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Easy Banana Cake or bread and Cupcakes

Easy Banana Cake or bread and Cupcakes

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This Banana Cake is very easy to make and the only excuse you need when you want to bake something sweet is “why waste these overripe bananas?”

I made my Easy Banana Cake countless times and with various changes. Three recipes follow and the one referred to in the title is the third one.

The post has been updated in July 2023 with instructions how to make the banana bread in the Air Fryer. Scroll down for the instructions.

I’ve been making this cake for years but I recently made this cake with a video, so I updated the post.

Overripe bananas are not very pleasant to eat because they become sweeter, very soft and stickier.

So why waste something that could be put to good use in another way? 

Banana cake with a banana picture

I’ve kept the cake simple with just a simple powdered sugar icing on top. You will find the recipe at the end of the post.

Walnut Praline Banana cake image

When I like something very much, I usually get obsessed and want to make it again but I don’t like making it exactly the same.  As I don’t find much time to blog, I am posting all variations I made to this banana cake.

It all started when I had lots of ripe bananas and decided to make a Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Banana cake with Cream cheese frosting image

The first one was made in Spring and the weather was cloudy for several days so I did not manage to get any decent photos.    The basic recipe is the same but each time I made something different.

I love the aroma of masticha (mastic gum) so I decided to add some in the cream cheese frosting.  

I had more ripe bananas than what I needed to make the cake so I caramelized the remaining and used them in the filling.  

This cake is one of our favourite and each time,  it disappears in no time.

In the second and third one I added masticha in the cake as well.    For the new readers of my blog, you may find more about Greek Masticha here.

Note:  The taste of masticha is an acquired taste so if you’ve never tried it before, you could start by adding 3 – 4 tears. If you cannot find it substitute it with a different flavour, i.e. vanilla, cardamom etc.

Banana bread with cream cheese image


The cake was cut into two layers and in the middle the cream cheese frosting was added as well as all the roasted bananas.

This banana bread is made with Greek products, such as Greek yoghurt, walnuts, cream cheese with praline, mastic resin and on top Karydaki glyko (a walnut preserve).

Walnut Masticha Banana Bread image

I made the banana bread again and this time the banana bread was cut into three slices.  

While I was adding the cream cheese frosting, the idea of using hazelnut praline sounded good, so I added some praline on top of the cream cheese.  

On top I wanted to use something Greek and unique and again I ελused one of my favourite Greek Spoon sweets “karydaki” which is a walnut preserve.

Masticha, Walnut, Praline, Banana Cake with Masticha Cream Cheese frosting

Masticha, Walnut, Praline, Banana Cake with Masticha Cream Cheese frosting

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

This is the first out of three different recipes. You will have to scroll further down for the Easy Banana Cake and Cupcakes.

This banana bread is made with Greek products, such as Greek yoghurt, walnuts, cream cheese with praline, mastic resin and on top Karydaki glyko (a walnut preserve).

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ cups raw cane sugar
  • ½ cup olive oil margarine or butter, softened
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 ½ cups mashed very ripe bananas (3 medium)
  • 100 grams Greek yoghurt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Baked Bananas:

  • 2 large ripe bananas
  • 2 tsp raw cane sugar
  • 2 tbsp hazelnut praline

Cream Cheese frosting:

  • 200 grams Cream Cheese
  • 250 ml heavy cream
  • 75 grams icing sugar
  • 7 drops mastic, pounded with 1 tsp icing sugar

Additional Ingredients:

  • 4 tbsp hazelnut praline
  • 6 tbsp walnut preserve syrup
  • 1/2 cup roasted walnuts
  • 3 walnut preserves

