This Small Banana Cake recipe makes a cute little two-layer cake that’s soft and moist with just a bit of cinnamon in the batter and luscious cream cheese frosting.
We’ve chatted before about what to do with a slightly sad single brown banana.
You could make one banana, one bowl Banana Muffins
Or Chocolate Banana Muffins
Or Banana Pancakes
Or maybe even a thick and frosty Banana Milkshake
And today I’m adding cake to that one-banana recipe list. I think you should use that lone brown banana to make a cake.
One Banana Small Banana Cake
This recipe will make a very adorable, very delicious two-layer, 6-inch banana cake. If you don’t own 6-inch cake pans, it will also make an 8×8 square snack cake or a 9-inch single-layer round cake.
The cake will comfortably serve 4 (6 with smaller slices), or is just the right size for you and someone special to polish off over a weekend.
It’s incredibly soft and moist with just a bit of cinnamon in the batter and comes together quick and easy.
Best of all, you get to smother it with cream cheese frosting.
The Best Cream Cheese Frosting
The cake is topped off with my favorite Cream Cheese Frosting, which is tangy and rich and a cinch to throw together.
As written, the recipe will make enough to frost the entire cake (sides and all) or you can make your cake with naked sides like I did, and you’ll have a bit of frosting leftover in the bowl.
However you frost it, you really can’t go wrong with this cake and frosting combo.
More Small Cake Recipes
Recipe Notes
- This recipe calls for buttermilk, but if you don’t have any in your fridge, don’t worry, you can still make the cake. The recipe notes section includes a quick buttermilk substitute made with regular milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
- If you do have buttermilk and have some leftover, check out my post What to Do With Leftover Buttermilk for ideas on what to do with the leftovers.
- The frosting recipe will make enough frosting to frost the entire cake (you’ll have about 1/4 of the frosting leftover if you frost it with naked sides like I did), but if you want extra frosting for decorating, 1 and 1/2 the frosting recipe and add more powdered sugar as needed to get a frosting stiff enough for piping.
Small Banana Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Banana Layer Cake
- 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (56g) salted butter
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (25g) brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large overripe banana mashed (about 1/3 cup)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or buttermilk replacement*
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup (113g) salted butter softened*
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup (180g) powdered sugar sifted, plus more as needed
- 1 tablespoon milk optional, as needed
- Chopped walnuts optional, for decoration
Instructions
Banana Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F and butter and flour 2 six-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine softened butter and granulated and brown sugars and cream together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Beat in egg, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until well-combined, followed by mashed banana.
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined, repeating with all of the buttermilk and then the remaining flour mixture.
- Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans and bake for 22-27 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
- Cool completely before frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and beat until smooth.
- Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth and creamy. If frosting is too thick for your taste, add milk by the teaspoon until it reaches your desired consistency. For stiffer, pipe-able frosting, add more sifted powdered sugar as needed.
To Frost the Cake
- Place bottom cake layer on cake stand or plate, using a small dollop of frosting to anchor it.
- Spread 1/3 of the frosting over the bottom layer. Place second cake layer on top and use the rest of the frosting over the top and body of the cake, starting at the top and spreading the frosting down the sides.
- Decorate with chopped walnuts if desired.
- Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
Lisa says
Just made this today, and my teen boys loved it!
Tracy says
I’m so happy to hear it, Lisa!! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
jean says
Been wanting to try this recipe, 8×8 in the oven this morning. Cant wait to whip up the frosting next.
Tracy says
I hope you enjoy it, Jean!!
Akiko says
This was a perfect match for me and my husband! I had 3 bananas to get rid of and only baked it for an additional 8 minutes. This was really good! This made alot of frosting but didn’t care, plopped it all on the 9×9 cake! Thanks so much for sharing!
Tracy says
Yay! So glad you both enjoyed it!!
Jeannie Peurasaari says
I made this cake and absolutely love it! Thank you, Tracy! It’s my “go to” banana cake recipe now.
Tracy says
Thank you, Jeannie!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!!!
