What do you do with old bananas? Do you throw them in the freezer, to wait for a batch of banana bread? Lately, instead of banana bread, I've been making this banana cake. It's moist and luscious, and it is a very easy dessert for a crowd; it will feed at least 10! And lately, since blueberries are everywhere, I've been adding ripe, juicy blueberries, too.
This recipe is adapted from my favorite banana cake recipe (you can see it here). It includes one unusual step: a session in the freezer for the freshly-baked cake. Popping a hot cake into the freezer helps it condense into an extremely moist and tender texture. It also helps it cool down fast so you can frost it sooner.
This is not a complicated cake: it all comes together in one bowl, and it uses up leftover bananas. It feeds a lot of people, and it looks pretty too. You can make it without blueberries, of course, but I love their juicy purple bite in this cake. It makes it even more moist.
Blueberry Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
9x13-inch cake, serves 10 to 12
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons rum (optional)
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (from about 3 bananas)
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 lemon, juiced and zested
1 1/2 cups milk
2 cups blueberries, washed and picked over
For the cream cheese icing:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package light cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum (optional)
3 cups confectioners' sugar
Pinch salt
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a 9x13-inch pan with parchment paper, with enough paper that paper hangs over the two long sides. Grease lightly with baking spray or butter.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer) cream the butter with the sugars. Blend in the eggs one at a time, and whip until creamy. Add the vanilla and rum, if using, as well as the bananas. Mix until creamy.
Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir the mixture roughly, but do not combine completely. In a large measuring cup, mix the lemon juice with the milk. (Reserve the lemon zest for the icing.) With the mixer running, slowly pour the milk into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Mix until smooth. Fold in the blueberries. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
Bake the cake for 75 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. (Start checking after 60 minutes.) When the cake is firm and a tester comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven. Run a knife between the cake and the short edges of the pan to help release the cake. Lift up on the parchment paper to remove the whole cake from the pan, and place the cake, parchment and all, on a cooling rack. Place the rack in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and let the cake cool completely before icing.
For the icing: In a large bowl, whip the butter and cream cheese together until very smooth, with no lumps remaining. Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon rum, if using. Add the confectioners sugar, reserved lemon zest, and salt and beat on low speed until combined, then on high until frosting is smooth. Spread on cooled cake. Garnish with blueberries.
Related: Recipe: Caramel Banana Cake
(Images: Faith Durand)
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Comments (13)
Looks to die for! Looks like I know what my homework is this weekend...
Yum! Ditto on the weekend homework - going to add some raspberries too, to see if it works for the 4th of July.
Looks amazing!
With my left over bananas - I make banana ice cream...it is super easy and very healthy.
Recipe:
http://www.roamyourwayhome.com/_/Home/Entries/2010/3/17_Banana_Ice_Cream.html
So I came across this last night when I needed a recipe for my ripe bananas! Surprisingly, I had all the ingredients so I got to work. I used blackberries as well as blueberries. I don't have a mixer but the recipe turned out just fine. The frosting is delicious!
Oh... my... gosh. I live alone and have literally nothing to bake a cake for, but I might just go ahead and make this one for my little old self. Wow. Yum. Wow.
I just made this cake for lunch (yeah, my husband and I are heathens) and WOW it is delicious! Perfect with some White Lion iced tea!
whoa - i don't even usually like bananas but i'm DEFINITELY going to try this!
the freezing technique sounds like good in theory for the cake, i'm just wondering if the increase in freezer temp be significant enough to thaw surrounding foods at all?
The bananas in this recipe are very subtle; it's really more like a carrot cake in texture and taste. I don't think I will make cream cheese frosting without rum ever again. My in-laws, husband, and I polished off this entire cake over the memorial day weekend, and it was absolutely fabulous.
OMG! Its 12:34 AM in my place and I am tempted to get blueberries now! I will definitely make this tomorrow! Will provide update! YUUUUMMMM :)
I'm making this for Father's Day... it looks amazing!!!
Thank You, Thank You! For sharing this recipe! As promised here is my update! I made this cake this past weekend and instead of baking it in a 9x13 pan I split it up and baked the batter in two 9x2 round cake pans. One I took to work and the other savored for Father's Day weekend! As you promised this cake was amazing, moist, delicious and the rum in both cake and frosting was DELISH! It is now in my favorites recipe bin! :)
Just made this cake- 'half' recipe, and skipped the frosting-just a dusting of confectioners' sugar as treat for the Fourth of July! It's the BEST ever! Look forward to having it for breakfast tomorrow- yum!
Bravo! This is a sure pleaser for moist dessert lovers. My husband and four children devoured it!