This is the first cake, cake, with layers and frosting, I’ve made since we’ve moved to Connecticut. I’ve been in a funk.
Complaining over my two very small plots of counter space.
Complaining that Trader Joe’s is a good 15 minute drive as opposed to my less than 5 minute walk in Chicago.
A little too pessimistic. And a little too ungrateful for my own good, and anyone else’s good for that matter.
Sometimes you have to get the mixer out even when you don’t want to. And make a cake that wooed you once before. To remind yourself that 2 small plots of counter space and a 15 minute drive aren’t all that bad.
If there’s one thing that can get me out of a funk, it’s Roasted Banana Cake with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. This cake has healing powers. Take my word.
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 c.) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 3/4 c. cane sugar
4 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
Frosting
2 sticks (1 c.) unsalted butter, room temperature
16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
dash of sea salt
3–4 c. powdered sugar
2–4 tbsp. heavy cream, if necessary
Instructions
Make cake. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place bananas on a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes or until browned, flipping half way through. Set aside and allow to cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Line the bottoms of the 9-inch pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.
Using a food processor or high-powered blender, puree wet ingredients until evenly combined. Set aside.
Meanwhile, begin creaming together butter and sugar in a standing mixer on low speed for about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides, and add in eggs one at a time and continue mixing on low speed until evenly combined. Scrape down sides of bowl once again and mix until evenly combined.
Still on low speed, alternate adding the dry and wet mixtures starting with the dry. This should take about 1 minute.
Scrape down the sides one final time and mix the batter on medium-high speed for about 30 seconds to develop the structure of the batter.
Using a spring release scoop, evenly distribute the batter between the two pans.
Bake for 26-28 minutes or until top of cake is golden and center of cake springs back when touched. If making cupcakes, bake for about 22 minutes.
Allow to cool completely. Carefully run a knife around the edge of the cake pan. Remove from pan and continue cooling on a rack.
Make frosting. Place one stick of butter in a small saucepan. Cook on medium-high heat until butter is browned, about 5 minutes. Pour into small bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes to cool.
Once cooled, cream together browned butter, regular butter, and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla extract and salt. Mix.
Add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Mix well between each addition. After 3 cups, taste to see if additional sugar is necessary. Add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency (optional).
Assembly. Remove parchment paper from bottoms of cake. Place bottom layer of cake on cake stand, leveling the top if necessary. Add a layer of icing. Place second layer on top, leveling if necessary. Dirty ice the cake by adding a thin layer of icing to lock in the crumbs. Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes to chill. Finish icing the rest of the cake with an offset spatula. Using the back of a spoon, pull the icing in an arch to create effect. Continue to pull the icing in an arch around the top of the cake.
Garnish. Sprinkle shaved dark chocolate in the center of the cake, if desired.
Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Serve cake at room temperature.
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Cake recipe adapted from Warren Brown’s, Cake Love.
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I found your recipe a month ago when I had bananas dying on the counter. I made them into cupcakes then, and again tonight. They are everything a banana cake should be! I sent my husband into work with them, and got a handwritten thank you note from the entire floor! Thanks for a great recipe, and keep up the great work!
GF note: I made these cupcakes with equal amount of Bob’s Red Mill GF baking flour, omitted the potato starch, and increased the baking soda to 3/4 teaspoon. It turned out perfectly.
Hi I am new to baking and trying to use up ripe bananas. I came across your lovely recipe and looks like I need to look no further than this. I have one query though, what is half and half mentioned in wet ingredients ?
I know this is an old post but for dishes that are cooked or baked, you may substitute 4-1/2 teaspoons melted butter plus enough whole milk to equal 1 cup. One cup of evaporated milk may also be substituted for each cup of half-and-half cream. Hope this helps.
I made this cake, and was very nuch worth the effort. I used one ripe banana and two ripe plantains. My cake consistency wasn’t heavy but wasn’t light either…kind of like a carrot cake, but not moist like a carrot cake. The frosting tasted like a professional tasting icing. I’m not into baking, and so i fond the rexile a bit of work. BUT I will definitely make this gem of a cake again!
