This Single Layer Brown Butter Banana Cake is moist, tender, and filled with flavor, and smothered in a rich espresso cream cheese frosting. It's made with brown butter, dark brown sugar, buttermilk, and oil for extra moisture, and then topped with the most luscious frosting that will keep you up for hours!
This Banana Cake with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect excuse to your your overripe bananas that you've had sitting on your counter all week waiting to be eaten. If you're anything like me, you buy a bunch of bananas with the intention of using them up, but then they sit there on your counter and get all spotty and brown, a little too ripe to eat. This Banana Cake Coffee Frosting cake recipe is perfect! All you need is two ripe bananas and a few basic ingredients from your kitchen.
For more banana recipes, try my Spiced Banana Cake, Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake, Caramel Banana Cake.
If you're looking for more espresso cream cheese frosting recipes, try my brownies with espresso cream cheese frosting. I also have a delicious coffee frosting that covers these Coffee Cinnamon Rolls!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Single Layer: This one layer Brown Butter Banana Cake is only one layer, can be made with one bowl, and comes together quickly. It's a small, snack sized cake that can be made for small crowds.
Easy: This cake can be made in one bowl, takes 30 minutes to bake, and once cooled, can be frosted and enjoyed. It's so easy and uses basic ingredients you can find in your kitchen.
Moist & Flavorful: This Brown Butter Banana Cake is incredibly moist from the brown butter, oil, and buttermilk, and so flavorful!
Brown Butter: The addition of brown butter in the cake takes this already delicious cake to new levels of flavor.
Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting: This coffee frosting is absolutely silky, smooth, luscious, and so addictive. You'll be licking the spoon as you make it!
Jump to:
Ingredient Notes
- Banana: Use very ripe bananas. For this Brown Butter Banana Cake recipe I used two large ripe banana, which is around 1 cup of mashed bananas.
- Flour: All purpose flour gives this cake the best crumb. Use a scale when measuring to get the best results.
- Spices: I use nutmeg and cinnamon, but you can add more if you like.
- Leaveners: Both baking powder and baking soda are used to help the cake rise.
- Salt: Always needed in cake.
- Butter: For this recipe, we brown the butter, which is cooking the butter until the milk solids become toasty. I like using unsalted butter in cakes. The butter can be cold out of the fridge.
- Sugar: This Brown Butter Banana Cake uses mostly dark brown sugar, and some granulated sugar.
- Oil: Vegetable or any neutral oil.
- Eggs: Room temperature, large eggs.
- Buttermilk: If you don't have any buttermilk, you can make your own by adding ½ tablespoon of vinegar to the milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes before using.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure to use full fat, block cream cheese. It should be cold, straight out of the fridge. This helps the cream cheese frosting from being too soft.
- Butter: Softened unsalted butter.
- Powdered Sugar: To sweeten and stiffen the frosting.
- Salt: It helps balance out the sweetness.
- Espresso Powder: I love using King Arthur Baking espresso powder. You can use a whole tablespoon as in the recipe, or add a little more, or even a little less. Don't use regular coffee.
See recipe card for quantities.
Step-by-step instructions
This easy Brown Butter Banana Cake takes very little effort and very little time.
Brown the Butter
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes.
You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. Continue stirring and remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool slightly before continuing with recipe.
Hint: Make sure to line your baking pan with parchment paper so that it's easy to take the cake out of the pan once cooled.
Make the Brown Butter Banana Cake
Step 1: In a large bowl, add the slightly cooled brown butter and sugars and mix until well combined.
Step 2: Then add the eggs, oil, vanilla extract and mix. Then add the mashed bananas and buttermilk, and mix until incorporated.
Step 3: Sift in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.
Step 4: Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Depending on your oven, it could take more or less time. If you feel like the top is browning too much, cover it loosely with foil. Start checking at 25 minutes.
Make the Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until combined and smooth, for about 3 minutes. Add the salt and espresso powder and beat until combined, then add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until each addition is incorporated, and beat for a few minutes until it's very smooth.
Substitutions
Brown sugar: In place of dark brown sugar, you can use light brown sugar instead.
Buttermilk: If you don't have any buttermilk on hand, add ½ tablespoon of vinegar to milk and let it sit and curdle for 5 minutes. Although, I do highly suggest using buttermilk instead of homemade version.
