This Moist Banana Cake is one of the easiest, most delicious cake recipes you'll ever make! It combines two 8-inch layers of moist banana cake with a malted chocolate mascarpone whipped cream that is out of this world good!
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Reasons You'll Love This Recipe
- Bananas and chocolate go so well together!
- It's a ridiculously moist banana cake.
- You can use a whisk, hand mixer, or stand mixer. A hand mixer or stand mixer is best for the malted chocolate whipped cream part.
- It's made of 2 8-inch layer banana cakes—great for a larger group or party!
- It's paired perfectly with this smooth, creamy, malted chocolate mascarpone whipped cream.
- Top this cake with some malted chocolate balls (like Whoppers) for a fun garnish!
If you'd like a smaller snack version of this with chocolate chips and a richer chocolate frosting, you'll enjoy my Banana Chocolate Chip Snack Cake! For more layered cake recipes, check out my Chocolate Chip Cake, Chocolate Brownie Cheesecake, and Chocolate Cake with Oreo Buttercream Frosting recipes!
Ingredients Needed
Grab a pen and paper (or your favorite shopping list app)! These are the items needed to make this two-layer banana cake recipe.
- All-Purpose Flour. Use what you have on hand. My favorite, though, is King Arthur Flour. For the best results, sift your all-purpose flour.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda. The usual leavening agents help give cakes their volume, structure, and volume. Make sure they're still fresh and haven't expired.
- Salt. Added to ensure things don't get too out of hand on the level of sweetness.
- Vegetable Oil. You can also use coconut oil, vegetable shortening, or unsalted butter. Note that using the shortening or butter may alter the structure and texture of the banana cake a little.
- Granulated Sugar. Added to give the cake a little sweetness.
- Eggs. You'll need large-size room-temperature eggs for this recipe.
- Sour Milk. This is whole milk plus lemon juice mixed together.
- Vanilla Extract. Rounds out all the flavors in this moist banana cake recipe.
- Bananas. You will need medium-sized bananas, which give this cake its very moist texture. Please ensure they are well-ripened and mashed before adding them to your mixture.
To make the malted chocolate mascarpone whipped cream, you'll need the following:
- Malted Milk Powder. I used Nestle's brand, but King Arthur also makes a good malted milk powder.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Powdered Sugar
- Heavy Whipping Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Mascarpone Cheese. For a much lighter topping, you can omit the mascarpone cheese.
For quantities and instructions, please see the recipe card below.
How Do I Make Sour Milk?
Sour milk can sometimes be used as a substitute for buttermilk (see my Single Layer Red Velvet Cake recipe as an example) and is really easy to make. You'll need it to make this moist banana cake recipe.
You can find this in the recipe instructions below, but to make sour milk, whisk in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice with 1 cup of whole milk. If you don't have lemon juice, white distilled vinegar can be used as a substitute. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before you add it to the cake batter.
Here's How to Make It!
Below is a very brief overview of how to make this delicious, super-moist banana cake! For the full printable recipe, scroll down to the recipe card below. You'll have the choice to make this banana cake using US customary or metric measurements.
- Make the sour milk and mash your bananas. Always good to do these two steps before starting to help keep the recipe process moving. Prep your cake tins and preheat your oven too.
- Sift together the dry ingredients. This includes all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Alternatively, you can sift just the all-purpose flour, then whisk in the remaining dry ingredients.
- Whisk the wet ingredients. Start with just the vegetable oil and granulated sugar. Add in the eggs.
- Alternate adding the sour milk with the dry ingredients. Add in the vanilla and mashed bananas. Mix until everything is just combined.
- Divide the banana cake batter into the cake tins, then bake. 28-30 minutes at 350ºF. Let the banana cake layers cool completely. Cake layers can be made and kept frozen for up to a month in the freezer.
- Frost the cake. Once the cake layers are cooled, frost them with the malted chocolate mascarpone whipped cream.
The Best Baking Tools
To make this easy banana cake recipe, check out the recommended baking tools I used below! You can use a whisk, hand mixer, or stand mixer for this recipe.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. If you're going by the metric weight of the all-purpose flour (recommended), sift the all-purpose flour directly into the mixing bowl that is on top of your food scale. If you are measuring your ingredients using a measuring cup, I recommend sifting
This means it is weighed before it's sifted. Or the all-purpose flour is sifted into a mixing bowl that is sitting on the food scale. If the all-purpose is noted as 'all-purpose flour, sifted,' this means you should weigh your all-purpose flour after it's weighed.
