Mini Banana Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Mini sheet cakes are the best because they are the ultimate small batch cake. This Mini Banana Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting has a deliciously light and fluffy texture and is packed with loads of banana flavor. Topped with a magically smooth and chocolatey cream cheese frosting, it’s a dream if you like chocolate and bananas.

WHY BANANA CAKE IS AMAZINg

It’s the perfect way to use up those last, old bananas that have been hanging out on your counter for longer than you’d like to admit. Like its better-known cousin, banana bread it’s marked by those gorgeous brown flecks but much lighter in texture. In fact, it almost has a bounce.

In terms of flavor, it is jam-packed with banana flavor but without the denseness of banana bread. The texture of this cake is like a white fluffy cake but with a healthy dose of banana flavor. Paired with a chocolate cream cheese frosting, this cake is made for lovers of chocolate bananas. 

HOW TO MAKE MINI BANANA CAKE with Chocolate Frosting

1. Roast the bananas. I like to do this because it concentrates the banana flavor while reducing the overall volume of them, which yields a lighter cake that is still bursting with flavor. Mash them up and this is what we’re using to add to the cake.
2. Whisk up your dry ingredients. We’re using cake flour, baking soda, and salt for this cake.
3. Whip up your egg whites then add in some sugar followed by the rest of your wet ingredients. 
4. Add in your dry ingredients and mix until combined.
5. Transfer it to an 8×8-inch baking pan (see below for more alternatives). And bake!
6. Beat the cream cheese smooth. And then add the butter. Next, add the rest of the ingredients and beat until smooth. YUM.

TIPS AND TRICKS

• Do I need ripe bananas? No, since we’re roasting them, they’ll get sweeter and softer in the oven regardless.
• How should I store this cake? You can store it in the baking pan in which you baked it and cover it with plastic wrap. OR you can store it on a plate and cover it with a colander.
• If you have any extra roasted banana, I recommend adding it to overnight oats or oatmeal in the morning for a banana bread-flavored treat. Yum.

8×8-INCH CAKE PAN ALTERNATIVES

Some of you have said you don’t have an 8×8-inch square cake pan–no problem! Here are some other pans you can use to make this Mini Banana Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:

• Option #1: You can use a single 9-inch round cake pan that’s 2-inches in height. Bake time will be about 5 minutes less. I would check it at the 25-minute mark.
• Option #2: 9×5-inch loaf pan. Obviously, it’ll now be a loaf cake vs. looking like a cake! Bake time will likely be longer. I would check it at the 25-minute mark.
• Option #3: Cupcakes! You can bake these as cupcakes. It’ll yield 6 cupcakes. Bake time will likely be shorter. I would check it at the 15-minute mark.

If you make this Mini Banana Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, please let me know on Instagram!

If you want to make some recipes that would be great to serve with this cake, check these out:

• Birria Tacos
• Pasta al Limone
• Picadillo
• Arepas
• Grilled Grass-Fed Lamb Chops

The website The Kitchn gave this Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting a glowing review, check out what they said here!

5 from 5 votes

Print Recipe

Mini Banana Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Author: Adrianna Adarme

Mini sheet cakes are the best because they are the ultimate small batch cake. This Mini Banana Cake has a deliciously light and fluffy texture and is packed with loads of banana flavor. Topped with a magically smooth and chocolatey cream cheese frosting, it’s a dream if you like chocolate and bananas.

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: banana cake, chocolate cream cheese frosting, fluffy cake, how to make a banana cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Cooling Time for Cake: 1 hour hr

Total Time: 2 hours hrs

Serving Size: 10 people

Ingredients

BANANA MINI CAKE:

• 2 medium bananas in peel
• 1 ¼ cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 large egg whites
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature
• ¼ cup neutral oil
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

