easy banana walnut cake with espresso fudge frosting
Another entry in the Banana-Mania diary, this time a luscious, soft cake to warm up chilly afternoons. Mug of coffee optional, but recommended.
There’s a reason certain meals and snacks are dubbed “comfort food.” Often they’re laden with fat that sticks to your ribs (and your arteries), flavors that warm you from the inside out and trigger endorphins and whatever other hormones to inspire the feel-good cozies. Sometimes we attach nostalgia to these foods, from mom or grandma or grandpa, a locale we adore visiting time and again.
I don’t really have a prominent memory of banana bread from my childhood. I’d imagine, as a semi-adult thing, it was one of my first baking ventures. I certainly associate a loaf with a mild or chilly afternoon, a fresh cup, time on the couch or dining table doing casual tasks. I’ve taken to having a loaf around for after-work nibbles. A simple embellishment for ordinary days.
This Easy Banana Walnut Cake is a gentle twist on classic banana bread, baked up in a cake pan instead and generously slathered with a deep chocolate frosting. Chocolate and banana are a heavenly match – you’ll know if you’ve tried my Chocolate Chunk Buckwheat Banana Bread – but add espresso and you touch a new depth of camaraderie. Bake this up to snack on all week.
Banana-Rama
The batter for this cake is a twin to banana bread, adding walnuts for texture and using far less sugar than a normal loaf. I chose honey as my sweetener for its compatibility with the nuts and the fruit. The liquid component also helps create a soft, tender crumb.
First, line a 9 x 9 inch cake pan with parchment and get the oven heated to 350.
Then, grab a bowl and mash the living hell out of a few very dark, abandoned bananas. Whisk in eggs, melted coconut oil, honey, and vanilla extract until well combined.
To the same bowl, add in flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until just incorporated, then fold in walnuts with a spatula or wooden spoon. I find those tools easiest for disrupting the batter least and distributing the nuts best.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and set in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
Jack Frost-ing Nipping At Your Nose
Yeah I know it’s not Christmastime, don’t yell at me.
When the cake comes out of the oven all spick and span and smelling fine, let it cool a bit in the pan before lifting the parchment and setting the cake on a wire rack. You can either let it cool completely at room temperature, which will take about an hour or so, or pop the rack in the freezer for 15-20 minutes for a quick cool. Either way, it must not be warm to the touch before you venture to frost.
When the cake is ready, whip up a mix of powdered sugar, butter, instant espresso, cocoa powder, and canned coconut milk until very creamy and fluffy. I start with 1/4 cup of coconut milk but you might want up to a 1/3 depending on the desired grade of floof. Plop the frosting on the cake and smear from corner to corner. I love me a good thick frosting.
Slice and serve right away, and whatever’s left stores easily in a covered container for up to 5 days.
If you want, you can certainly turn this recipe into a traditional banana bread. Simply pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes at 350. I’m still a big fan of the frosting and think, whatever shape takes the cake, you should make a batch to accompany the bread. If you want a bit less frosting, cut the listed amounts in half.
Have a can of pumpkin to use instead? You can for sure substitute the mashed bananas for 1 cup pumpkin puree. Again, frost that sucker. And shit, while you’re here with the oven locked and loaded, make some pumpkin bread too!
Don’t like coconut? Swap out the coconut oil for a neutral oil (think canola or avocado) or melted butter, and the coconut milk in the frosting for heavy cream.
Plenty of wiggle room in this recipe! No fail and no fuss, though. We don’t do fuss around here.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Some of my favorite cakes worth trying:
Swirled Coconut Hot Fudge Oreo Sheetcake
Triple Layer Chocolate Explosion Cake with Whipped Chocolate Buttercream
Chocolate Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Cake with Fudgy Buttercream
easy banana walnut cake with espresso fudge frosting
Ingredients
- 4 medium bananas, very brown/black
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
espresso fudge frosting
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tbsp butter, softened
- 2 tsp instant espresso
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4-1/3 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 9 inch square cake pan with parchment.
- In a large bowl, mash the bananas until relatively smooth. Some chunks are ok. Whisk in the eggs, melted coconut oil, honey, and vanilla until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk until just combined. Fold in the walnuts with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges with just a few moist crumbs. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan, then turn onto a wire rack to cool to room temperature. For faster chilling, pop the wire rack with the cake on it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.
- To make the frosting, whip the powdered sugar, butter, espresso, cocoa, and 1/4 cup of coconut milk until fluffy and smooth. If needed, add 1-2 tablespoons additional coconut milk if you desire a more "whipped" texture.
- Frost the cooled cake thoroughly. Slice and serve!
