Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
“Love this recipe. My guests commented on how moist (freezer step) this cake was…It’s definitely a crowd-pleaser”. Karyn
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.
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 – and they were so right!
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. 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 overcream 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 spring 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.
Step-by-step instructions
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.
Other delicious cake recipes you might enjoy
- super moist whole orange cake
- carrot and pineapple cake
- simplified blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting
- moist apple cake recipe with bourbon caramel sauce
- old fashioned easy strawberry shortcake (20 minutes)
- orange polenta cake (gluten free)
And if you love bananas, try out our homemade banana pudding cups. or banana muffins with blueberries (moist and fluffy)
Please leave a 5 star rating ***** with a comment in the recipe card below if you like the recipe, Thank you so much!
Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Icing Recipe
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
- 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.
- Cream cheese 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 wrap or in an airtight container.
- It also freezes very well for 2 months.
Nutrition
Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting was originally published on Two Kooks In The Kitchen in Feb 2017.
I did same as round layer cake and used a buttercream that was butter, conf. sugar (which i always sift in), cocoa powder, and milk (although I sub. heavy cream) and I added vanilla extract too. I also doubled the recipe to accommodate the 2, 9 in layers. Always need so much for layered cakes. Also I used white sugar and added 1/4 cup molasses to make half the sugar brown. U can make brown sugar by adding 1/4 c molasses to 1c w sugar. B/c I wanted to do half and half on the sugar since this recipe said either or.
Thanks for sharing your tips and tweaks Cass. Hope you liked it 🙂
I made this as a round layer cake and used slightly different buttercream which I doubled to cover layers, just with heavy cream and I added vanilla. I also added vanilla bean powder to the cake recipe which was nice. Wish I could post a pic.
I used the chocolate frosting recipe on the Hershey’s Cocoa container. Fabulous. Love this cake! ?
Glad you liked it Susan! Appreciate your leaving a comment 🙂
My new favorite cake! I used 9-inch pans and set oven temp to 300. The freezer tip works!
Happy to hear that!
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.
I know – bake and freeze sounds weird but it works so well – happy you liked it 🙂 It sounds like you made a layer cake which I agree would need a bit more icing.
I wanted a banana cake with chocolate frosting for my birthday this year, and my Wife found this recipe. This is absolutely THE BEST banana cake I’ve ever had!
That makes my day! Thanks so much Bill. So glad you loved it! It’s definitely one of my favorites.
Plan to make this a second time but with two 9” rounds. How long should I adjust baking time?? Loved it the first time I made it!
Glad you loved the cake! One of my favorites too. Pan swapping can be a bit tricky since there are several things that can change the cooking time. Since two round pans will bake faster than a larger rectangle, I would start checking for doneness after 40 minutes especially for a metal pan which cooks faster. Most ovens aren’t accurate so that would be a factor too. You can also increase the oven temp to 300F. So in summary, try 300F for 40-50 minutes and keep a close eye on it. Alternatively, use the 9×13 inch rectangle pan and cut the cake in half. That’s what I do! I hope that helps 🙂
I’m making this as a round bday cake so I’ve used 2 x 8” round pans. Sadly it was too much batter and was an overflow mess in my oven. I would suggest revising your baking pan note to indicate 3 x 8” rounds not 2, I think that would be perfect. Fingers crossed it still turns out yummy!
Oh no – so sorry to hear that Cherie. Two 8 inch rounds are a standard replacement for a 9 x 13 inch pan, so I am surprised. Perhaps two 9″ rounds would be better. I hope the cake still turned out. One of my favorites.
amazing dessert
I use recipe every summer when family together at cottage
icing so easy and makes cake unique from other banana cake and bread recipes
’10 thumbs up’ from my grandson
Thanks Barbara – definitely one of my favorites. And I use the chocolate buttercream icing that I love on cupcakes too. Glad your grandson liked it!
Oven temperature 275? Is this right?
Yes, that’s right. The temperature for baking the banana cake is 275F.