Today is World Baking Day! Yay! What do you do on a day like this? Baking, of course! It doesn’t matter what you are baking – the most important thing is to get the oven ready and create something nice to munch ;) Today I made a super delicious little Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Well… maybe not so little, it’s actually quite a bulky piece of cake.

I really like those “foodie holidays” – every month there is something to celebrate like apple pies, chocolate or cookies, for example. This time the holiday is a bit less specific – today we celebrate everything baked. It can be cake, cupcakes, bread or even granola ;P Except for maybe no-bake cakes? Dunno – they are not baked but I would not mind if someone makes me a nice no-bake cheesecake today. A cake is cake is a cake! Isn’t it? ;)
Anyway. Today I got a really great “little” cake for you. I think it’s really good. The banana cake layers are moist with a great texture, the frosting between the layers and around the cake is light and fluffy – for once I did not use a buttercream frosting ;) If I imagine a perfect banana cake, it should be exactly like this one here!
Normally I would use Swiss meringue buttercream to frost the cake – today’s frosting is a “classic” cream cheese frosting. Like the one you probably know from carrot cakes. Works also really well with banana cakes ;)

Cream cheese frosting was my downfall so far. It took me years to finally realize how to make a cream cheese frosting work – up until now pretty much every attempt was a failure. The bitter truth ;) I tried every possible trick they mention in books or on the internet – use only cold ingredients, use only room temperature ingredients, stir a little, stir a lot… nothing really worked for me. As soon as the confectioners’ sugar was added the frosting turned into something that looked more like soup than a nice frosting for a cake. Why? Well… our “German” cream cheese is not like the one you can find in the U.S. – ours has more water and is actually easily spreadable, unlike the American one. Pretty obvious that this will never really work – but it took me a while to realize or better said to give up on it ;P
Well… some time ago I finally figured out what to do. It’s so easy, to be honest. Could have thought about that years ago already…! Sugar wants to connect with water so it can dissolve – that’s easy peasy chemistry – so how do we avoid that? Well, keep sugar and moisture from the cream cheese apart from each other! How? By mixing the confectioners’ sugar with the butter first and then adding the cream cheese. You lock in the sugar into the butter and it has no chance to react with the water in the cream cheese… D’oh! Pretty obvious, I know. If you now say “That’s so obvious, of course! I knew that for a long time”, then please stop reading here and now, close the website and never come back. Our friendship is over! You could have told me earlier b**ches! ;P
Just kidding! Now I (and the rest of the world) know how to make a cream cheese frosting properly and can use it for many other cakes. This one here from the recipe is now soooo light and fluffy you can even use it to frost cupcakes – it will keep the shape. So good! ;)

Because of the “World Baking Day” today some fellow food bloggers also started their ovens to bake something. In case this banana cake is not your “cup of tea” you might find something else on the other blogs… but be warned: loads of delicious stuff will be shown (and everything is in German) ;)
Ina Is(s)t: Erdbeer Cremeschnitten mit Blätterteig
Nom Noms food: Erdbeer-Rührkuchen mit Käsekuchen-Schicht & Streuseln
LECKER&Co: Obstkuchen mit Eierlikör-Pudding
SalzigSüssLecker: Erdbeer-Rhabarber Scone-Cake
S-Küche: Focaccia Garden
moey’s kitchen: Tres Leches Cake
Zimtkeks und Apfeltarte: Erdbeer-Rhabarberkuchen mit Mandel-Baiserl
INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN
3/4 cup (170g) butter, room temperature
1 cups (200g) brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 medium eggs
1 1/2 cups (360g) mashed ripe bananas
3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (240ml) milk
For the frosting:
8.8 oz. (250g) butter, at room temperature
2 3/4 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar
8.8 oz. (250g) cream cheese (cold)
1.8 oz. (50g) milk powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the decoration:
some chopped walnuts
banana slices (optional)
170g weiche Butter
200g brauner Zucker
1 1/2 TL Vanille Extrakt
3 Eier (M)
360g sehr reife Bananen, zerquetscht
390g Mehl (Type 550)
1 TL Natron
1/2 TL Backpulver
1/2 TL Salz
240ml Milch
Für das Frosting:
250g weiche Butter (Zimmertemperatur)
360g Puderzucker
250g Frischkäse (kalt)
50g Milchpulver
1 TL Vanille Extrakt
Für die Dekoration:
ein paar gehackte Walnüsse
Bananen in Scheiben (optional)

DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG
2. Add the butter and brown sugar to a large bowl and mix until very light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and mix in. Add the eggs one after another and mix well after each addition. Mash the bananas and add to the bowl – mix until well combined. Mix the flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt then add alternating with the milk in two batches to the large bowl and mix until just combined – do not overmix. Divide the batter between the two springform tins and bake for 35-40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean. Take out of the oven and let cool down in the tin for 15-20 minutes, then remove and let cool down completely on a wire rack (upside down).
3. For the frosting add the room temperature butter to a large bowl and mix on high speed until very light and fluffy – for about 4-5 minutes. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix in slowly fist, then on high speed for 2-3 minutes. Add the cold cream cheese from the fridge and mix slowly, then a bit faster until well combined with the butter. Add the milk powder and vanilla extract and mix until well combined and you got a nice and fluffy frosting.
4. To assemble the cake cut each cake layer horizontally in half to get 4 cake layers. Place one cake layer on a serving plate, add some of the frosting on top and spread evenly all over the cake. Place a second cake layer on top and repeat with the frosting, then the third layer, more frosting, and the final and fourth cake layer. Cover the complete cake with frosting but keep some for the decoration. You don’t have to be overly precise with the frosting – swooshes and swirls here and there are fine. Fill the remaining frosting into a piping bag with star tip and pipe small swirls on top of the cake. Decorate with some chopped walnuts and banana slices (optional).
Note: To prevent the decorative banana slices from browning you can spray them with some liquid gelatin* before using.
2. Die Butter und den braunen Zucker in eine große Schüssel geben und auf höchster Stufe hell und luftig aufschlagen. Vanille Extrakt dazugeben und unterrühren. Die Eier einzeln zur Schüssel dazugeben und jeweils gut unterrühren. Die zerquetschten Bananen zur Schüssel dazugeben und unterrühren. Mehl mit Natron, Backpulver und Salz vermischen und dann abwechselnd mit der Milch in zwei Portionen zur Schüssel dazugeben und nur kurz unterrühren. Den Teig auf die beiden Backformen aufteilen und dann für 35-40 Minuten backen. Mit einem Holzspieß testen ob noch Teig kleben bleibt und die Kuchen erst aus dem Ofen holen, wenn er sauber herauskommt. Die beiden Kuchen aus dem Backofen holen und in den Formen etwa 15-20 Minuten abkühlen lassen, dann aus den Formen lösen und (umgedreht) auf einem Kuchengitter abkühlen lassen.
3. Für das Frosting die zimmerwarme Butter in eine große Schüssel geben und auf höchster Stufe für etwa 4-5 Minuten hell und luftig aufschlagen. Den Puderzucker dazugeben und erst langsam, dann auf höchster Stufe weitere 2-3 Minuten aufschlagen. Den kalten Frischkäse (direkt aus dem Kühlschrank) in die Schüssel geben und erst langsam, dann etwas schneller mixen, bis sich alles gut verbunden hat. Das Milchpulver und den Vanille Extrakt dazugeben und unterrühren. Es sollte ein luftiges Frischkäsefrosting entstanden sein.
4. Für den Zusammenbau der Torte die beiden Kuchen horizontal halbieren, damit 4 Kuchenschichten entstehen. Die erste Schicht auf eine Servierplatte setzen und etwas Frosting darauf verstreichen. Eine zweite Kuchenschicht auflegen, dann wieder Frosting, die dritte Kuchenschicht, noch einmal Frosting und dann als Abschluss die letzte Schicht Kuchen. Den kompletten Kuchen mit dem Frosting einstreichen – das muss nicht super akkurat sein – kleine Wellen hier und da sind durchaus erwünscht. Etwas Frosting für die Dekoration zurückbehalten, in einen Spritzbeutel mit Sterntülle füllen und damit Tupfen auf die Torte aufspritzen. Die Torte mit gehackten Walnüssen und Bananenscheiben (optional) dekorieren.
Tipp: Damit die Bananenscheiben nicht braun werden, kann man sie vor dem Verwenden mit etwas Gelatine Spray* einsprühen.


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Here is a version of the recipe you can print easily.

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Prep Time: 00:40
- Cook Time: 00:40
- Total Time: 02:30
- Yield: 1
- Category: Cakes
- Cuisine: American
Description
Delicious banana layer cake with cream cheese frosting – a classic cake everyone loves!
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Enjoy baking!
Keywords: banana, layer, cake, cream cheese, frosting
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Hello :-)
As the recipe came in English, let me reply in English :-)
My focus here is the cream cheese frosting.
I am SUPER psyched for that one! Because EVERYTHING you wrote about the failing frosting, I went through. I searched the web high and low for presumably genius tipps (because I could not be the only person who had the problem – and I wasn’t), and nothing ever worked.
Sure: This recipe of yours might just be another nail in my cream cheese coffin, but you were the first to give an explanation as to why your method might do the trick. And it sounds convincing. And as far as I know, I never tried this order of ingredients.
You did not talk about the milk powder, though. I never saw it in a ccf-recipe before. (I happen to have it – for other reasons, but it comes in handy now. To tell you the truth: I have it for a copy cat Pizza Hut pizza dough recipe – and milk powder does not usually go in that kind of food, either. So…)
Thank you for sharing, I will most definitely try this soon.
Regards
Cora
Hi Cora,
if you want to comment in German, you can simply switch to the German version of the blog ;))
https://baketotheroots.de/bananentorte-mit-frischkaese-frosting/
Anyway… I hope the method works for you too – pretty sure though.
The milk powder is just another “insurance” to make the frosting more stable for times when the cake has to stand in less ideal conditions (means not in the fridge) – it’s binding some additional water from the cream cheese.
Cheers
Marc