Pound cake is my favourite cake! But, sometimes you want a twist on this. Try my banana pound cake for a fun cross between a banana loaf and the classic thrifty pound cake.
Making Banana Pound Cake
This easy banana pound cake recipe is adapted from my classic thrifty pound cake.
Ingredients
- Unsalted butter, softened at room temperature.
- Sugar - a mix of caster sugar (superfine granulated) and light brown muscovado
- Flour - either plain or all-purpose flour.
- Spices and leavening agents - baking soda, baking powder, salt and a mix of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
- Eggs
- Soured milk - or buttermilk.
- Bananas - ripe and mashable.
- Vanilla extract.
Process
This recipe can easily be made in one bowl.
Start by creaming together the butter and sugar. Beat these for about a minute until your mixture is creamy and light. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Then, add your eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until you have a smooth batter.
Finally, add your dry ingredients (flour, spices and leavening agents) in alternating additions with the soured milk, mashed banana and vanilla.
I do this by adding a third of the dry ingredients, sifted into the batter. Once this is mixed in, I add the soured milk. Then I add another third of the dry ingredients, followed by the addition of banana and vanilla. All ending with the final addition of dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Once the batter is ready pour this into prepared baking tins.
This recipe makes enough batter for two standard sized loaf pans, if you want the traditional pound cake loaf cake. Alternatively, you can make two 7.5" round cakes (as I've done in my images - using these pans) or other sized bakes. The timings for alternate size trays will be different, so be sure to watch and check these as they bake.
Bake the cakes in a preheated 350°F (175C/155C Fan) oven for about an hour. After about 50 minutes, check for doneness with a toothpick or skewer. These cakes are ready once a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes before flipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For frosting, I recommend pairing with my cinnamon buttercream.
The cinnamon buttercream can be dressed up or down dependent on your needs. For example, the same frosting was used for the simple naked cake look as for the tree stump design of this wedding cake (with a little added food colouring):
FAQs for Banana Pound Cake
This cake can keep well for several days, especially if coated in a layer of frosting. Icing helps to protect cakes from drying out and going stale. If you make this as a naked cake (not frosting the sides), just be sure to keep in an airtight container.
Yes, banana pound cake can be frozen easily. Wait for the cakes to cool, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. It is usually best to freeze cakes unassembled, but if frosting with buttercream, you can frost and then freeze the whole cake as one. These will last for about three months in the refrigerator without issue.
Yes, absolutely - you can still make this recipe, as is, leaving out one or all of the spices mentioned.
I recommend these flavours since the spices do work nicely with the banana as a flavour. If you're missing them or don't like one/all of them, by all means just omit them!
Equally you can experiment with other spice combinations to your taste. I would recommend keeping the overall amount of spice to about 2 teaspoons, to avoid any issues with overly increasing the amount of dry ingredient in the recipe.
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Thrifty Pound Cake
- Banana Chocolate Loaf
- Tres Leches Cupcakes
- Cinnamon Peach Pound Cake Cupcakes
- Banoffee Blondies
Banana Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cup caster or superfine ganulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown muscovado sugar, packed
- 3 large eggs
- 3 cups plain or all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup soured milk or buttermilk
- 1-2 bananas, ripened
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175C/155C Fan) and prepare your baking pans. If using silicone pans, these don't need any preparation, but if using conventional tins you will want to grease and flour these.
- Begin by creaming your sugars and butter together in a large bowl.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Next add ⅓ of the dry ingredients (the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda and baking powder) - sifted into the batter. Mix until just incorporated.
- Add the soured milk and beat to combine.
- Add in another ⅓ of the dry ingredients and beat until just combined.
- Then add the mashed banana and vanilla, mixing to incorporate.
- Finally add the last ⅓ of the flour and stir until just combined.
- Pour into prepared tins and spread evenly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, checking for a skewer (inserted in the centre) to come out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the baking tins, before flipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Optional: Frost and decorate with cinnamon buttercream.
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