Banana Cake Recipe with Brown Sugar Buttercream

This Banana Cake is soft, fluffy and filled with banana flavor – covered with a Brown Sugar Buttercream, it’s the best banana cake you’ll ever taste! 

Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream is tied with Carrot Cake for my most favorite cake ever! The flavor of the cake paired with the brown sugar buttercream is just a perfect match! I’ve made a naked style layer cake here but don’t be scared off, you can just make a single layer if you’re after a no fuss option.

The cake is filled with so much delicious banana flavor and just a touch of cinnamon for some warmth. It’s the softest and fluffiest cake from the bananas and dare I say it … moist! 

Bananas for Banana Cake

It’s no secret that bananas are almost if not better for baking than they are for eating. With Banana Bread being one of my most popular recipes I know so many of you agree with me!

No matter my best intentions I always end up with a few bananas at the end of the week that are a little spotty. All I simply do is throw them in the freezer so I know I’ve always got bananas on hand for baking and best of all they’re not being wasted. Make sure you’re not using fresh or ripe bananas for banana cake – they’re not sweet enough! You need over ripe soft bananas that are brown and spotty on the skin.

Banana Cake Frosting

I’ve paired this Banana Cake with a brown sugar buttercream which has an almost caramel like flavor and is infused with cinnamon which means its a perfect pairing to banana. Buttercream isn’t too difficult to make, you just need a hand mixer or a stand mixer to whip the butter up so its light and fluffy.

A few Frosting alternatives are

• Banana Cake with Lemon Icing
• Banana Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
• Banana Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream

Ingredients for Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

Banana Cake Ingredients

1 Stick / 113g Butter – Make sure the butter is at room temperature. If you forget to get it out of the fridge you can soften it in the microwave in 20 second bursts.

1½ Cups / 300g Sugar – White sugar or brown sugar can be used here. Brown sugar will provide a more caramel flavor to cake. 

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla Essence – Vanilla Essence, Paste or Extract can all be used.

400g / 3 Large Bananas – Overripe spotty brown bananas are best – they are softer, sweeter and more flavorful. If you are using frozen bananas let them defrost to room temperature before using. 

2 Cups / 250g Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda – Baking soda reacts with the lemon juice in this recipe, make sure not to substitute with baking powder. 

½ tsp Ground Cinnamon

½ tsp Salt – Salt helps to round out the sweetness and flavor in the banana cake. 

½ Cup / 12ml Milk

1 tsp Lemon Juice – Lemon juice or vinegar can be used here. It is combined with the milk to curdle it and turn it into ‘buttermilk’

Brown Sugar Buttercream

2 Sticks / 225g Butter

½ Cup / 100g Brown Sugar

½ tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Vanilla Essence

3 Cups / 375g Powdered Sugar – Powdered Sugar, Icing Sugar and Confectioners Sugar are all the same ingredients just different names in different parts of the world. 

How to Make Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

Banana Cake

In a large mixing bowl add the room temperature butter and the sugar. Using a whisk, hand mixer or a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar together for a minute or two until light and fluffy.

Crack the two eggs in one at a time, mixing well in between until combined. Pour in the vanilla essence when adding the second egg and mix until the batter is well combined.

In a smaller seperate bowl add the overripe bananas. Using a fork or potato masher, mash the bananas up until smooth. Leave them a little lumpy if you would like larger bits of banana in the cake or mash really well if you would like the cake completely smooth. I prefer it completely smooth.

Add the mashed bananas to the mixing bowl and combine the wet ingredients together. It may look a little curdled or separated, don’t worry too much as it will come together when the dry ingredients are added.

Place a sieve over the mixing bowl and measure out the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt. Sieve the dry ingredients to remove any lumps.

Mix the lemon juice or vinegar with the milk and let it stand for a few minutes to curdle. Pour the curdled milk into the mixing bowl the rest of the ingredients. 

Fold together the banana cake batter until you can no longer see any dry flour, be careful not to over mix or the cake can become tough and dry.

Pour the cake batter into a lined and greased 8″ or 20cm cake pan or two 6″ cake pans. Place into a 180C / 350F oven for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Brown Sugar Buttercream

While the cake is cooling whip up the brown sugar buttercream.

Beat the butter using a stand mixer or a hand mixer until it has become light and fluffy and almost doubled in volume – about 3-4 minutes. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla essence to the butter and beat for a further minute to combine. Add the powdered sugar to the bowl and mix again for 2-3 minutes until the buttercream is light and fluffy.

Cake Assembly

Take your cake and using a serrated knife level off the top. If you would like to make a layer cake slice the cake evenly through the center. Alternatively you can double the recipe to make two cakes for a layer cake or bake 1 quantity of the recipe in two 6″ cake pans.

Take about 3/4 cup of the buttercream and using an offset spatula, spread it evenly over the cake. Top the buttercream with the second cake half and repeat with the buttercream. Using a bench scraper smooth the buttercream over the sides of the cake. 

Common Questions about this Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream

Why is my Banana Cake too moist?

There are a couple of things that can cause this. The first would be under baking. Make sure the cake tester comes out clean before taking the cake out of the oven. The other cause can be too much banana – I have given amounts in grams so you can be extra precise!

Do I need to use the Brown Sugar Buttercream?

No not at all. This is my favourite frosting for the banana cake but you could make a lemon icing or try my chocolate cream cheese frosting which would go perfect! 

How do I store the Banana Cake?

The banana cake will stay fresh for about 3 days but like with all baking it is better the day you bake it. Keep it in an airtight container at room temperature, there is no need to keep it in the fridge.

Equipment needed for this Banana Cake Recipe

• Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer – The butter and sugar needs to be creamed together for this recipe. You can do this by hand but it does take quite a few minutes so using a machine gets the job done so much quicker and easier.
• Measuring Cups or Digital Scale – To measure the ingredients for this recipe measuring cups or a digital scale can be used. I have given the amounts for both as different people have different preferences.
• Cake Pan – An 8″ or 20cm cake pan or two 6″ cake pans can be used for this recipe. If you are using an 8″ you will need to slice the cake through the center to make a layer cake or double the recipe. 
• Offset Spatula – To apply the buttercream to the cake an offset spatula makes this job so easy!

More Delicious Cake Recipes

• Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Vanilla Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream
• Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
• Funfetti Cake