This fluffy and moist banana cake is topped with a soft and creamy caramel frosting, and salted caramel swirls.

It’s super easy to make, and can even be prepared with frozen bananas and store bought caramel sauce!

What is caramel icing made of?

This caramel frosting is to die for! it’s sweet but salty at the same time, fluffy and extremely soft.

It’s a buttercream frosting, so it has butter and sugar as a base. It also has salted caramel, which gives that delicious flavor to it.

Check out the ingredients and instructions on the recipe card at the end of this post!

Ingredients needed for this easy banana cake recipe

• Canola oil. Oil will keep your cake moist, tender and fluffy
• Granulated sugar. To sweeten the cake
• Eggs. They will provide leavening and structure to your cake; they will also give flavor to it
• Bananas. The star of the show! bananas will not only help giving the banana flavor, but will also make your cake moist
• Buttermilk. Helps keeping your cake moist. Because of its tanginess, it also levels the sweetness of your cake. Here’s a post that teaches you how to make your own homemade buttermilk or sour milk with lemon juice.
• Vanilla extract. Enhances all of the other flavors
• All-purpose flour. When combined with liquids, gluten will start forming and will provide structure to your cake
• Baking powder. It will help your cake rise
• Baking soda. It will make your cake light and airy
• Salt. Will help enhance all of the rest of the flavors in your cake. In your buttercream, it helps level the sweetness.
• Icing sugar. To sweeten the caramel buttercream
• Caramel. If you need a quick caramel icing, just use store-bought caramel sauce. If you feel like making your own homemade caramel, just follow the recipe below (no need of a candy thermometer!)

Caramel ingredients (just if you are making your own)

• Brown sugar. I used brown sugar instead of granulated sugar for the caramel sauce due to its added flavor
• Unsalted butter. It will help giving your caramel sauce its creamy texture
• Heavy cream. Adds moisture to your caramel sauce
• Light corn syrup. Keeps your caramel sauce from crystallizing

How to make this banana caramel cake

Banana Cake

Line a 13×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper and pre-heat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit.

Over a large bowl, whisk oil, sugar and eggs. Add mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract and mix.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.

Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, add the dry ingredients (flour mixture) to the banana mixture. Mix on medium speed until all of the ingredients are well combined.

Pour batter in an even layer into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let cake cool completely on a wire rack before topping with the salted caramel frosting.

Caramel frosting

Over a large bowl of an electric stand mixer or a hand mixer, cream butter, vanilla extract and salt for 1.5 minutes in medium-high speed, until butter looks light and fluffy.

Add caramel sauce and sifted powdered sugar and mix in low until just combined. Turn speed to medium-high and mix for an additional minute, until frosting looks creamy and fluffy.

Spread on top of the cake and swirl with remaining caramel sauce.

Homemade caramel sauce (you can also use store bought)

In a sauce pan, combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and heavy cream. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved.

Increase to medium heat and cook for additional 2 minutes without stirring, until mixture turns golden brown and bubbles start to form in the center of the pan.

Test it by adding a drop of the caramel into a plate and freeze for 30 seconds; if sauce is still runny, cook for a bit longer. It should be oozy and pourable.

Transfer the caramel into a glass jar without scraping the sides of the pan, to avoid any crystals from getting into your sauce. Let come at room temperature before adding it to the buttercream.

Can I use frozen bananas to make this cake?

Sure! I actually used half a cup of frozen bananas for this recipe, the rest was with fresh bananas.

If using frozen bananas, thaw them for around 3 hours. Remove the brown liquid to avoid a too dense cake, then mash and use the amount called for in the recipe.

What if I don’t have buttermilk at hand?

You can make your own buttermilk, just add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a cup and fill to 3/4 with full fat milk.

Let it come at room temperature before using it.

Why is my banana cake so wet?

This is probably because you didn’t measure your flour correctly.

Flour should be measured using a spoon, scooping the flour into your measuring cup without compacting it, then use the back of a knife to level it.

Another reason could be, if you used frozen bananas, you didn’t drain the brown liquid from the bananas after they were thawed.

When do you know banana cake is done?

While cake is still in the oven, use a toothpick and insert it in the middle of the cake to test for doneness. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done.

Can you leave banana cake out overnight?

If you’re consuming your cake the day after, it’s totally fine to leave your cake covered with plastic wrap, in a fresh place and away from any heat sources.

Expert tips for the best banana cake

• I can’t stress enough how important it is to measure ingredients correctly. For the flour and powdered sugar use the spoon method, without compacting them into your cup. For the liquid ingredients, place the cup on a flat surface to be able to read the measurements more accurately. Brown sugar is more moist than flour and powdered sugar, so it’s ok to compact it, then level it with a knife
• Use room temperature ingredients when called for. This will ensure they mix more evenly and give the desired results in terms of consistency and texture
• Use super ripe bananas. Bananas with dark spots are the best for this recipe!

Here’s a video of this banana cake with caramel frosting so you can see up-close this dessert.

Follow the links below for more cake recipes and banana recipes

Chocolate Banana Marbled bread (GF, DF, refined sugar free)

Banana Cupcakes with Dulce de leche filling

Perfect Vanilla Cake

Chocolate Olive Oil Cake

Vanilla Mango Cake

If you make this recipe, please be sure to give it a star rating and leave a comment below!