It was a huge hit! Equally loved by my sweet-tooth birthday boy and his two anti-cake (can you believe it?) older brothers. I made 2 1/2 times your fabulous recipe, used your groovy swirl design on top and everybody raved and raved about it. Only change I made was to reduce the powdered sugar by a cup to satisfy the two big boys. That roasted banana flavor and the browned butter were just over-the-top good – thanks so much for the delicious recipe!
This looks amazing! I am thinking of trying to convert the recipe to fit two 13″ pans for a big ole’ 4th birthday party – do you think that would work? My little boy has specifically asked for a “banana cake birthday” :).
Sorry for the confusion! I changed “liquid” to “wet” ingredients. The bananas get pureed with the other wet ingredients. You can buy potato starch in most stores in the speciality flour section. I usually buy Bob’s Red Mill. Turbinado is also readily available. It’s also called Sugar in the Raw. You can usually find it near other sugars. Hope this helps! Let me know if any other questions pop up.
Hello! I’ve just stumbled upon your blog for the first time and I have to tell you I’m oh-so-inspired by it! I’m doing a mental overview of all upcoming friend and family birthdays and festive gatherings to make these tasty treats for! One question, though– how does one roast a banana? In or out of the peel? halved? Thanks!
Thanks Hannah! To roast the banana, just place the whole thing on a baking sheet. The skin will turn nice and brown letting you know it’s ready. Then squeeze out the roasted goodness into the batter. Hope you like the cake!
Opps, I’m just now reading comments–while I wait for the dirty frosting cooling to finish. I took the bananas out of the peel and roasted. Guess I’ll find out if that made the experiment a disaster!
hi this cake sounds amazing and I bet it taste amazing as well. It’s not easy to find nutmeg from where I come from. is it possible to substitute it for sth else?
Made this cake today for my son’s 1st birthday party….phenomenal!!! The frosting is genius…I sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on the bananas while roasting to give them a little brûlée flavor. Yumm……may need a midnight snack tonight…
ok…i am seeing this through my friend athena’s feed…and so thankful. i need to make this happy cake and i have all the ingredients except the potato starch. and, actually, i’ve never baked with potato starch. can i sub corn starch? ;)gina
So glad you stopped by and said hey! I LOVE Athena! I had someone else ask me the same question and I’m not quite sure of the answer. I keep potato starch on hand (in the freezer) because I use it in all my cakes. It yields a really nice crumb. I would imagine the two starches act similarly but I’m not 100% sure. You’ll have to let me know if you end up trying it!
Canadian dilemma: my nearest Trader Joe’s is a 1 hour, cross-border drive. When we road-trip to ‘Mericuh, my man looks on with so much skepticism as I stuff almond meal and enchilada sauce into all available nooks and crannies of my luggage. We got searched flying back from Boston this summer. It was embarrassing.
But I hear you on this! Sometimes you need to get some perspective and just make a gorgeous cake. You win on all counts, friend. Love that festive chocolate dusting up top.
Healing powers indeed! This cake looks dreamy — and with the extra bananas on my counter and an impending snowstorm, it seems like the perfect opportunity to bake this and eat it too!
I want to try this cake this week-end for sure! Great recipe and beatiful picture! I just want to make sure if i could use corn starch instead of potato starch? Thank you.
I’ve always used potato starch in my cakes, so I’m not sure what corn starch would do. But from what I’ve read it shouldn’t have adverse effects. Let me know if you end up trying it! Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you.
AMAZING!!! This is probably one of the prettiest cakes I’ve seen in a long time. The frosting is perfection. I’ve pinned the recipe and I’m making this at the next birthday party!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I’ve really only tried a handful of times, but I have this goal to make one tasty and beautiful cake, and I have yet to accomplish both. Cake always a bit dry, the frosting just tasting like butter…which may because I made it and saw that is, essentially what it is. I do love the faint taste of banana in cakes and breads, so I love the idea of it in a cake. Next time the urge strikes, would love to make a lovely cake like yours. At least that frosting, oh my.
