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This banana buttermilk cake is the perfect mix of bananas and chocolate, with just enough sweetness to taste like dessert, but not so much that it’s cloying.
A few years ago I was looking for something to do with overripe bananas that wasn’t muffins or bread. As good as those are, we always end up with a lot of brown bananas, and I was excited to find a banana cake recipe that claimed to be the absolute best banana cake ever. Or maybe just the best *cake* ever? I can’t remember. But it was so oversold that when I excitedly made it, I was completely underwhelmed. It was fine. A bit dry. Nothing special. Definitely nothing I would have claimed was the best anything.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about it! I wanted banana cake. But I wanted it to be moister and more interesting than the original.
Enter cultured buttermilk. It brought the moistness, and enhanced the flavor.
After a few tries, I turned that so-so recipe into one of my favorite cakes. (I wouldn’t link to the recipe even if I could find it. I don’t want to embarrass anybody. But the lesson here is, don’t over-promise.)
Once I had the cake where I wanted it, I experimented with different toppings and frostings. Most banana cakes I found online had cream cheese frosting, but I’ve always loved the taste of bananas and chocolate. If you’ve never dipped banana in chocolate, you’re missing out!
Frosting wasn’t right, but ganache turned out to be perfect.
Ganache is basically just heavy cream and chocolate, mixed in different ratios depending on what you want to do with it. I used the same ratio I use to top cheesecake: equal parts dark chocolate (in ounces), and heavy cream (in fluid ounces).
My husband and I disagree about how much chocolate should be in and on this cake. I like to divide the batter into three pans, so that I can put two layers of ganache between the cake layers. But my husband thinks that that tips it over into too-much-chocolate territory, and likes it with two layers of cake.
Now, this is a man who will eat the leftover ganache with a spoon, so he’s not averse to chocolate. I think he just wants this to be more of a snack than a rich dessert. Add fruit to a dessert and you can almost convince yourself that it’s healthy! (It’s not. Let’s be real here. Neither is apple pie, or zucchini bread, or berry cake. But they’re all delicious.)
So, make however many layers you want. The more layers, the more room for chocolate! You could even make half of the recipe and make a single-layer snacking cake. Totally up to you!
Also, I HIGHLY recommend that you make some of my Homemade Cake Release beforehand, for lining the cake pans. This is easier than cutting out parchment circles, and works so much better! You can store it for three months, so make a bunch.
Looking for something else to do with your overripe bananas that’s not dessert but still delicious? Try my reduced-fat peanut butter muffins. They have a special ingredient that gives you peanut butter flavor, but without the fat! Or, my Reese’s Banana Muffins, which are absolutely delicious, but not so rich that you can’t eat them for breakfast.
Banana Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Ganache
This banana buttermilk cake is the perfect mix of bananas and chocolate, with just enough sweetness to taste like dessert, but not so much that it's cloying.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- Homemade Cake Release (see notes), or vegetable oil, for the pans
- 240 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 228 grams (1 cup) very ripe bananas
- 1 cup cultured buttermilk (made from whole milk, if possible)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cool room temperature (about 65 degrees)
- 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
- 56 grams (1/4 cup, packed) light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
For the ganache:
- 6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (not chocolate chips), chopped into small pieces
- 6 fluid ounces (¾ cup) heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 325°F with a rack in the middle
Brush Homemade Cake Release onto the bottom and sides of two 8-inch round cake pans, or rub the sides and bottom with vegetable oil, line the bottom with parchment paper, and rub some vegetable oil on top
In a small mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt; set aside
In another small mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, and add the buttermilk and vanilla, stirring well to combine; set aside
In a medium bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together using a hand mixer on medium (or, in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment), scraping the sides at least once, until no traces of sugar remain and it's a little fluffy, about 2 minutes
Add the eggs one at a time, beating them in with the mixer and scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition
Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir gently, by hand, until the flour has mostly been absorbed
Add half of the banana mixture and stir it in gently, by hand
Repeat with another third of the flour mixture, then the other half of the banana mixture, then the last third of the flour mixture, stirring gently after each addition until no traces of flour remain (make sure you've gotten it all from the bottom of the bowl—it likes to hide there!)
Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and bake on the middle rack for 25-30 minutes, just until you can press down gently on the center of each layer and feel it spring back
After removing the pans from the oven, put them on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then remove the cake layers from the pans and cool the rest of the way directly on the cooling rack
While the cake is baking, make the ganache:
Put the chopped chocolate into a heat-proof bowl; set aside
In a very small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until boiling
Pour the cream over the chocolate and let sit for 5 minutes
Add the vanilla extract, and stir until the ganache is smooth and glossy
Let cool to room temperature (by the time the cake layers have cooled completely, the ganache should be cool as well)
Assemble the cake
Once the cake layers have cooled, put a cake layer onto a serving plate or cake stand, and spread ganache over it to the edges, about ¼-inch thick, then put the other cake layer on top
Put the cake into the fridge for 10 minutes (you can skip this part if you don't care about the smoothness of the sides)
Smooth the rest of the ganache over the top and sides of the cake (you should have a little left over; this will keep in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3 days)
Put the cake into the fridge for another 15 minutes, and then serve, or store in the fridge until ready to serve; the ganache will solidify and will not be sticky to the touch, but won't get hard either (it's a pretty perfect consistency for a cake)
The cake will keep in the fridge for about three days; cover with plastic wrap once you've cut into it, so that the sliced parts don't dry out
Notes
Homemade Cake Release is amazing, and so much easier than greasing, oiling, or lining pans with parchment.
You can divide the batter into three 8-inch round pans instead of 2, which gives you an extra layer to put ganache between. This should use up all of the ganache.
You can halve the recipe and make a one-layer snacking cake. You can also do this in an 8x8-inch square pan, but the layer will be thinner than in an 8-inch round pan, so reduce the baking time and watch it carefully.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 377Total Fat 18gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 69mgSodium 240mgCarbohydrates 51gFiber 2gSugar 32gProtein 5g
Nutritional information is an estimate only.