Being Frugal,  Recipes,  Vegetarian Recipes

Best. Banana cake. Ever.

best banana cake ever

Bananas don’t last long in our house. The bowl of fruit is just steps away from the front door, and it seems like I’m always saying “take a banana with you! we need to go now! here! eat this on the way!”

But occasionally, a banana will get too ripe before we can eat it, at which point I peel it and freeze it, assuming I will use it at some point in the future. (Okay, so… sometimes I just find the frozen bananas at the back of freezer, have no idea how old they are, and chuck them, but I do usually use them. Eventually.)

Yesterday, there were actually two bananas in the fruit bowl that were headed for the freezer — and with another two bananas there already, it seemed like a perfect time for a banana cake. This theory was immediately borne out by the fact that the entire cake disappeared within 24 hours.

This cake is really that good: somewhat lighter and less sweet than a banana bread, but with big chunks of melty chocolate. You could probably even skip the chocolate if you don’t have any on hand and it would still be a lovely cake.

The recipe is based on the already excellent UBC Cake posed over on Everybody Likes Sandwiches:

3 or 4 very ripe bananas
2 eggs
1.5 c. flour (I used a mix of all purpose and whole wheat)
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
1 c. chocolate chunks

Mash bananas and mix in eggs. Add vanilla. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and cinnamon in a separate bowl, then add dry ingredients to banana mix. Mix well then fold in chocolate chunks. Pour batter into a buttered cake pan. (I used an 11″ x 7″ pan, but you could also use an 8″ or 9″ square pan.) Bake at 375 for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6 Comments

  • Kirsten

    I was gonna say, looks like there’s a whole lot of chocolate in that there cake! Our bananas never last long enough either, but yesterday we did end up with enough manky bananas to make some gluten free banana pecan muffins. They were…just alright. I’m trying to finish off this never ending bag of Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour I bought at Costco – it has the weirdest aftertaste. I just can’t bring myself to throw it away, so a cup of it goes into every gluten free baked good that comes out of our kitchen. I can’t wait until we’re all done with it.

    Anyway, that’s a fine looking chocolatey bread!

    • Kristen

      I think I just managed to cut into an especially chocolate-filled niche, but I bet this would work with less chocolate (or even none) or possibly dates.

  • kickpleat

    Looks so good! This is the banana bread recipe I make most often – it seems healthier because it has no oil/butter – but I guess the chocolate chips make up for it. So glad you loved it too :)

  • Emma Galloway

    Oh it’s been over a year since I’ve made a banana cake! After the floods here in Australia they went up to around $19 kg!? They have finally gone down to around $6 kg but if we do buy them they get eaten within the first day, the kids have been so deprived! I love the chocolate in the mix ;-)