Banana Cake With Oil

What to do with old bananas – throw them away in a freezer, to wait until you have the time and patience to make banana bread?

Lately, instead of making banana bread, I’ve taken to making this banana cake! It is moist and luscious and ideal for serving to a crowd – or treating yourself during your morning coffee.

I now firmly believe a banana cake is the best cake you can make in the comfort of your home.

This banana cake recipe is a simple, one-bowl cake with basic ingredients you probably have in your pantry already. The only special ingredient you need to have are bananas – the riper the better.

Banana cake is at least 50% of the reason I have bananas on the counter at any time. This is the easiest and most satisfying cake you can make. The recipe I am about to share is very forgiving recipe, so even if you make a mistake, do not worry – you will be able to fix it! 

I truly cannot sell this recipe enough. I mean, come on: it is a one-bowl cake, it uses up mushy bananas, it can feed a lot of people and it looks pretty too!

You can even make the cake with different add-ins, like chopped nuts for a  crunchy texture, fresh blueberries for an extra fruity flavor, or chocolate chips for a gourmet version of cake. 

Trust me you don’t want to miss out on this cake! So without further ado, let’s get baking!

Which Bananas Should I Use?

The only requirement when making this recipe is to use ripe bananas. Once the banana skin starts to develop freckles and the fruit become soft, then it is banana cake time!

You can use bananas with the freckles or let them ripen even more until their skins are brown and the fruit falls apart when you peel it (when they’re nice and mushy).

This will ensure the banana cake has that extra strong, banana-rich taste. Plus, it’s a great way to use up bananas that are still good, but becoming a little less appetizing.

Mashed or Pureed?

Now, that is the question. I personally like hand-mashed bananas, because this way you will have some chunks left in.

When mashing the bananas with a fork you cannot mash them completely fine, and that is my favorite.

If you puree these with an immersion blender or food blender, you will have a smooth banana mash, without any chunks. This is completely up to you, however. Neither way is wrong. 

An Easy and Forgiving Recipe

As mentioned, this is a very forgiving recipe. If you do make a mistake, in terms of making the batter too thick, or thin, you can easily fix it by adding more flour, or mashed banana.

Also, this recipe will tolerate several substitutions – you can use whole wheat flour instead of plain one, brown sugar instead of white, or even reduce the amount of eggs.

I have never tested this recipe without eggs completely, but if you do, let me know how it works!

My point here is that you can make this bread even if you find yourself short on some of the ingredients – except the rising agent, you really need that! The rest of the ingredients are easy to play with and you can even add some chopped walnuts or your favorite nuts for some added texture. 

Fork Vs. Mixer

As explained, I love my banana bread with some chunks inside. Still, this is not what I am talking about…this recipe is emphasized as an easy recipe and therefore, whether you make it in a batter bowl with a fork or using a stand mixer is a completely your choice.

For me good old fork and a bowl is all I need. Also, I like the direct contact with the ingredients and it feels so old-fashioned, just like Grandma used to do!

The Secret to Better Banana Cake?

The best indicator for a good banana cake is the amount of bananas – the more bananas the better.

A cake packed with bananas adds natural sweetness and makes the cake incredibly moist. Of course this does not mean you can go overboard with it, but adding 4 to 5 bananas to your cake is perfectly okay!

How To Make A Banana Cake With Oil

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit. 

Line 9-inch spring form pan with baking paper and grease the sides. 

Place bananas in a bowl and mash using a fork. 

Step 2

Add in the eggs, oil, and sugar. Whisk until smooth.

Step 3

Sift in flour and baking powder. Stir until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the spring form pan and bake for 45 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

Step 4

Cool the cake before removing from the spring form. 

Slice and serve topped with whipped cream, blueberries, and banana slices, or preferred topping. 

Up Next: Whipped Cream Without Heavy Cream