VT
Ripe bananas are the secret to this simple banana cake.
Think of this recipe as a blueprint for all sorts of different cakes.
Once you are comfortable with the basic ingredient list, you can substitute your own favorite flavors.
Instead of bananas, use applesauce or peach puree. Swap nuts for toasted oats or berries or chocolate chips. I like to make a double batch and freeze the extra loaves for unexpected company or last minute gifts. I hope you’ll share with me your own creative versions!
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Gather and measure all your ingredients before you begin.
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Dig In to Simple Banana Cake.
Anytime of day:
Breakfast: Serve warm banana bread slices with butter and honey.
Cheese plate: Cube banana bread, add toothpicks and serve with fruit and cheese.
Tea sandwiches: Freeze first and then thinly slice frozen banana bread. Thaw slices and fill with whipped cream cheese or peanut butter.
Simple Banana Cake
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert/Breakfast/Snack
- Cuisine: American
This is the only banana bread recipe you’ll ever need and my most famous recipe! Requested by my closest friends and chefs from my cooking school days!
Ingredients
- 2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas, about 1 cup mashed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs, room temp
- 1 t vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1½ t white vinegar
- grated zest of 1 orange or 4 small clementines
- 2 cups (260 g.) AP flour + 1 t baking soda, sifted
- ¾ t kosher salt
- 1 cup toasted pecan halves, chopped*
- Reserve 16 extra halves for decoration
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 F or 400 F convection.
- Spray bottom and sides of 2 9” loaf pans with cooking spray.
- Line pans with parchment paper (7” x 9”), so that the paper lines just the bottom of the pan and comes up both sides. (This will make a sling to lift out the cake.)
- On a foil-lined baking sheet, toast pecans at 325 F or 300 F convection for 15 -20 minutes.
- Let cool, and reserve 16 halves for decoration. Chop the rest and set aside.
- Using an electric or handheld mixer on low speed, thoroughly combine banana puree with both white and brown sugars.
- Keep mixer on low and add oil, then eggs and vanilla, then sour cream, vinegar and orange zest.
- Mix well after each addition.
- Add sifted flour, soda and salt mixture, 1/3 at a time, until flour mixture just disappears.
- Gently stir in chopped pecans.
- Divide mixture into 2 loaf pans. Gently place 8 nuts randomly on top of each loaf.
- Bake in the middle rack at 425 F or 400 F convection for 5 minutes, then lower the oven to 350F (325 F convection) and bake for another 40 -45 minutes.
- Check with a toothpick for doneness after 35 minutes or so.
- Place pans on a wire rack until completely cool.
- Take a butter knife and gently run it along both ends of the cake to loosen, then carefully lift out cake by holding the paper sides.
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| Banana cake tastes even better on the second day! |
This looks delicious! I’m allergic to bananas, so thank you for the substitution idea. I’m going to try this recipe and let you know how it turns out!
Applesauce sour cream cake is super versatile! Can’t wait to hear about the results!
I always keep a bunch of overripe bananas in the freezer for recipes like this one and for smoothies. I found that if I microwave them for about 25 seconds they peel easily.
Great idea! Or….peel them BEFORE you freeze them. Coat them first with a little orange juice or honey/water mixture to keep them from turning brown.
Take them out of the freezer the night before you want to use them
and they’ll be good to go in the AM.