Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Mascarpone

Say goodbye to dense and stodgy banana cake and HELLO to this super fluffy and light banana cake (AKA the best banana cake with chocolate mascarpone frosting)!

I’ve made and tasted a lot of banana cakes in my time and too many of them have been either too dense, too gooey inside and/or just not that great.

That’s when I decided to get busy and create the best banana cake. One that wasn’t dry, stodgy or just ‘okay tasting‘.

I baked this cake for Kevin to take to work for his birthday last week and many of his colleagues mentioned it was the best banana cake they had tasted also. So don’t just take my cocky word for it – if you’re a banana cake lover, then I think you’re going to really enjoy this recipe.

Baking Secrets for success:

There are just three important secrets in getting this cake light and fluffy.

1. The creaming method. Don’t underestimate the power of this method – ever. It is the key to super light cakes.
2. Using a combination of oil and butter (just like we did here – see the difference between butter only compared with butter and oil).
3. Alternating the dry mixture and the buttermilk when adding it to the butter mixture – this helps prevent losing any air created as well as preventing too much gluten from forming.

Variations

Frosting options:

This banana cake can be frosted with any of your favourite frostings/buttercreams or icings. I was in the mood for a chocolate mascarpone cream frosting, which is what this little beauty is smothered in and layered with. But when I haven't got mascarpone or anything fancy in the fridge, I often just make a simple chocolate buttercream.

Size options:

If layer cakes feel daunting to you, then bake this as a one layer cake (round or rectangle).

1x round cake or 1x slab cake

• Bake it in a 10 inch (25cm) cake tin for a one layer cake (bake for 30-40 minutes). Just insert a skewer into the middle of the cake to check if it is done.
• Slab cake (sheet cake). You can bake this recipe in a 13inch x 9inch (33cm x 23cm) slab cake tin - bake for 25-30 minutes.
• If you don't have any of the recommended pans, don't panic. Learn what to do here.

Ingredients:

• Make this banana cake gluten-free! Substitute the plain flour with gluten-free flour using a 1:1 ratio
• If you're not sure about making this easy buttermilk or don't have any store bought on hand, plain yoghurt also works really well, using a 1:1 ratio.

Learn more about how to know when your cake is done here.

Related

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Best Banana Cake with Chocolate Mascarpone Cream

Sarah Sears

A very moist yet light and fluffy banana cake. It's my favourite banana cake recipe of all time - it's not dense at all and the chocolate mascarpone is not sickly sweet like traditional buttercreams can be.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 29 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine Global/Baking

Servings 12

Ingredients

  

• 310 g (2 + ½ cups) plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon optional
• 113 g (½ cup), butter at room temperature
• 100 g (½ cup) soft brown sugar
• 60 g (¼ cup) white sugar
• 60 mls (¼ cup), flavourless vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 medium eggs
• 3x (380g), large bananas mashed
• 250 mls (1 cup) buttermilk or plain yoghurt see recipe notes

Chocolate Mascarpone

• 200 g Mascarpone room temperature
• 60 g (½ cup) cocoa powder
• 400 mls cream
• 60 g (¼ cup) icing sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 175C (345F) and line 2 x 8 inch (20cm cake tins or one 33cmx23cm/ 13"x9") slab cake tin with baking paper (see "variations" above for different size cake tins.
• In a medium sized bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk to combine and set aside.
• In a larger bowl, beat butter (with a hand held mixer or stand mixer with paddle attachment) until creamy. Gradually add the brown and white castor sugar and continue beating until it is light in colour and fluffy in texture. With the mixer still on, slowly add the oil and continue beating until combined.
• Add bananas and beat well until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla extract to the butter-banana mixture and mix until just combined. Add half the flour mixture and fold about 5 times. Now add ½ of the buttermilk and fold again. Add the rest of the flour along with the remaining half of the buttermilk and gently fold until combined (combining the ingredients this way helps to keep the batter light and prevents too much gluten from forming).
• Divide the cake batter among the two cake tins (or one 33cmx23cm/ 13"x9") slab tin)and bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (or with a few loose crumbs). Leave to cool in cake tins for 5 minutes before inverting on a cooling rack.
• Once completely cool, level the cakes with a serrated knife (optional - you can skip this if baking in a slab tin and ice slab once cool). If decorating two 8" layers, place one cake on a cake board and using a off-set spatula, spread ⅓ cup of frosting on the cake. Place the other cake on top and apply the rest of the mascarpone frosting. Decorate as desired and serve.

To make the Chocolate Mascarpone Frosting:

• In a small bowl, mix the mascarpone and cocoa powder until well combined, set aside. In a separate bowl, beat the cream, icing sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Mix three tablespoons of the cream to the mascarpone mixture to loosen it up. Add mascarpone to the remaining whipped cream and beat together until combined (be careful not to over-mix, over-mixing will make the cream ‘grainy’).

Notes

* Make your own buttermilk by placing one tablespoon of vinegar in a measuring cup and fill with milk to reach 250mls. Let it sit for a few minutes before adding to the batter. Learn more about making buttermilk here. 

Keyword banana, cake, chocolate, Mascarpone