This amazing Chocolate Banana Cake is rich, moist, super chocolaty, with just the right hint of sweet ripe banana. I paired it with my new favorite buttercream frosting – a fluffy and creamy miso caramel frosting. I promise you’re going to absolutely love this cake!
I seriously had a Meryl Streep from It’s Complicated moment when I tasted this chocolate banana cake. The one where Jane was eating a piece of chocolate cake when Adam came to her door, and she went “Oh my god… this could be the best cake I ever made!” It is that good, I swear!
Trang’s Recipe Highlights
- FLAVOR: This chocolate banana cake has a bold chocolate flavor with a subtle hint of banana, and deeply caramelized frosting. Not too sweet, not too bitter, perfectly balanced!
- TEXTURE: The cake is super soft and moist. And the caramel frosting is smooth, creamy, light and fluffy.
- EASE: As far as cake recipes go, this one is on the easy side!
What you’ll need
You’ll need 10 ingredients for the cake, pictured below. As always, you can find the full list of ingredients with quantities and step-by-step instructions in the recipe card.
- Banana – make sure to use ripe, spotty, brown bananas. Sometimes I keep a stash of frozen ripe bananas in the freezer when there are too many going brown at once and not enough time to bake. If frozen, thaw the bananas and mash them together with the liquid that comes out during thawing.
- Oil vs. butter – I love using brown butter in all my banana bread recipes, even in this chocolate banana bread. But for this chocolate banana cake, I chose to use oil to make sure the crumbs are super soft and moist.
- Cocoa powder – I prefer dutch-processed cocoa powder over natural cocoa powder for a deeper chocolate flavor.
The miso caramel frosting only takes 3 ingredients if you have homemade miso caramel on hand.
Miso caramel substitution
If you don’t want to make miso caramel, I have a shortcut for you. You can use ¾ cup of any caramel sauce (homemade or store bought) along with 1 tablespoon of white miso paste as a substitute.
Warm up your caramel sauce, then mix in the miso paste with a small spatula, pressing it agaisnt the side of the bowl to ensure it is fully incorporated. Let cool, use ½ cup in the frosting and ¼ cup for the drizzle.
I use Marukome premium white miso paste to make my miso caramel and many of my miso desserts. It doesn’t have a lot of sodium (290 mg/tablespoon) so you’ll get just a hint of savoriness. But if your miso paste is a little bit saltier, it can still work here as a salted caramel buttercream frosting.
Pair it with different frostings
This nutty and tangy brown butter cream cheese frosting was so good with my miso banana cake, I think it will go well with this chocolate version too.
I also love banana, chocolate and cookie butter flavor combo, so this Biscoff frosting is a perfect substitution.
And for a more classic flavor combo of banana, chocolate and peanut butter, use this easy peanut butter frosting instead.
Also, chocolate on chocolate is never a bad idea. Swap your frosting for this fluffy whipped chocolate buttercream.
Hungry for more?
Chocolate Banana Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate banana cake
- 1 ⅓ cup mashed banana, 320 g
- 3 oz vegetable or canola oil, 89 ml, 77 g
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed, 200 g
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, 135 g
- ½ cup cocoa powder, dutch-processed preferred, 48 g
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Miso caramel frosting
- 8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature, 226 g
- ¾ cup miso caramel, room temperature, divided, 225 g
- 1 cup powdered sugar, 100 g
Instructions
- Preheat the oven – Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- Prepare the baking pan – Brush your baking pan with melted butter or nonstick baking spray and line it with a piece of long parchment paper, allowing the excess to hang over the sides. Brush the parchment paper with additional melted butter. Set aside.
- Prepare wet ingredients for chocolate banana cake – Mash the bananas with a potato masher in a large mixing bowl. Add oil, eggs and vanilla, and beat with a whisk until thoroughly combined.1 ⅓ cup mashed banana, 3 oz vegetable or canola oil, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Add sugar – Add brown sugar and beat again until completely incorporated.1 cup brown sugar
- Add dry ingredients – Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder into another small mixing bowl. Add the salt and mix to distribute evenly. Add the dry ingredient mixture into the bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix gently with a whisk or a spatula until combined and no trace of flour remains.1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Bake – Transfer the cake batter to the prepared baking pan and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Cool – Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack before adding frosting.
- Make the miso caramel frosting – Add softened butter and ½ cup of miso caramel to a stand mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed for just a couple of minutes until the mixture is thoroughly combined and creamy.8 oz unsalted butter, ¾ cup miso caramel
- Add sugar and beat until fluffy – Add powdered sugar and stir to combine. Then gradually increase the mixer speed and beat until the frosting is lighter in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes.1 cup powdered sugar
- Add frosting to the cake – Spread miso caramel frosting evenly on top of the cooled cake with an offset spatula to cover the entire surface of the cake.
- Add caramel drizzle – Add the remaining ¼ cup of miso caramel to a pastry bag or a ziploc bag. Snip the corner and drizzle caramel over the frosting. Slice and serve!¾ cup miso caramel
Notes
- Miso caramel substitution: warm up ¾ cup of any caramel sauce (homemade or store bought), mix in 1 tablespoon of white miso paste using a small spatula. Let it cool and use as the recipe directs. I use Marukome premium white miso paste.
- Yield: this cake can serve up to 12 people or 9 for more generous portions.
- Storage: you can refrigerate your chocolate banana cake in an airtight container for 3-5 days. Or you can wrap leftovers individually and freeze for up to 3 months. Let it come up to room temperature a bit before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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