• 5 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Instructions

TO MAKE THE MINI SHEET CAKE:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small baking dish, lined with foil (for easy clean up), place the banana(s) and roast for 20 minutes. You should see juices pooling on the bottom of the dish. Carefully peel the bananas and measure out ½ a cup (roughly 4 ounces) of roasted banana. Mash in a small bowl, set aside, and let cool to room temperature.
• Keep the oven at 350 degrees F (as it was for roasting the banana). And grease and line an 8x8-inch baking pan. (See below in the “NOTES” section for other baking pan alternatives).
• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the whisk attachment (alternatively you can do this in a large bowl with an electric mixer), add the egg whites and beat on medium for 2 minutes or until it is foamy. Pour in the sugar, increase the speed to medium-high, and beat for another 2 minutes or until it becomes opaque white and starts to look slightly airy. You’re not making meringue, so no need to look for “peaks.”
• Replace the whisk attachment with a paddle if using a stand mixer and turn the mixer to low. Add in the butter, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed banana and mix until incorporated. Add the dry mixture and beat until combined and smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out until it reaches the sides. Transfer to the oven to bake for 25 to 32 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature. It’ll probably take a good hour.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

• In the bowl of a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment (or a medium bowl using an electric hand mixer), add the cream cheese and beat it until smooth. I like to do this or else the cream cheese frosting will have little clumps of cream cheese. Next, add the butter and beat it until smooth, about 15 seconds.
• Add the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat for a full 2 minutes to ensure fluffy, delicious frosting.
• If you want to make little bananas, here’s what you need to do: reserve about ¼ cup of frosting to one bowl. And then add 2 tablespoons to a second bowl. We’re going to add a coloring to both of those frostings.
• Then, add the 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the frosting and beat it one last time until combined.
• If you don’t want to make the bananas, you can obviously skip removing some of the frosting and just proceed with adding the powder, etc.

TO MAKE THE BANANAS FOR DECORATION:

• Add a drop or two of yellow food coloring to the ¼ cup of frosting. This is going to be for our bananas. Mix it together until smooth. Transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a #3 round piping tip.
• Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder to 2 tablespoons of frosting. This is going to be our banana stems and bottoms. Mix it together until smooth. Add a little more if it’s not darker than the cocoa frosting for the cake. Transfer it to a piping bag fitted with a #1 round piping tip.

TO DECORATE THE CAKE:

• Add the frosting to the top of the cake and smooth it out into an even layer. Make it cute with some swoops.
• If you didn’t do the bananas above, no biggie. Top it with some sprinkles OR leave it as is. It’s cute.
• To add the bananas, pipe on half-moons; they’ll end up looking like bananas once we add the tops. Add as many as you like. Make them any size you like, too.
• Pipe on two little dots, one on either end to transform them from half-moons to bananas. Use a wet finger to smooth down any point tips on the brown stems and bottoms.

TO STORE CAKE:

• I keep this cake at room temperature on my counter. I don’t own a glass cake cover so I use a colander. This cake is delicious for about 2 to 3 days. If my way leaves you unsettled, you can always place the cake back into the 8x8-inch baking dish and cover it with plastic wrap.

Notes

Some of you have said you don’t have an 8×8-inch square cake pan–no problem! Here are some other pans you can use:

• Option #1: You can use a single 9-inch round cake pan that’s 2-inches in height. Bake time will be about 5 minutes less. I would check it at the 25-minute mark.
• Option #2: 9×5-inch loaf pan. Obviously, it’ll now be a loaf cake vs. looking like a cake! Bake time will likely be longer. I would check it at the 25-minute mark.
• Option #3: Cupcakes! You can bake these as cupcakes. It’ll yield 6 cupcakes. Bake time will likely be shorter. I would check it at the 15-minute mark.

Tips and Tricks:

• I recommend using cold eggs, as they’re easier to crack and separate.
• Ripe bananas are best but roasting will enhance the flavor, so if they aren’t ripe, don’t stress!
• Reserve any extra roasted banana to add to your morning oatmeal. It’ll taste a little like banana bread pudding!

Nutrition

Calories: 275kcal (14%) | Carbohydrates: 56g (19%) | Protein: 2g (4%) | Fat: 5g (8%) | Saturated Fat: 3g (19%) | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 13mg (4%) | Sodium: 234mg (10%) | Potassium: 42mg (1%) | Fiber: 1g (4%) | Sugar: 44g (49%) | Vitamin A: 152IU (3%) | Calcium: 12mg (1%) | Iron: 1mg (6%)

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