This chocolate banana cake is our family's favourite, it is so easy to make and a great way to use up over ripe bananas!
You can't beat this Chocolate Banana Cake, it is such a great combo! This recipe is super easy and all made in one bowl, poured into the tin and then baked for 40 minutes. My husband Mike is a huge fan of the combo of chocolate and banana together, so I make it quite often. If you're looking for a chocolate cake made without banana, click through to my classic Chocolate Cake recipe.
Ingredient notes:
- Bananas: This recipe is a great way to use up bananas that are over ripe and you should have all of the other ingredients in your fridge and pantry.
- Yoghurt: You can use yoghurt or sour cream, which ever you have on hand.
- Flour: This recipe calls for plain flour. You can also use a 1:1 ratio of gluten free flour.
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. Mix together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in a large bowl. Add banana and yoghurt then stir again. Sift in flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa.
Dissolve baking soda in boiling water then pour into bowl and fold everything together until combined. Pour mixture into a greased, lined cake tin. Bake for 30-40 minutes until cake is cooked through.
Combine icing sugar and cocoa powder. Add softened butter and pour in boiling water. Mix together with a knife or spatula, adding more water if required until smooth. Spread over cake once it has cooled.
Recipe FAQs:
Yes of course. I like to freeze my bananas peeled. I defrost them in a bowl and discard the liquid that comes out as it can affect the overall density of the cake.
Yes, the mixture is also delicious made into muffins! sprinkle chocolate chips on top and bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Storage:
Store any leftover cake in an airtight container in the pantry for up to 4 days.
This cake can also be frozen. Allow the cake to cool completely then wrap in cling film and freeze for up to three months.
Top tips:
This cake can also be made in a rectangle baking tray, which is great for feeding the kids because the pieces are not so thick. I like to sprinkle the top with hundreds and thousands to add some fun colour.
Related Recipes:
Made this recipe?
Please click on the stars below to rate it or, write a review!
Chocolate Banana Cake
This chocolate banana cake is our family's favourite, it is so easy to make and a great way to use up over ripe bananas!
Ingredients
- 100g butter, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 banana, mashed
- ½ cup plain yoghurt or sour cream
- 1 ½ cups plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ cup boiling water
Icing
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 50g butter, softened
- 1 ½ Tbsp boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C fanbake.
- Mix together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla in a large bowl. Add banana and yoghurt then stir again.
- Sift in flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa.
- Dissolve baking soda in boiling water then pour into bowl and fold everything together until combined.
- Pour mixture into a greased, lined cake tin.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until cake is cooked through.
- For the icing: Combine icing sugar and cocoa powder. Add softened butter and pour in boiling water. Mix together with a knife or spatula, adding more water if required until smooth. Spread over cake once it has cooled.
Notes
- This can be made in a round (23cm) or rectangle (22 x 30cm) cake tin. Cooking times may vary between the two.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 335Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 52mgSodium: 301mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 1gSugar: 33gProtein: 4g
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.
If you don't already follow me, head over to my Instagram or Facebook pages to keep up to date with all my new recipes.
Vanya
Yvonne Straman
Found this recipe and my grandkids loved it and have shared with many others. I also make muffins from this mix. 🙂 Such a light moist cake
VJ cooks
I make muffins with it too! They're great for school lunches or late night snacks 🙂 Thank you for sharing and commenting!
Kelsey
Yum! Just made today. Used marg and a small bit of oil cause I was out of butter. Mix of brown and white sugar too. Delish!
Jackie Law
Lovely cake and so simple. Best chocolate icing I've made in years
VJ cooks
Thanks Jackie, so glad you liked it 🙂
Nicole
Can you subsitute the butter for oil? I've heard that can make the cake more moist
VJ cooks
Yes you could. I would suggest a neutral flavoured oil so that it doesn't negatively impact the flavour of the cake.
Haydee Muir
Nicole you are right, oil does make a moister cake, that stays moist. You could use 80ml of oil in exchange for the 100g butter. I have done this in many other cake recipes. You will probably want to add a touch more vanilla and maybe a little extra salt, to allow for the taste difference between butter and oil.
Summah
Is the flour just plain flour?
VJ cooks
Yes it is! I've just amended the recipe card to state this.
Haydee Muir
You must try this! I made it GF again! This time as a slab cake, and a muffin. Boy it was so good! (with the banana just a little over ripe, in combo with the black forest yoghurt), The cake was out of this world! The cup cake rose very high, and was very moist and soft.(I used Edmonds GF Plain Flour, used real coffee instead of water. If I not mentioned previously, I added an extra 1/4 tsp baking powder to the original recipe. As a slab cake I decided to do 1.5x the recipe. It worked well, and it baked in a pan of water, (becuse I needed the cake to be as flat as possible). I brushed the surface of the hot cake with milk, as GF cakes seem to dry out on top quite easily. If you plan to try it GF, please read all my comments. Thanks again Vanya
VJ cooks
Wow, great tips. Thanks Haydee!
SUSIE
Do you make slab tin 22x30cm and do 1.5 recipe.
VJ cooks
Yes that should work. Bake until a cake skewer comes out clean.
Brianna
Can you use milk instead of plain yogurt?
VJ cooks
I haven't tried that sorry, I suggest sour cream as a substitute.
Lynette Marshall
I made this today for my grandchildren and they loved it.
It was so quick and easy.
VJ cooks
Awesome. Glad to hear you all enjoyed it 🙂
Victoria
Is this cake able to be made and frozen, then defrosted and iced and still delicious? I can't make and ice the cake the day it's needed, so thought if I could freeze it couple of days before, it would help me timewise.
VJ cooks
Yes absolutely.