A beautiful banana cake topped with a silky chocolate ganache 🍌🍫
If you’re anything like me, I bet you’ve currently got a few spotty bananas sitting on your kitchen counter, patiently waiting to go off. They’re not quite brown enough to throw away yet, but we all know no one is actually going to eat them. You’ll walk past them day after day until you finally pluck up the courage to add them to your freezer collection… only to head to the supermarket and buy another bunch to take their place.
Instead, give those bananas the life they deserve and turn them into this incredibly soft and moist banana cake. I tested this recipe more times than I’d like to admit because I find so many banana cake recipes end up feeling heavy, dense and a little too “cakey.” I wanted something that still had that rich banana flavour but with a much lighter, fluffier crumb that practically melts in your mouth. After plenty of tweaking, this is the version I kept coming back to.
Why you’ll love this recipe…
The banana cake is finished with the dreamiest buttery milk chocolate ganache, which is silky smooth, easy to make and pairs perfectly with the sweet banana flavour. It looks so elegant despite taking only a few minutes to decorate, making it perfect for birthdays, afternoon tea, or simply just to use up those overripe bananas before they’re destined for the bin
I love decorating mine with chocolate shavings and crunchy banana chips. They instantly make the cake look bakery-worthy with almost no extra effort, and the little bit of crunch is the perfect finishing touch. It’s one of those cakes that looks incredibly impressive sitting on the table, but is wonderfully simple to make at home.
Recipe FAQs:
The best bananas to use are super ripe, going brown, bananas. The riper the bananas the more sweet they become making them perfect for your banana cake.
Yes! Frozen bananas work brilliantly in this recipe. Simply thaw them completely and drain off any excess liquid before mashing.
If your banana cake turns out dense or stodgy, it’s usually because the batter has been overmixed or the bananas were puréed instead of mashed. Once you add the flour, gently fold the batter together until it’s just combined, as overmixing develops the gluten and can make the cake heavier.
It’s also important to mash your bananas with a fork rather than blitzing them into a smooth purée. While it might seem like an easier option, puréed bananas release more moisture into the batter, which can make the finished cake dense instead of light and fluffy. A few small lumps of banana are exactly what you’re after!
The cake should be lightly golden on top and spring back when gently pressed. Insert a skewer or knife into the centre—it should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
Cooling the cake upside down gently flattens the domed top, giving you a beautifully level surface for spreading the ganache. It’s a simple trick that makes the finished cake look much neater without needing to trim it.
Yes you can store the cake in the fridge, however it’s best eaten at room temperature. If you store the cake in the fridge keep it covered or in an airtight container, and sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before enjoying.
Storage:
Keep this cake stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. This is one of those cakes that is still delicious even a few days later! You can also try warming each slice in the microwave for 10–15 seconds, my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
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A Perfect Banana Cake (with Chocolate Ganache)
Equipment
- 8 inch / 20cm cake tin
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 90 g neutral oil e.g. vegetable or canola
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 large bananas mashed with a fork
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 200 g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp milk
Buttery Chocolate Ganache
- 150 g good quality milk chocolate I always use Whittakers Creamy Milk
- 75 g butter
- 75 g cream
To Decorate
- 50 g milk chocolate
- 50 g banana chips
Instructions
Banana Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC (conventional oven/fan bake). Grease a 20cm cake tin and line the bottom with baking paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, sugars, vanilla bean paste and salt.
- Whisk in the eggs one at a time making sure the first one is fully incorporated before adding the next.
- Switch to a spatular or wooden spoon and gently fold in the mashed bananas, followed by the baking powder, baking soda and plain flour. Finally fold through the milk.
- Pour the cake batter into your cake tin, level out using the back of a spoon or off set spatular and bake for 45 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and cooked through. Pop a skewer/knife into the middle, if it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs it is ready. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin then flip the cake out, upside down, onto a sheet of baking paper and allow to cool fully. Cooling the cake upside down will give it a lovely level top ready for decorating.
Buttery Chocolate Ganache
- Break up the chocolate and place into a large heatproof bowl along with the butter. Melt together over a bain-marie while gently stirring with a spatular until fully melted. (Alternatively you can melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave in 30 second increments mixing in between each, just be careful not to let it get too hot or the mixture may split)
- Once fully melted, remove the bowl from the heat, pour in the cream and stir with a wooden spoon or spatular until incorporated and glossy.
- Allow to cool completely until the ganache thickens, ideally at room temperature but you can pop it into the fridge if you don’t have the time. Just make sure to give it a mix every 10 minutes or so to help it cool evenly.
To Assemble
- Place the cooled cake onto a plate or cake board.
- Top with the chocolate ganache and use the back of a spoon or an off set spatular to lather it over the top of the cake.
- Decorate with banana chips then use a peeler to shave chocolate curls onto the top of the cake, then enjoy! This cake is best kept and enjoyed at room temperature.
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