Easy Banana Butter Cake {Light, Moist & Buttery}

posted by Celia Lim on Apr 23, 2015 (updated Jan 3, 2025) 61 comments »

4.65 from 34 reviews

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This Asian-style banana butter cake is moist, buttery and rich with banana flavour. Easy and fuss-free recipe that uses everyday pantry ingredients, this banana cake bakes beautifully and always turns out!

This is my one of my most baked banana butter cakes! In fact, I’d like to say this is my favourite Asian banana cake.

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And that’s because Asians tend to enjoy their banana cakes a little less sweet, and lighter on the palette.

We love our heritage of light yet rich butter cakes. This banana cake is no exception and always a treat to have or to gift to our family and friends.

If you’re looking for more of a Western banana bread type of dessert, I’m going to point you towards this super moist rum and raisin banana bread, which is just as delicious without the liquor.

Today, I bought a big bunch of bananas from the market. Which I left in the car, naturally, while I popped by the library to pick up some books. And boy, it was hot out today.

Not just today, but pretty much this past week has been searing hot. What was originally intended to be a short book browse quickly became an hour.

I swear the bananas ripened in that time, as if they had sat in a warm oven. Not that I minded as that would only make the inevitable come sooner. You see, I could get to making this banana butter cake right away!

There are so many ways to turn bananas into delicious treats. But I really enjoy bananas most when mashed into a rich and moist banana butter cake.

Why this banana butter cake is so good

Let me just say that this banana butter cake is as simple as it gets.

There’s no need for any dairy other than butter, so you won’t find milk, sour cream or yogurt in this recipe like in a lot of banana cake or bread recipes.

Asian banana cake recipes tend to be brief with ingredients. So where does the flavour come from?

Believe it or not, all you need are bananas plus just a few key ingredients. Here’s why this cake is so good:

Using over-ripe bananas gives this cake the boldest, richest and most intense flavour! It will guarantee that your banana cake tastes sweet, rich, and ultra banana-ey! If you have bananas now that aren’t quite there yet, here’s how you can ripen your bananas quickly – like in a matter of minutes, so you can bake this today!

This banana butter cake is super moist. The cake gets all of its moisture from the mushy bananas. There’s a full ¾ cup of it! Plus, sweetening the deal with brown sugar also guarantees moistness!

You’ll love how buttery this banana cake is! With a flour to butter ratio of 1:1, you know this is going to turn out a moist and buttery banana cake.

Ingredients for banana butter cake

Banana cakes are easy to bake at a moment’s notice because they use up regular pantry ingredients. So here’s what you’ll need:

Over-ripe bananas, please!
Butter, unsalted
Eggs, large (I use 60 gram eggs)
Light brown sugar
Self-raising flour
Baking soda
Salt
Lemon juice

How to make this easy banana butter cake

Banana butter cake- creaming butter step

Banana butter cake- creamed butter and sugar

Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, place the butter and light brown sugar. You can also use a hand-held mixer fitted with beaters, or simply beat with a wooden spoon by hand.

Step 2: Cream on medium speed (I use speed 3 on my Kitchen Aid) until the butter mixture turns pale, and feels light and fluffy.

Step 3: Tip in the beaten eggs, bit by bit, beating well in between each addition. Make sure you don’t tip in too much at one go, add only when the previous addition has been fully incorporated. I did this in about 5 to 6 additions.

Step 4: The batter should look smooth and uniform after beating in the eggs and remain fairly light and fluffy.

Step 5: Add in ½ of the sifted flour, baking soda and salt mixture. Beat in until just combined. Be careful not to over beat or over stir at this point. You’ll just need to beat or stir in until you don’t see specks of flour in the batter.

Step 6: Tip in the mashed bananas, and beat or stir until well combined.

Step 7: Finally, add the remaining flour mixture. Again, only beat until the flour is well incorporated throughout the batter.

Step 8: The final batter should be smooth and uniform in consistency throughout. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake at 170°C (338°F) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Once cooled, the cake will keep well in air-tight container for up to 3 days in a cool, dry space of your kitchen. Maybe less, if you live in a humid tropical environment like I do.

I prefer to store it chilled after the first day, and warm up a slice in the microwave whenever I want to have it.

All it takes is about 15 to 20 seconds to get it as tender and moist as when first baked, depending on how warm you enjoy your slice.

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