I’m with you on dry cakes! I’ve had so many bad cakes. I usually pass them up for this reason. This cake is actually good without any frosting too. I adapt all my cake recipes from Warren Brown’s cookbook, Cake Love. His cake recipes are seriously the best. They are high in fat, which I’ve found is the only way to consistently make a good cake (texture, flavor, etc). You never has to mask the flavor of his cakes with overly buttery frosting. PS—I saw your pretty chocolate cake via Instie. It looked heavenly! PPS—making your brussels sprout dish soon. My husband went gaga over it when I showed him the post.
Beautiful! Also, thank you for the tip on Instagram to “dirty ice” your cake to keep crumbs out of the icing. I am sure this will help me in my future icing endeavors!
I hold the belief that cake can make anything better. Your cake makes me happy just looking at your photos! This is going in my “must-try” recipe file.
Mmmm I love roasted bananas. I agree, they are the perfect thing to get one out of a funk, baked up in a lovely layer cake, spooned over vanilla ice cream, or otherwise. This cake sounds and looks wonderful.
Lady! This is a gorgeous (and delicious sounding) cake. I need to make a scaled down version of it for Thom – he loves bananas and browned butter.
PS – I, too, have a measly two plots of counter space. And I think I complain about it every single day. Sigh. Could be worse. We could have only one plot. Or, dare I say – NO COUNTER SPACE!
I should have noted this—I halved the recipe (I usually do when I’m just making it for Kev and I) and baked it in my 6″ cake pans. They are a dream come true. I only have two right now. I need to get my hands on a third. And cheers to two plots! Because two is better than none. We can commiserate together (on the bad days).
That cake looks beautiful! It haunted my instagram feed all weekend. I might have to make it to get out of my own funk. I think it’s due to work overload, being sick of winter, and just having a bad attitude. This cake looks like it could change things around for me too. Hang in there girl! Things will look up! Spring will come, the sun will shine and the flowers will bloom.
Delicious recipe. Banana is my favorite for sure
I found your recipe a month ago when I had bananas dying on the counter. I made them into cupcakes then, and again tonight. They are everything a banana cake should be! I sent my husband into work with them, and got a handwritten thank you note from the entire floor! Thanks for a great recipe, and keep up the great work!
GF note: I made these cupcakes with equal amount of Bob’s Red Mill GF baking flour, omitted the potato starch, and increased the baking soda to 3/4 teaspoon. It turned out perfectly.
Hi I am new to baking and trying to use up ripe bananas. I came across your lovely recipe and looks like I need to look no further than this. I have one query though, what is half and half mentioned in wet ingredients ?
Hi Hazel! It’s an ingredient only sold in the US (I believe) made from half cream and half milk. Hope you like this cake!
I know this is an old post but for dishes that are cooked or baked, you may substitute 4-1/2 teaspoons melted butter plus enough whole milk to equal 1 cup. One cup of evaporated milk may also be substituted for each cup of half-and-half cream. Hope this helps.
I made this cake, and was very nuch worth the effort. I used one ripe banana and two ripe plantains. My cake consistency wasn’t heavy but wasn’t light either…kind of like a carrot cake, but not moist like a carrot cake. The frosting tasted like a professional tasting icing. I’m not into baking, and so i fond the rexile a bit of work. BUT I will definitely make this gem of a cake again!
Thanks for the feedback Susan! So glad you liked it!
It was a huge hit! Equally loved by my sweet-tooth birthday boy and his two anti-cake (can you believe it?) older brothers. I made 2 1/2 times your fabulous recipe, used your groovy swirl design on top and everybody raved and raved about it. Only change I made was to reduce the powdered sugar by a cup to satisfy the two big boys. That roasted banana flavor and the browned butter were just over-the-top good – thanks so much for the delicious recipe!
