trick

I found this highly rated recipe on two different websites – food.com and allrecipes.com.  They both had instructions to freeze the cake for 45 minutes right after removing it from the oven. They claimed it made the cake super moist.

I don’t know if that’s true, but I followed the directions and the cake was indeed super moist and the best banana cake EVER. So I’m sticking with that.

The only changes I made to the recipe were to reduce the sugar a bit and replace the icing.  They used cream cheese icing (typical for a banana cake) and I used my own chocolate buttercream which I love dearly. Chocolate and banana is a fantastic combination I think.

This cake feeds a lot of people. It’s quite substantial, making it perfect for potlucks and parties. In my humble opinion, this is a deliciously moist banana cake recipe like no other.

Other tips

  • Start with overripe brown bananas – or at least soft, ripe bananas with some brown spots. The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more banana-y the cake. 
  • To avoid a dense cake, use room temperature butter and don’t over cream the butter and sugar. 1-2 minutes is plenty. Buttermilk or sour cream also helps make a fluffier cake. And when you add in the flour, mix just until combined – don’t over mix. 
  • Don’t overbake the cake or it will become dry. It is done when the cakes springs to the touch, a tester comes out clean and the cake just pulls away from the sides of the cake pans. Start checking the doneness, 5-10 minutes before the total baking time. Every oven is different. 

How to make the best banana cake with chocolate frosting

bananas, butter, eggs, flour, sugar, vanilla, milk, lemon
 ingredients: flour, baking soda, eggs, bananas, buttermilk (or milk and lemon), sugar, vanilla, butter.
3 separate bowls of mashed bananas, wet and dry ingredients
set aside bowls of ingredients – bananas, buttermilk, sugar and unsalted butter
banana cake batter
cream butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla
adding dry ingredients through sieve to wet ingredients
add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk
bananas cake batter 2
banana cake batter
mashed bananas added to batter in bowl
stir mashed bananas into batter
baked banana cake in freezer
Bake cake then place it immediately in freezer on a tea towel.
 Banana Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Icing
piece of banana cake with chocolate icing on plate

Tailor to Your Taste

  • Add-ins:
    • a teaspoon of cinnamon in the batter
    • a 1/2 cup chocolate chips added to the batter
  • Frosting: here’s a classic cream cheese frosting if you prefer that to a chocolate buttercream

Make Ahead

  • This cake will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days, covered in plastic or in an airtight container.
  • It also freezes very well for 2 months.
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4.63 from 59 votes

Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Icing Recipe

This is the best banana cake we’ve ever eaten! The chocolate buttercream icing is perfect with this cake. Super moist and scrumptious – a real winner!
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours 20 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 15 generous servings

Equipment

  • 1 sheet cake pan , Note 1 9 x 13 inches/23 x 33 cm

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups overripe bananas (for a strong banana flavor) (about 3 large bananas)
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or add 1 tablespoon lemon to milk to make 1 1/2 cups)
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (1 1/2 sticks)
  • 2 cups white sugar or brown sugar (or a bit less)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate buttercream frosting, Note 2

  • 1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
  • 1 3/4 cup icing sugar sugar also called confectioners' or powdered sugar
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 275F/135C. Grease (or spray with oil) and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan (22 x 33 cm).
  • PREPARE BANANAS: In a small bowl, mash bananas with a fork, mix with 2 teaspoons lemon juice and set aside.
  • PREPARE BUTTERMILK: Measure out the buttermilk (or milk plus lemon) in a medium bowl or measuring cup. Set aside.
  • PREPARE DRY INGREDIENTS: In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  • MAKE BATTER: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk a bit at a time – and beat until smooth. Stir in banana mixture. Pour batter into prepared pan.
  • BAKE AND FREEZE: Bake the cake for 1 hour or just until a toothpick comes out clean. As ovens vary, start checking after 55 minutes. Remove cake from oven and place it directly in the freezer, uncovered, on a tea towel for 45 minutes. This apparently makes the cake very moist – and it works!
  • MAKE FROSTING: Using a food processor: Add all buttercream/frosting ingredients into the processor and process until smooth, about 2 minutes. If too dry, add a small amount of extra milk (1 tablespoon) or, if too thin, add a bit more icing sugar – until you get the consistency you want. (Alternatively, use an electric or hand mixer and a mixing bowl – beating butter first, adding icing sugar and cocoa next, then vanilla and milk.) When the cake is fully cooled, frost the cake.

Recipe Notes

  1. Baking pans
    • Instead of a 9 x 13 inch (22 x 33 cm) pan, use two 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) pans or two 9 x 9 inch (22 x 22 cm) pans for a two-layer cake. You may need to lower the baking time a touch with the 9 inch pans.
  2. Cream cheese frosting
  3. Make Ahead:
    • This cake will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days, covered in plastic wrap or in an airtight container.
    • It also freezes very well for 2 months.
Nutrition values are estimates for generous portions with chocolate buttercream frosting.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 440kcal | Carbohydrates: 67g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 340mg | Potassium: 184mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 45g | Vitamin A: 574IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?We’d love you to rate it above under ‘rate this recipe’ or in the comment section below. Thanks!

Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting was originally published on Two Kooks In The Kitchen in Feb 2017.

4.63 from 59 votes (51 ratings without comment)

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36 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I was a bit skeptical about this recipe—bake & freeze? It was delicious and so moist. I used 9-inch round pans and baked for exactly 40 minutes. I didn’t have quite enough icing (I made the chocolate buttercream) to frost the sides of the cake, but next time will make more.