A light and fluffy banana cake covered in chocolate icing and colourful sprinkles. Tray cakes are ideal for sharing with a crowd at a birthday party, a school shared lunch or for a staff meeting.
There's a lot to love about a tray cake. They are easy to cut up into squares - which is super helpful if you're sharing amongst a group of guests or popping in school lunchboxes. Also, because they are spread out over a larger area, they take less time to cook!
This Classic Banana Tray Cake is a simple yet delicious cake to share with family, friends or colleagues. A great way to use up ripe bananas, this light and fluffy cake is a great treat for both children and adults. If you're looking for more sheet cake inspiration, take a look at my yummy Vanilla Tray Cake recipe too.
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Ingredient notes:
- Bananas: You want your bananas ripe or overripe for mashing. If bananas are too green they will be too starchy and won't mash as well. You can also use frozen bananas. I like to freeze mine, peeled and broken into pieces. Allow them to defrost first. Drain off an excess water, then mash as usual.
- Self raising flour: If you don't have self raising flour to hand, you can replace it with 2 cups of regular flour + 2 teaspoons of baking powder.
- Milk: Regular milk can be swapped out for any plant based milk if you prefer.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card for the ingredients, quantities and the full method.
Step by step instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake. Line a 22 x 30cm baking tin with baking paper.
Whisk together the butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Add mashed banana and milk then stir again. Sift in flour and fold together until just combined.
Pour into the lined baking tin and spread to the edges. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool.
Icing: Add the softened butter to a large bowl. Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa then pour in boiling water. Whisk together until smooth, adding more water if required. Spread over the cake once it has cooled. Top with sprinkles and serve.
Recipe FAQs:
A tray cake made in a 22 x 30cm cake tin will produce between 15 - 20 pieces depending on how big you cut them.
When using mashed banana for baking, it should be fairly runny with no big chunks in it. If not mashed enough, there will be large pieces of squishy banana in the cake.
Storage:
Leftover banana cake can be stored in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 4 days.
If you want to get ahead, you could also freeze this banana cake. Once the cake is cooked, allow it to cool completely. Then wrap it in two layers of cling film (this helps to prevents freezer burn) and freeze for up to two months. Allow to defrost completely before icing with your favourite toppings.
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Classic Banana Tray Cake
A light and fluffy banana cake covered in chocolate icing and colourful sprinkles.
Ingredients
- 100g butter, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 eggs
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 2⁄3 cup milk
- 2 cups self-raising flour
Chocolate icing
- 50g butter, softened
- 1 1⁄2 cups icing sugar
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 Tbsp boiling water
- 1 Tbsp sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake. Line a 22 x 30cm baking tin with baking paper.
- Whisk together the butter, sugar, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Add mashed banana and milk then stir again.
- Sift in flour and fold together until just combined.
- Pour into the lined baking tin and spread to the edges. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool.
- Icing: Add the softened butter to a large bowl. Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa then pour in boiling water. Whisk together until smooth, adding more water if required. Spread over the cake once it has cooled. Top with sprinkles and serve.
Notes
- This can be made in a round (23cm) or rectangle (22 x 30cm) cake tin. Cooking times may vary.
- This cake will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 196Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 35mgSodium: 209mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 2g
Nutritional values are approximate. Please use your own calculations if you require a special diet.
Thank you for checking out this recipe. I hope you enjoy making and eating it! If you have any questions, queries or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below.
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Vanya
Deb says
Can you use more bananas (for flavour)
VJ cooks says
You could, however it will change the consistency of the mixture. You might have to increase the flour to counteract that.
Julie says
Can I make this cake in a round tin?
VJ cooks says
Sure, if you have one big enough. This is a large cake.
Tracey says
Used three bananas, as not large ones, mashed with potato masher, only used 3/4 c sugar, added the melted butter after I whisked the ingredients together (got distracted by a phone call), used your lemon icing from your banana muffin recipe & hot dang I had made the best banana cake I have ever made. Cheers for the recipe.
VJ cooks says
Awesome! Great work, Tracey!