This looks amazing! I am thinking of trying to convert the recipe to fit two 13″ pans for a big ole’ 4th birthday party – do you think that would work? My little boy has specifically asked for a “banana cake birthday” :).
Yep! I’d recommend lining the bottom of the pan for easy removal. Let me know how you end up scaling the recipe. Happy big 4th!!
I do not bake very often at all…but love banana cake.
When exactly do the bananas go in?
Can one buy potato starch? Turbinado?
Sorry for the confusion! I changed “liquid” to “wet” ingredients. The bananas get pureed with the other wet ingredients. You can buy potato starch in most stores in the speciality flour section. I usually buy Bob’s Red Mill. Turbinado is also readily available. It’s also called Sugar in the Raw. You can usually find it near other sugars. Hope this helps! Let me know if any other questions pop up.
Thank you!!
Hello! I’ve just stumbled upon your blog for the first time and I have to tell you I’m oh-so-inspired by it! I’m doing a mental overview of all upcoming friend and family birthdays and festive gatherings to make these tasty treats for! One question, though– how does one roast a banana? In or out of the peel? halved? Thanks!
Thanks Hannah! To roast the banana, just place the whole thing on a baking sheet. The skin will turn nice and brown letting you know it’s ready. Then squeeze out the roasted goodness into the batter. Hope you like the cake!
Opps, I’m just now reading comments–while I wait for the dirty frosting cooling to finish. I took the bananas out of the peel and roasted. Guess I’ll find out if that made the experiment a disaster!
hi this cake sounds amazing and I bet it taste amazing as well. It’s not easy to find nutmeg from where I come from. is it possible to substitute it for sth else?
You can probably leave the nutmeg out without too noticeable of a difference. But if you can find all spice, that should work!
Made this cake today for my son’s 1st birthday party….phenomenal!!! The frosting is genius…I sprinkled a bit of brown sugar on the bananas while roasting to give them a little brûlée flavor. Yumm……may need a midnight snack tonight…
Oh the brown sugar idea is genius! Yum yum! So glad you liked the cake. Happy birthday to your little man!
I swear CT isn’t that bad! You will hopefully love it come spring 😉
I’m about to start making this right now for my daughter’s birthday cake. Thanks for the recipe!
Exquisite! Based on this cake, and dazzling photos, one would never guess that you were lacking in counter space and nearby Trader Joe’s. 😉
ok…i am seeing this through my friend athena’s feed…and so thankful. i need to make this happy cake and i have all the ingredients except the potato starch. and, actually, i’ve never baked with potato starch. can i sub corn starch? ;)gina
So glad you stopped by and said hey! I LOVE Athena! I had someone else ask me the same question and I’m not quite sure of the answer. I keep potato starch on hand (in the freezer) because I use it in all my cakes. It yields a really nice crumb. I would imagine the two starches act similarly but I’m not 100% sure. You’ll have to let me know if you end up trying it!
Sorry about the funk, friend. I think you’ve remedied it brilliantly.
Canadian dilemma: my nearest Trader Joe’s is a 1 hour, cross-border drive. When we road-trip to ‘Mericuh, my man looks on with so much skepticism as I stuff almond meal and enchilada sauce into all available nooks and crannies of my luggage. We got searched flying back from Boston this summer. It was embarrassing.
But I hear you on this! Sometimes you need to get some perspective and just make a gorgeous cake. You win on all counts, friend. Love that festive chocolate dusting up top.
This is a must try some day soon 🙂
Hell. Yes.
this totally looks therapeutic to me Melissa. I have never tried something so unique and heavenly frosting.
Healing powers indeed! This cake looks dreamy — and with the extra bananas on my counter and an impending snowstorm, it seems like the perfect opportunity to bake this and eat it too!
Oh my! I’m a sucker for banana desserts..with the addition of browned butter cream cheese frosting? Count me in!
