How to make Banana Cake

Many people are confused about the differences between banana cake and banana bread. Despite sounding similar, they’re actually quite different. We’ll show you how to make a banana cake with passionfruit cream cheese icing.

A traditional banana cake is made like a butter cake with the addition of mashed banana for flavour. Banana bread has a firmer more dense texture than banana cake and is great for slicing and toasting.

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Step 2

Grease a round 20cm cake pan with melted butter. Line the base with baking paper.

Step 3

Use an electric mixer to beat 125 grams of soft butter, 1 and a quarter cups of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a medium bowl until pale and creamy.

Step 4

Add two eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition until just combined.

Step 5

Add 1 cup self-raising flour, a half cup plain flour, a half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, 1 and a half cups mashed banana, which is equivalent to about three large over-ripe bananas and half a cup of buttermilk in batches, stirring with a wooden spoon between each addition until just combined. Do not over stir as this will over work the batter, resulting in a more dense cake.

Step 6

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a small palette knife or the back of a spoon.

Step 7

Bake in preheated oven for one hour or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Step 8

To make the passionfruit cream-cheese icing, use an electric mixer to beat 125 grams of cream cheese and 40 grams of softened butter in a bowl until smooth and creamy.

Step 9

Gradually add one cup of icing sugar, in batches, beating well after each addition. Add 2 tablespoons of passionfruit pulp and beat until well combined.