Banana Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

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What’s better than banana bread? Banana CAKE. Extra moist, topped with frosting and more fun to look at. Nathan challenged me to come up with a cake recipe without looking at anything, and this is what I decided on! And we loved it. (He also tried to make a cake. We had to throw it out. That’s why he does the dishes instead :)) The inspiration behind this came from Magnolia Bakery’s renowned banana bread pudding – if you live in Chicago or New York, you might know what I’m talking about!! But this cake is luckily not $65 bucks!!

This is a simple banana cake recipe that should only take around 20 minutes before shoving it into the oven. Also – it’s only one tier. So if you wanted to make this cake two tiers, double the recipe and split the cake batter across two round cake pans. (This will give you a “naked” cake effect, so you may need to triple the frosting if you want all sides covered).

But listen, I can’t just make a giant cake right now with no one to eat it. It’s still quarantine and I have no where to bring these things. So I apologize – this was one tier and we ate it for several days but I never got tired of it.

How to make banana cake at home

It’s basically like making banana bread. It involves room temperature butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla. However, I only used one banana here. I didn’t want the cake to SCREAM banana. Instead, I wanted it to nicely compliment the cinnamon flavor in the buttercream. To keep it moist, I also added in a bit of oil, which meant the cake had to bake for at least 20 minutes with all that good fat in there.

It’s basically just this: mix the wet ingredients, and then mix in the dry. All done! I promise it’s moist and delicious.

I do use coconut milk in the recipe to give it an extra kick of nutty sweetness, but you could use regular milk here as well. I incorporated some shredded coconut, which bakes into soft pieces throughout the cake, but feel free to omit if you don’t want it. It won’t affect the integrity of the bake.

How to make Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

I’m not actually sure what you call frosting that has both butter and cream cheese. However, it’s a great combination for the cake. I usually see banana cake with cream cheese frosting, but I wanted it to be a little lighter so I added the butter!

All you have to do is whip the butter before adding in the powdered sugar. I don’t use a lot because I do not like super sweet frosting. If you do – add more! The more powdered sugar, the thicker the frosting will become.

The cream cheese and cinnamon add a rich flavor to this mixture, so I couldn’t resist! Just make sure your cream cheese isn’t hard as a rock so it incorporates nicely.

And that’s it! Frost your cake and it’s ready to eat! Keep this cake covered. You can leave it at room temperature for a day or two, but then I would recommend moving it to the fridge because of the frosting.

If you want more dessert recipes, try my Chocolate Bourbon Cupcakes with Cinnamon Buttercream or my Vanilla Birthday Cake Blondies.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Banana Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

This single tier banana cake is a delicious and moist dessert that is like banana bread, but better!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Bake Time25 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: banana bread, banana cake, bourbon cupcakes, frosting

Servings: 8 slices

Calories: 450kcal

Cost: $20

Equipment

• a standard round cake pan (8 or 9 inch)
• electric mixer
• spatula or spoon
• two mixing bowls

Ingredients

Banana Cake

• 8 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 brownish banana mashed
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup coconut milk
• ¼ cup shredded coconut (optional)

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
• ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ½ cup cream cheese room temperature
• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Either line your cake pan with parchment paper or grease it thoroughly with oil or butter.
• In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, whipping it with the electric mixer on medium for 1-2 minutes. Then add your mashed banana and mix again for 30 seconds until combined. Add the canola oil, vanilla extract and 2 eggs, and beat until combined, another 1-2 minutes.
• Add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and and beat together on low for 1 minute, until the batter comes together and no lumps remain. At this point, the batter should appear a bit thick. Add in the coconut milk and mix until the batter has loosened. If it still isn't a runny consistency, add some more coconut milk.
• Gently fold in the shredded coconut (optional) with a spatula.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20-23 minutes, until slightly golden brown. A knife should come out clean when inserted. Set aside to cool.
• In the meantime, make the frosting. In a clean bowl, beat the butter until soft and whipped, about 1 minute. Add in the powdered sugar and beat for an additional minute. The frosting should start to thicken. Add in the cinnamon, cream cheese and vanilla extract and beat on low until the mixture is thick and fully combined.
• Remove the cake from the pan and frost it. Enjoy!