Cindy Gary says
This is very yummy and great for the 2 of us. I made it in a 9 inch square pan as I didn’t have the 6 inch pans. This stays very soft and moist and has a great flavor. Love, love, love the frosting, it is so tasty! Highly recommend!
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed it, Cindy!!
Beth says
Does this cake need to be kept in fridge?
Tracy says
Yes, because of the cream cheese frosting it should be stored in the refrigerator after frosting. I’ll update the notes section to include this.
Dena says
I made this today. I used the 6″ baking pans that I have for my Instant Pot Mini. I also threw in a healthy handful of pecan chips. I didn’t feel like making frosting although I bet it would have been incredible. It made 2 adorable cakes. I gave one away and kept one for myself. I’d like to say it survived multiple days BUT it will be lucky if it makes it til after dinner 🙁
Tracy says
Lol! So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Dena!!
monika says
My cake rose a bit and then turned into floppy pancakes.
What gives? My baking soda is fresh…I whipped everything up nice and good…
🙁
Tracy says
Hi, Monika, sorry to hear your cake didn’t turn out, but happy to help troubleshoot. This cake isn’t very delicate, so that’s a really odd way for it to bake up. Did you change any ingredients or the pan size at all? The only other thing I can think of off the top of my head is when you mixed the flour into the wet ingredients, did you mix it a lot? Sometimes overbeating can whip too much air into the batter so it rises too quickly and then falls.
Gina says
This cake is amazing. It came out beautifully and was delicious. I have been baking small batch for awhile and I am so happy I came across this recipe. Perfection (both the cake and the frosting). Thank you!
Tracy says
So happy to hear it, Gina!! Thanks for reporting back.
Stephanie says
Just made this amazing cake in a 8 1/2” pan and sliced in half so two layers with the yummy frosting, tastes so banana-ish, went down really well with everyone so thank you!
sharon lee says
I made this cake this morning cooking it in my airfryer! It is delicious and the frosting has the perfect touch of sweetness. I’ll be making this again. Thanks so much for the small recipes. They’re perfect for the empty nesters!
Tracy says
Thrilled to hear it, Sharon!!
Tiffany says
Ohh very tasty! Another way to use overripe bananas and you can really taste them in this tiny cake. Made the buttermilk with vinegar, usually use lemon juice but none to found in the fridge. Just me and the hubs eat one cake and freeze the second layer for some other night. Perfect portion! Thanks, will bake it again!
amanda says
sounds great,how long would it take to cook in an airfryer?
Tracy says
Hi Amanda, not sure. I don’t have any experience with airfryers. Sorry!
Kiki says
One word, PERFECT! Instead of six inch cakes I made one dozen cupcakes. Baked them @ 350 for 21 mins on the bake setting in an air fryer.
This recipe is so versatile and the cake is so moist. Flavors really popped on day two, and were just as moist as they were fresh out of the oven.
Thank you for sharing. I would love to have more small batch cake recipes, if you have any others to share.
Thank you!
Tracy says
Thank you!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I do have a bunch of other small cake recipes. In this post, right above the Recipe Notes section I have links to most of them.
Jorja says
This cake is so delicious that I made it twice this weekend–once for my boyfriend and me, and today for my BF’s father because my BF thinks his dad will love the cake. I don’t have six inch cake rounds (but now have them on my wish list) so I used my 8″x8″ pan. I made the frosting which is also delicious and didn’t use all of it so will add the rest to the second cake today; yesterday’s cake had walnuts on top but will leave them off for my BF’s dad. I added a little extra banana both times, because YUM! This may be my new favorite cake (replacing carrot cake). I’ve made a few recipes by Tracy and they’ve all been winners, so will continue making more from her site. Thanks for the great recipe!
Tracy says
Thank you, Jorja!! That makes me so happy to hear!!
Liz says
I made this cake for hubby at Thanksgiving, he LOVED it and said if I only make this cake from now on he’d be one happy man.
Tracy says
So happy to hear it!
Michelle says
How would you change the temp and bake time off using two 4’ round pans?