Put those ripe bananas to use in this easy banana cake with pecan cream cheese frosting recipe. You may never make banana bread again!
Oh, this cake. I love it for so many reasons. I love it because of its delectable banana goodness. I love it because I make it in my blender. I like it because it comes out perfectly every single time. I love it because it is one of those cakes where you only have to frost the top and not the sides (I am never good at frosting the sides. It’s a thing. I don’t know why.) I love it because it it gets made in a springform pan so there is no will-the-cake-come-out-of-the-pan-without-falling-apart anxiety. I LOVE THIS CAKE!
You really do make the cake in the blender. I just got a Vitamix and and am looking for every excuse I can find to use it, but any blender will do. Blend it all up, pour it into a springform pan and bake it up. Your kitchen will smell like a banana cake wonderland.
Once it is done, you are going to make a quick cream cheese frosting out of cream cheese, butter, sugar and a little vanilla. Frost the top only.
Make a pretty pattern while you are at it. Cream cheese frosting is very sturdy and reliable, so if you need to redo it a few times until you are perfectly happy with it (that would be me!) you can.
Now, your fabulous banana cake will be perfectly fine just like this. But I like to go the extra mile and sprinkle chopped candied pecans on top. (The Southern husband would like to take this opportunity to let everyone know that the proper pronunciation of this word is PE-can. Not puh-CAHN. PEEEE-can. In case you needed to know that.) If you don’t have PE-cans handy, you can use candied walnuts, or toasted walnuts or anything along those lines. You could even go rogue and use toasted coconut. But I had candied pecans, so candied pecans it was!
And we all lived happily ever after.
PrintBanana Cake with Pecan Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 1 cup of mashed ripe bananas (2-3)
- 1 1/2 cup superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
For the frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons of butter at room temperature.
- 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup chopped candied pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9 inch springform pan.
- Place butter, banana, sugar, vaniila, eggs and milk into a blender and process until smooth.
- Mix baking soda with flour and add to blender. Process until just combined.
- Put batter in springform pan and bake until toothpick comes out clean, about one hour.
- When cake is cool, make frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy and well-combined. On the slowest setting, beat in sugar and then vanilla. If the frosting seems too thick to you, add a tablespoon of milk.
- Frost the top only of the cake. Sprinkle with pecans and serve!
s says
Would this work in a bundt pan? Or a normal cake pan?
Kate Morgan Jackson says
Hi there! I think this is too much batter for a regular cake pan, but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t make the cake in a Bundt pan. As with any Bundt cake, just remember to cool it completely before you turn it out of the pan so it doesn’t break. Happy baking!
ruthie says
PEE-can! LOL! That;’s how I learned to say it, but, once, years ago, in a chain restaurant, I ordered a piece of pee-can pie. The snippy little waitress said, “So, you would like the puh-CAHN pie?” I looked at my friend, rolled my eyes and said, “Yes. I would like the PEE-can pie,” and dared her to try to “correct” me one more time. She just sniffed and walked away. Really, what is wrong with people???
Anyway, a cake made in a blender is a very good thing. I just dug out my mom’s old Vita Mix and will re-christen it with this recipe. Still don’t have any bananas, though. ;) I’ll get some, promise. Thanks!
Judith - Texas says
I love this cake with only the top frosted; however, frosting the sides is easy – just put wax paper or parchment paper wide strips along the edge of your cake stand/plate, etc. ….when you place the unfrosted cake on the cake stand/plate they (strips) should be UNDER the edge of your cake…no gaps. Frost the sides of your cake first (it’s ok if you get frosting on the paper strips)…then frost the top. After the frosting has set, simply remove the strips (just pull towards you…any frosting on the strips comes out with the strip)…frosting professional looking and no mess on the serving plate. Learned this in Wilton Cake Decorating class.
Kate says
Thanks, Judith! Love this side-frosting tip. :)
Joanne says
Frosting cake sides is definitely my weakness also. But this cake is such a stunner even without frosted sides! I love that you can make it in a blender…so easy.
Kate says
What is it about blending things that makes us so happy? Never mind – who cares? Let’s blend!!
Sarah @ Sarah Cooks the Books says
Not a huge fan of pecans on or in baked goods, but the rest of this looks fantastic!
Karen Nelson says
I love PEcans! This looks like a wonderful cake I might just have to try this weekend!
Company coming:-)
Ask the Southern husband .. Does he say
APE ri cot…. Or AP ri cot?;-)!