Instructions

  1. Place oven rack to 2/3 of the oven so that your cake pan will be in the centre of oven.
  2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C / 350 degrees F.
  3. Line a Pyrex or a cake pan (18 x 25.5 cm / 7 x 10 inches) with parchment paper or butter the cake pan and then dust with flour and tap out excess.
  4. Sift flour (or use all purpose flour with corn flour) and mix in baking soda, masticha and salt.
  5. In your mixer bowl, beat butter with sugar on medium speed until smooth  Add bananas, one at a time and mix until they mash  Add yoghurt and mix and finally add eggs, one at a time, mixing until they are incorporated  At this stage they may seem as if they have curdled but that's fine  Increase your mixer speed and beat until light and fluffy.
  6. Stir in sifted flour just until moistened.
  7. Bake for about 1 hour or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre
    comes out clean. Remove to cool on a wire rack.
  8. In the same cake pan add a new piece of parchment paper and cut 2 ripe bananas in the middle and sprinkle with cane sugar  Cook for about 15 minutes, until they caramelize  Mash with a fork and mix in hazelnut praline. Set aside to cool. In a smaller baking tin (such as a bread tin) add the walnuts and roast them simultaneously with the bananas.
  9. Meantime, with a hand mixer whisk heavy cream for a few minutes, add cream
    cheese, praline and sifted sugar and whisk until thick  Refrigerate until ready to use.
  10. Cut the cake in the three pieces and wet it with "karydaki" (walnut) syrup. Spread a layer (about 3 heaped tablespoons) of cream cheese and then add half mashed bananas. Continue with second layer, wetting it with syrup and adding cream cheese and bananas.
  11. Finally spread the remaining cream cheese mixture on top with a knife. Crush the roasted walnuts and sprinkle them on top.
  12. Cut each "karydaki" into 6 - 7 thin slices and decorate the cake.
  13. Refrigerate for about 2 hours, before serving. Add some extra walnut syrup on top.
Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 602Total Fat 33gSaturated Fat 11gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 19gCholesterol 90mgSodium 292mgCarbohydrates 72gFiber 2gSugar 42gProtein 8g

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Masticha Banana Cupcakes image

The cupcakes are based on my above recipe with just a few changes and the cream cheese frosting is different.  

The butter I had was a little bit more than 1/2 cup and the bananas were bigger, so I adjusted the remaining ingredients.  The cups mentioned are just indicative so you should follow the measurements as everything was weighed.

Masticha Banana Cupcakes with Masticha Cream Cheese frosting

Masticha Banana Cupcakes with Masticha Cream Cheese frosting

Yield: 24
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

This is the second out of three different recipes. You will have to scroll further down for the Easy Banana Cake;.

Quick and Easy Banana muffins. A great way to use up ripe bananas. They are moist, not too sweet and perfect for afternoon tea.

Ingredients

  • 270 grams raw cane sugar
  • 145 grams butter, softened
  • 3 eggs
  • 320 grams very ripe bananas (3 big ones)
  • 100 grams Greek yoghurt
  • 10 tears of masticha pound with1 teaspoon sugar
  • 325 grams cake flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Mastic Cream Cheese frosting:

  • 400 grams Cream Cheese
  • 60 grams butter
  • 150 grams icing sugar
  • 10 drops mastic, pounded with 1 tbsp icing sugar

Additional ingredients:

  • 2 bananas for decoration

Instructions

  1. Place oven rack to 2/3 of the oven so that your cake pan will be in the centre of oven.
  2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C /350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners or butter the muffin pan and then dust with flour and tap out excess.
  3. Sift cake flour (or use all purpose flour with corn flour) and mix in baking soda, masticha (mastic powder) and salt.
  4. In your mixer bowl, beat butter with sugar on medium speed until smooth  Add bananas, one at a time and mix until they mash  Add yoghurt and mix and finally add eggs, one at a time, mixing until they are incorporated  At this stage they may seem as if they have curdled but that's fine  Increase your mixer speed and beat until light and fluffy.
  5. Stir in sifted flour just until moistened.
  6. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
  7. Remove to cool on a wire rack.
  8. Using a piping bag decorate the cupcakes and add a thin slice of banana on
    top.
Nutrition Information
Yield 24 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 271Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 59mgSodium 216mgCarbohydrates 35gFiber 1gSugar 22gProtein 3g

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

See also my Banana Cupcake with Chocolate Quince Glaze and my Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips.

And here’s another banana cake with Sour Cherries.