Variations
Spices: You can add extra spices to give the cake a little more spice flavor, like my Spiced Banana Cake recipe.
Cream Cheese Frosting: If you're not a fan of espresso, you can leave it out all together, and add a little vanilla extract to the frosting.
Nuts: Adding pecans or walnuts would be an excellent addition to this cake. You can add it directly to the batter, or sprinkle on top of the cake after frosting.
Equipment
This Banana Cake Coffee Frosting recipe requires very little equipment. I do suggest a couple things:
- Metal 8 inch Square USA pan
- A handheld mixer for the frosting
- A sauce pan for the brown butter
- A whisk
Storage
Room temperature: This cake can be stored unfrosted in an airtight container at room temperature.
Refrigerator: Once frosted, the cake must be stored covered, in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Let come to room temperature before eating.
Freezer: Unfrosted, you can wrap the cake in saran wrap, then aluminum foil and place in the freezer for 2-3 months. Defrost in the fridge over night.
Pro Tips
Measure Ingredients Correctly: As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Don't burn the brown butter: Once the brown butter starts to pop, foam, and form specs at the bottom of the pan, remove it. Otherwise you could burn it and it will end up tasting bitter.
Don't over mix: Once the flour is incorporated, stop mixing.
Don't over bake: Start checking at 25-28 minutes.
Cool completely: Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Ripe bananas: If you don't have any ripe bananas but want to make this recipe, bake bananas on a lined baking sheet at 350 degrees F. for about 15 minutes until the peels are black.
Buttermilk: Instead of buttermilk, you can use whole milk, with a ½ tablespoon of vinegar added. Let sit for 5 minutes to curdle.
FAQ
How to ripen bananas fast?
If you don't have any ripe bananas but want to make this recipe, bake bananas on a lined baking sheet at 350 degrees F. for about 15 minutes until the peels are black.
Instead of buttermilk, you can use whole milk, with a ½ tablespoon of vinegar added. Let sit for 5 minutes to curdle.
If you don't like brown butter, you can just use melted butter. Melt all 6 tablespoon and continue with the recipe as directed.
No, make sure to use espresso powder or instant espresso powder. Coffee granules are too large and won't come out in this coffee frosting.
📖 Recipe Card
Brown Butter Banana Cake
Ingredients
Brown Butter Banana Cake
- 2 (223g) large banana, very ripe (about 1 cup, mashed) see notes
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup (100g) dark brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (66g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk see notes
- 1½ cups (180g) all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 oz. cream cheese, cold block, full fat
- 4 tablespoon (56g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
Instructions
Brown Butter
- Melt butter in a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Stir the butter to make sure it melts evenly. Once the butter is completely melted, it will start to foam up. Continue stirring the butter. As it cooks, it will start to change into a deeper color. This could take 6-8 minutes.6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- You'll start to notice a nutty aroma and the butter will begin to have brown specs at the bottom of the pan. Continue stirring and remove from the heat and pour into a heat-proof bowl and let cool slightly before continuing with recipe. The entire process of browning butter from start to finish should not take more than 10 minutes on medium heat.
Brown Butter Banana Cake
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350℉ and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Mash the banana and set aside.2 (223g) large banana, very ripe (about 1 cup, mashed)
- Mix dry ingredients: In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon, mix and set aside.1½ cups (180g) all purpose flour, 1½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl, add the slightly cooled brown butter and sugars and mix until well combined. Then add the eggs, oil, vanilla extract and mix. Then add the mashed bananas and buttermilk, and mix until incorporated.½ cup (100g) dark brown sugar, ⅓ cup (66g) granulated sugar, 3 tablespoon vegetable oil, ½ cup buttermilk, 2 large eggs
- Combine: Sift in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Pour & Bake: Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Depending on your oven, it could take more or less time. If you feel like the top is browning too much, cover it loosely with foil. Start checking at 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat: In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until combined and smooth, for about 3 minutes. Add the salt and espresso powder and beat until combined, then add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time until each addition is incorporated, and beat for a few minutes until it's very smooth.
- Frost: Once cake is completely cooled, frost. Keep refrigerated.
Comments
No Comments