Wow! This cake is gorgeous. Roasted bananas…in a cake with… a cream cheese frosting!? I’m smitten!
I want to try this cake this week-end for sure! Great recipe and beatiful picture! I just want to make sure if i could use corn starch instead of potato starch? Thank you.
I’ve always used potato starch in my cakes, so I’m not sure what corn starch would do. But from what I’ve read it shouldn’t have adverse effects. Let me know if you end up trying it! Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you.
THAT LOOKS GORGEOUS!
And even better, no cake mix! Something right up my alley. Thank you for posting.
Your pictures are beautiful by the way :).
This cake is perfect!
You’ve read my mind… I’ve been craving a banana cake and this is beyond perfect. Gorg photos, as always, Melissa.
AMAZING!!! This is probably one of the prettiest cakes I’ve seen in a long time. The frosting is perfection. I’ve pinned the recipe and I’m making this at the next birthday party!! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
I’ll take your word. Beautiful job!
MM bananas and brown butter sound like the perfect way to get anyone out of a funk!
This just looks, sounds, and I’m certain tastes amazing! Already pinned it.
This cake sounds fantastic! Not only I like the roasted banana part, the brown butter frosting also sounds very good! Saving the recipe for sure. 🙂
I’ve really only tried a handful of times, but I have this goal to make one tasty and beautiful cake, and I have yet to accomplish both. Cake always a bit dry, the frosting just tasting like butter…which may because I made it and saw that is, essentially what it is. I do love the faint taste of banana in cakes and breads, so I love the idea of it in a cake. Next time the urge strikes, would love to make a lovely cake like yours. At least that frosting, oh my.
I’m with you on dry cakes! I’ve had so many bad cakes. I usually pass them up for this reason. This cake is actually good without any frosting too. I adapt all my cake recipes from Warren Brown’s cookbook, Cake Love. His cake recipes are seriously the best. They are high in fat, which I’ve found is the only way to consistently make a good cake (texture, flavor, etc). You never has to mask the flavor of his cakes with overly buttery frosting. PS—I saw your pretty chocolate cake via Instie. It looked heavenly! PPS—making your brussels sprout dish soon. My husband went gaga over it when I showed him the post.
Sounds and looks incredible! Beautiful photos!
Well thank goodness you’re back at it. And with a total beauty!! This cake looks so tasty!!
Beautiful! Also, thank you for the tip on Instagram to “dirty ice” your cake to keep crumbs out of the icing. I am sure this will help me in my future icing endeavors!
My goodness this must be delicious!!! I love your simple swirl decorating! =)
I hold the belief that cake can make anything better. Your cake makes me happy just looking at your photos! This is going in my “must-try” recipe file.
This is my dream cake. That is all. Gooood-niiight!
Mmmm I love roasted bananas. I agree, they are the perfect thing to get one out of a funk, baked up in a lovely layer cake, spooned over vanilla ice cream, or otherwise. This cake sounds and looks wonderful.
Lady! This is a gorgeous (and delicious sounding) cake. I need to make a scaled down version of it for Thom – he loves bananas and browned butter.
PS – I, too, have a measly two plots of counter space. And I think I complain about it every single day. Sigh. Could be worse. We could have only one plot. Or, dare I say – NO COUNTER SPACE!
I should have noted this—I halved the recipe (I usually do when I’m just making it for Kev and I) and baked it in my 6″ cake pans. They are a dream come true. I only have two right now. I need to get my hands on a third. And cheers to two plots! Because two is better than none. We can commiserate together (on the bad days).
That cake looks beautiful! It haunted my instagram feed all weekend. I might have to make it to get out of my own funk. I think it’s due to work overload, being sick of winter, and just having a bad attitude. This cake looks like it could change things around for me too. Hang in there girl! Things will look up! Spring will come, the sun will shine and the flowers will bloom.
Amen, amen, amen! Thanks for the encouragement, Abby!