Banana Cake with sour cherries photo

The recipe is almost the same as the first recipe, but substituted yoghurt with milk as I didn’t have any yoghurt and added a little bit of cocoa powder.  

I cut the cake in three layers.  Whipped 300 grams cream cheese mixed with 2 tbsp butter and 250 ml heavy cream, 1/4 cup icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla essence.  Set aside about 1/3 of the cream for the top and in the remaining mixed two roasted bananas, which I used as the filling.  

I wet the cake with lots of wild sour cherry syrup, added a thin layer of hazelnut praline, a layer of banana cream cheese and a few sour cherries scattered here and there.  

Repeated with a second layer.  Topped the cake with the cream cheese and dropped some hazelnut praline on top.  Et voilà!

Banana cake with cocoa image

Update July, 2023

Banana Bread baked in the air fryer

We are currently going through a heatwave Kleon, so I avoid using the oven. However, I had 3 very ripe bananas which I wanted to use, so I used the recipe below and adjusted it, without actually measuring the ingredients.

Collage Banana bread in the air fryer image

However, it is very easy to make and the most important part is the baking in the air fryer.

Here are the ingredients I used:

  • 3 bananas (very ripe)
  • 2 tbsp cane sugar
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • All- purpose flour (about 1 – 1 1/2 cups) approximately

Instructions:

  1. Put the peeled bananas in a food processor and add the sugar, egg, butter and olive oil and mix until mashed.
  2. Empty the mixture in a bowl and add the flour, salt and baking soda. (The amount of the flour was about 1 cup but depending on the size of your bananas and size of the egg, you will need to add more, to make a batter which is not very thick).
  3. Cut a piece of parchment paper and wet it with water and then squeeze to remove excess water. Line an aluminum baking container 16.2 x 9.3 cm with the parchment paper and empty the mixture in the pan. Cut the excess paper so that it will not cover the banana bread during baking.
  4. Set your air fryer at 155oC and bake for 30 minutes. No preheating is necessary.
Banana Cake with Icing image

Easy Banana Cake with Powdered Sugar Icing

Yield: 10
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

This Banana Cake is very easy to make and the only excuse you need when you want to bake something sweet is "why waste these overripe bananas?"

You will find the banana bread recipe baked in the air fryer in the post just above this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 4 ripe bananas, mashed (1 ½ cups)
  • 120 grams (1/2 cup) butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 250 grams cake flour (about 2 cups)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt

Icing:

  • ¾ cup icing sugar
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • ½ tsp vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 18ooC (350 F) and grease and flour a 24 cm Bundt pan.
  2. Mash the bananas with a fork.
  3. Cream together the butter and sugar for five minutes, until light and fluffy.
  4. Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated.
  5. Add the mashed bananas and vanilla and continue mixing.
  6. Scrape the sides of the mixer bowl and continue mixing.
  7. Combine flour, baking soda and salt.
  8. Add the flour mixture, whisking it until just combined into the batter mixture until smooth.
  9. Add the mixture to the Bundt pan and bake for about 45 - 50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
  10. Remove from the oven until cool and remove from the Bundt pan.
  11. To make the glaze whisk the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together well and pour over the cake.
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 260Total Fat 1gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 37mgSodium 201mgCarbohydrates 59gFiber 2gSugar 34gProtein 4g

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

Cakes

Here are some more sweet and savoury cakes.:

Collage Greek inspired banana cakes image

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,

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Jeeten

Monday 25th of August 2014

It's tempting. I need this and thank for such a wonderful post and really appreciated..

Jennifer Palmer

Friday 1st of August 2014

Amazing recipes will play around and try to recreate these delightful treats! Banana bread is definitely my favourite.

Alice

Thursday 9th of January 2014

Cupcakes look utterly delicious. Will try it for my hubby soon. He loves cupcakes :)

Barbara Adams

Monday 11th of June 2012

Thanks Ivy! You just gave me some nice ideas for this weekend's desserts.

Jill Colonna

Friday 8th of June 2012

Ivy, I want to come to Greece even if it's for the taste of your masticha. Love all of your combinations here!

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