Dark Chocolate Banana Cake with Buttermilk (Super Moist!)
This made-from-scratch chocolate banana cake is heavenly, easy, super moist and perfect as a snack, teatime treat and even birthdays!
Servings: 1 Eight inches round cake
Calories: 2955.4kcal
Ingredients
Cake
- 175 g all purpose flour
- 35 g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 180 g brown sugar
- 100 ml buttermilk
- 150 g butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 200 g mashed bananas 2 - 3 medium sized
Garnish
- 1 Banana sliced
- 1 teaspoon powdered sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Measure brown sugar into a large bowl.
- Add the butter and cream both until light and fluffy. This should take a good 2 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl at least twice.
- Next, beat in the eggs. You can do one at a time or both at once. Beat until all traces of the eggs are no longer visible, The mixture may appear runny if you add both the eggs at the same time. Continue beating until it is no longer runny and turns creamy.
- In a separate bowl, measure the flour. Add the cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and powder to it. Mix these dry ingredients with a hand whisk.
- Sift the flour mixture into the creamed mixture in 3 batches. Alternate each batch with the buttermilk (in 2 batches). Fold well.
- Next, peel the bananas and measure them (200g). Place them in a shallow plate and use a fork to mash them until fine.
- Fold the mashed bananas into the cake batter. Mix until well combined.
- Finally, fold in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the batter into a well-greased and floured (or parchment paper lined) 8 inch round cake tin.
- Slice the remaining banana into thin slices and arrange them on top of the cake batter.
- Bake the banana chocolate cake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out without any wet batter. A few moist crumbs are fine.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the tin for about 2 minutes before running through a butter knife around the sides of the tin to loosen it. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool. Place it upright to cool completely before frosting or serving. Dredge powdered sugar on top before cutting.
Notes
- For best results, use overripe bananas. We are talking about bananas that are all ripe that the skin has started having brown specks on them. These are not rotting ones, they are all still perfect on the inside but has ripened really well. Well ripened bananas have the best banana flavor.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into 100 ml of milk. Let the solution sit for a few minutes, and it will curdle. Use it as a substitute for the buttermilk in the recipe.
- To make a layered cake, bake the cake in two 6-inches round cake tins (for 35 to 40 minutes). For a larger layered cake, double the recipe and bake the cake in two 8-inches round cake tins (for 40 to 45 minutes). Omit the banana slices on the cake. These will most likely be leveled off when you stack the cakes, so there is really no point in adding them on. After baking, slice each layer into two if you wish to make a 4 layered cake. Otherwise, simply fill and stack them up with your favorite frosting. This cake goes well with cream cheese frosting, buttercream, 3-ingredient chocolate frosting and even chocolate ganache.
- To make a bundt cake, prepare the cake batter as provided in the recipe card but omit the banana slices. Pour the batter into a well-greased and floured 6-cups cavity bundt cake tin. Bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 35 to 40 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out without any wet batter sticking to it. Make sure the cake tin is not filled to the brim and there is sufficient space for the cake to rise (at least one third of the tin). If there is too much batter, remove some and bake it as cupcakes.
- To make a sheet cake, prepare the batter as above. Pour it into a well-greased and floured 6 inches by 10 inches rectangle cake tin. Bake as usual.
Nutrition
Calories: 2955.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 409.6g | Protein: 44.2g | Fat: 140.9g | Saturated Fat: 85.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 37.4g | Trans Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 661mg | Sodium: 3254.3mg | Potassium: 2395.2mg | Fiber: 25.9g | Sugar: 220.1g | Vitamin A: 4594.6IU | Vitamin C: 27.7mg | Calcium: 615.1mg | Iron: 17mg