You can try these three ways to prevent your cake layers from getting a domed-shape top:
1. Use a heating core in the center of your cake pan. I've never tried this, but some say it works well. 2. Use cake baking strips. I've used my Wilton baking strips many times, and they work well. 3. Tap the cake tins. By gently tapping the filled cake tins on the counter before baking, you'll release any air bubbles.
Yes! Cake layers can be made and kept frozen for up to a month in the freezer. Double-wrap them in plastic wrap, place them in a labeled freezer bag, then into the freezer on a level surface. Cakes can be frosted from frozen. They do not need to be defrosted first.
More Cake Recipes to Enjoy!
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📖 Recipe
The Best Banana Cake
Author:Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour (sifted)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 cup Whole Milk (mix with lemon juice for sour milk)
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice (only to be mixed with the milk)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 medium Bananas (well-ripened, mashed)
Malted Chocolate Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- 3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
- 1 cup Sifted Powdered Sugar
- ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 tablespoon Malted Milk Powder
- 3 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 16 oz Mascarpone Cheese
Cake Topping
- 2 cups Malted Milk Chocolate Balls (whole or chopped)
Instructions
- Adjust your oven rack to the second level position (just above center) and preheat your oven to 350ºF. Spray two 8-inch cake tins with a flour-based baking spray and line each with a parchment paper circle. Optional: Add a cake baking strip around each cake tin to help prevent cake doming.
- Sift the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Alternatively, you can sift the all-purpose flour into the bowl, then whisk in the remaining dry ingredients. Set to the side.2 cups All-Purpose Flour, 1 teaspoon Baking Soda, 1 teaspoon Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon Salt
- To make the sour milk, whisk the lemon juice into the milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes while you move on to the next steps. You can also use one tablespoon of white vinegar if lemon juice is not on hand.1 cup Whole Milk, 1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil and granulated sugar until fluffy in texture. It should look kind of like slushy snow.½ cup Vegetable Oil, 1 cup Granulated Sugar
- Add in the eggs and beat the mixture together thoroughly.2 large Eggs
- Alternate adding the sifted dry ingredients and sour milk to the mixture. Then dd in the vanilla extract and mashed bananas, mixing once more until just combined.1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract, 3 medium Bananas
- Evenly divide the banana cake batter into the prepared cake tins and bake for 28-30 minutes at 350ºF. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the cake tins for 10 minutes before inverting them onto wire cooling racks.
- Once the cake layers are completely cool, frost the cake with the chocolate mascarpone whipped cream. Keep the frosted cake covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Malted Chocolate Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- Add the heavy whipping cream, sifted powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, malted milk powder, and vanilla extract to a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisking on low speed at first until the dry ingredients have almost fully been incorporated into the heavy whipping cream. Increase the mixing speed to high, beating the mixture until stiff peaks have formed.3 cups Heavy Whipping Cream, 1 cup Sifted Powdered Sugar, ½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, 2 tablespoon Malted Milk Powder, 3 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Add the mascarpone cheese to the mixture and whisk on low speed until fully combined.16 oz Mascarpone Cheese
- Frost the 2-layer banana cake once the layers are cooled, then top with whole or chopped malted chocolate balls (like Whoppers).2 cups Malted Milk Chocolate Balls
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutritonal information provided above is an estimate only and will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Sarah says
I made this cake for my mom’s birthday this past weekend. It was a huge hit! Everyone loved it! The cake came together easy, no butter in the recipe so I didn’t have to worry about leaving it out to get soft. One of the layers domed just a bit. I trimmed it and tasted the cake before frosting. So delicious! I did have to check a few stores for the malted milk powder but eventually found it at Target. The combination of banana and the malted chocolate was so good. The frosting didn’t have butter either. Whipped cream with malted chocolate made for a light and fluffy frosting. I will for sure be making this again!
Jennifer says
Thank you for making this cake for your Mom's birthday, Sarah! I hope you all enjoyed it!