Old-Fashioned Banana Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

💬Featured Comment: “My husband and I just LOVE your old-fashioned banana cake. We get it every year to celebrate big milestones! Please share the recipe 🙂”— Jodi

⭐ About this bakery recipe

There’s something deeply comforting about an old-fashioned banana layer cake made with buttermilk and the ripest bananas. The flavor is familiar and homey — essentially Grandma’s favorite banana bread transformed into a soft, layered cake. This bakery-style version is extra moist thanks to buttermilk, oil, and a small amount of modified starch (sold as Instant Clearjel or found in instant vanilla pudding mix). It’s finished with a thick, tangy cream cheese buttercream that balances the sweet banana center. This recipe was a fan favorite at Amycakes Bakery, and the result is a soft, tender cake with a classic, comforting taste.

🍌 Only the ripest bananas

For the strongest banana flavor, use very, very ripe bananas — the kind that are nearly black all over. Aim for 2½ to 3 large bananas (or the equivalent by weight). When bananas are this ripe they’re intensely sweet and aromatic, which makes a big difference in the final cake. If your bananas aren’t at that stage yet, allow them to ripen until the skins are heavily freckled or dark, then freeze until you’re ready to bake.

⏲️ How to freeze and thaw bananas

Freezing overly ripe bananas is an easy way to always have baking-ready fruit on hand. Follow these simple steps:

1. Place the ripe bananas (in their peels) into a freezer bag and seal tightly.
2. Label the bag with the date and store it in the coldest part of your freezer. Frozen bananas will darken when fully frozen — that’s normal.
3. When ready to use, thaw the bananas by placing the sealed bag in a bowl of hot water. The bananas will soften quickly.
4. Once thawed, break off the stems and gently squeeze the banana flesh from the peels into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl. Reserve any banana juice — it can be used in the batter for extra flavor and moisture.

📋 Banana Cake ingredients

This recipe relies on a few key ingredients that contribute to bakery-quality texture: buttermilk for tenderness and tang, vegetable oil for moistness, and Instant Clearjel or instant vanilla pudding mix to improve crumb and stability. If you can’t find Instant Clearjel, instant vanilla pudding mix is a good substitute (make sure it is labeled “instant”). The cake uses the two-bowl method, so no mixer is required: just a whisk and two bowls.

🍰 How to layer it

For a professional, even bake, consider baking the batter in a sheet pan and cutting layers with cake rings — a method often called Cut and Stack. Sheet cakes bake flatter and more evenly than round pans, and you can cut multiple uniform layers from one baked sheet. A single (1x) batch baked in a ¼ sheet pan yields three 6″ layers when cut with rings; doubling the recipe yields layers suitable for an 8″ cake from a ½ sheet pan. Sheet-pan layers are also easier to freeze and handle when assembling the cake.

👩🏻‍🍳 Homestyle cake decor

For a rustic, homestyle finish, reserve cake scraps to form cake truffles for the top garnish and use banana chips and toasted pecans for texture and contrast. A simple textured finish in the frosting can be achieved by sweeping repeated “C” strokes with an offset spatula to create a warm, homemade appearance.

Thank you for reading. If you make this cake, I’d love to hear how it turned out!

📖 Recipe & Step-by-Step Instructions

Bakery-Style Old-Fashioned Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This banana layer cake is extra moist and made with very ripe bananas. It tastes like banana bread in cake form and pairs beautifully with a tangy cream cheese buttercream. One 1x batch makes a three-layer 6″ cake; doubling makes an 8″ three-layer cake.

Servings: 8 slices
Prep time: 30 mins • Cook time: 26 mins

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 200 grams (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoons Instant Clearjel or 3 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix (instant)
• 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar

Wet Ingredients

• 2½ large to 3 small overly ripe bananas (peel mostly dark brown/black)
• ¼ cup water and/or reserved banana juice (if using frozen bananas)
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Butter

• 1 stick (4 ounces) salted butter, melted

Frosting and Decorations

• 1 batch Classic Cream Cheese Frosting (prepared)
• Pecan halves and pieces (optional)
• Banana chips (optional)

Instructions

Make the banana puree

1. If using frozen bananas, thaw them in a sealed bag in a bowl of hot water. Remove stems and squeeze the banana flesh into a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, reserving the banana juice.
2. Mash the strained bananas into a smooth puree with no chunks. Measure about 130 g (roughly ½ cup + 1½ tbsp) of puree for the cake.

Make the banana cake

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (160°C). Line a ¼ sheet pan with parchment and lightly spray the parchment and sides with nonstick spray.
2. Add enough water to the reserved banana juice to equal ¼ cup. In a large bowl, whisk together the banana juice/water, measured banana puree, eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the dry ingredients until well blended.
4. Heat the salted butter until just melted. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add the melted butter and whisk until the batter is smooth and glossy.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan and smooth the top. The batter should come close to the top of a 1″ sheet pan but not overflow.
6. Bake on the middle or upper rack at 325°F for 16 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the temperature to 300°F and bake an additional 6–10 minutes. Check doneness by lightly touching — the cake should spring back and a toothpick inserted should come out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
7. Allow the cake to cool. For easiest layering, chill and freeze the sheet cake in the pan for at least 2 hours (up to 2 weeks). If freezing more than a couple days, brush layers with simple syrup before wrapping.

Layer, decorate, and serve

1. Cut layers from the chilled or frozen sheet cake using cake rings. Fill each layer with prepared cream cheese frosting and stack. Apply a thin crumb coat of frosting, chill briefly until firm, then finish with a final coat of buttercream.
2. Decorate with cake truffles made from reserved cake scraps, banana chips, and chopped pecans for a homestyle look. Allow the cake to come to room temperature before serving (remove from the fridge 2–3 hours prior).
3. Enjoy the cake at room temperature for the best texture.

Notes

1. Instant Clearjel is a modified starch used in professional baking for improved texture. If unavailable, instant vanilla pudding mix (instant) is a practical substitute in the cake batter. If you use pudding mix, omit it from the frosting or increase powdered sugar to adjust texture.
2. If using fresh overly ripe bananas (not frozen), you likely won’t need to strain them; use the number of bananas listed rather than weight. With fresh bananas, use plain water in place of banana juice/water if no juice is available.
3. Baking in a sheet pan yields even browning and flatter layers. A 1x batch in a ¼ sheet pan can produce three 6″ layers; a 2x batch in a ½ sheet pan yields layers suitable for an 8″ cake.
4. Simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar) can be brushed on layers to seal in moisture, especially when freezing or refrigerating the cake for later use.
5. Shortcut: Make a sheet cake or cakelets instead of a stacked layer cake. Spread buttercream on top after cooling for a quick, rustic dessert.

Author: Amy

Calories: 862 kcal (estimated)

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