Spiced Banana Bread Cake
with vanilla buttercream frosting
Banana Bread is addicting enough, but when eaten as a cake, slathered in decadent vanilla buttercream frosting it becomes an out of this world must-have dessert! This uber moist cake is full of rich banana flavor, aromatic cake spice and spicy Vietnamese cinnamon making it as unforgettable as it sounds.
As I have written in the past, Cake Spice is my new favorite winter spice mix that I am absolutely obsessed with. It is a mixture of nutmeg, clove, allspice, cinnamon, and ginger that adds just the right amount of seasoning that elevates this cake from being just good to phenomenal. Just the aromatic cake spice mixture alone we picked up at Penzey’s is enough to get your taste buds salivating.
And the frosting! We cannot forget about the frosting! This beauty of a vanilla buttercream is our favorite go to frosting because of its versatility when coupled with almost any cakes we whip up. Not too sweet, but boy is it a damn good delicious recipe that we have been lucky enough to create here in the GTFO Kitchen! Addicting doesn’t even come close to describing our feelings on what this frosting adds to this sweet banana treat.
Ingredients:
Spiced Carrot Cake
- 1 c. Smashed Bananas + 4 halves a Banana
- 1 c. Buttermilk
- 2 ½ c. All- Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp. Vietnamese Cinnamon
- 2 tsp. Ground Ginger
- ½ tsp. Cake Spice
- 2 tsp. Baking Powder
- 1 ½ tsp. Salt
- ¾ tsp. Baking Soda
- 4 Eggs
- 1 c. Granulated Sugar
- ¾ c. Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- ¾ c. Vegetable Oil
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1 c. butter
- 8 c. confectioner’s sugar
- ½ c. milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
Adapted from Bon Appetit’s “BA’s Best Carrot Cake” recipe
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat two 9″-diameter cake pans with nonstick spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper rounds; lightly coat rounds with nonstick spray.
- Whisk flour, cinnamon, ginger, cake spice, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until pale and thick, about 4 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low and gradually stream in oil. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with carrot mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredients; mix until smooth. Scrape batter into prepared pans.
- Bake cakes, rotating pans halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 to 72 minutes (depending on cake pans used, baking time may take longer than 1 hour). Transfer pans to a wire rack and let cakes cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around sides of cakes and invert onto wire rack; remove parchment. Let cool completely.
- While cake is cooling prepare the frosting by placing the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth and creamy. Gradually add in the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time until thick enough to spread.
- Add heavy whipping cream and vanilla last. Incorporate into frosting and then increase speed to medium high and beat for additional 2-3 minutes to whip air into the frosting.
- Once the cake has fully cooled, frost the cakes and serve!
