Banana Snacking Cake With Salted Caramel Glaze

By Melissa Clark

Updated March 22, 2023

Banana Snacking Cake With Salted Caramel Glaze
Con Poulos for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Christine Albano.
Total Time
1 hour, plus cooling
Rating
5(2,124)
Comments
Read comments

This buttery snacking cake is a bit like banana bread, but richer, and topped with a sticky caramel frosting that is dotted with crunchy flakes of sea salt. The frosting, made from brown sugar and heavy cream, is easier than a classic caramel, but just as compelling, with the sea salt contrasting perfectly with its sweetness. It’s important to use ripe bananas here. Soft, spotty ones with dark yellow skins will be the sweetest and most complex. Firm, pale yellow bananas just don’t have enough intensity to flavor the cake.

Featured in: Three Snacking Cakes to Change Your Afternoons

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Ingredients

Yield:12 servings

    For the Cake

    • ½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted, plus more for pan
    • 1½cups/185 grams all-purpose flour
    • ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
    • ¾teaspoon baking soda
    • ½teaspoon fine salt
    • 1cup/250 grams mashed banana (from 2 to 3 very ripe bananas)
    • ¼cup/60 milliliters sour cream
    • 2tablespoons dark brown sugar
    • 2large eggs
    • 1teaspoon vanilla extract

    For the Glaze

    • 4tablespoons/57 grams unsalted butter (½ stick), cut into pieces
    • ⅓packed cup/70 grams dark brown sugar
    • ¼cup/60 milliliters heavy cream
    • Large pinch of fine sea salt
    • ¼cup/30 grams confectioners’ sugar
    • Flaky sea salt, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

269 calories; 15 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 17 grams sugars; 3 grams protein; 194 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-9-inch pan, and then line with parchment paper, letting the two long ends hang over the edges by at least 2 inches.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking soda and salt. Whisk in bananas, melted butter, sour cream, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.

  3. Step 3

    Scrape into baking pan and smooth the top. Bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed in the center, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

  4. Step 4

    When cake is cool, make the glaze: In a medium or large pot (not a small one because the mixture will bubble up), combine butter, brown sugar, heavy cream and salt. Bring to a full boil and continue to boil over medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Whisk in confectioners’ sugar until smooth, then immediately pour over cooled cake. Spread evenly across cake and let set for at least 30 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt before serving.

Ratings

5 out of 5
2,124 user ratings
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Comments

Zaphod Bob Dobbs

i read the recipe, followed the instructions, made it, then ingested the output i didnt leave a comment on how offended i was on the amount of sugar. i didn't non-chalantly replace bananas with blueberries and off the cuff say it was all i had. i also didn't leave a comment on substituting flour with artisanal stone ground non gmo post-organic gluten free wheat hand gathered by former reformed nuns in a commune somewhere outside of a snall town on the southern slope of mt. something in metrics.

justine

just eat the cake

June Hill

I forgot the butter! I do not recommend making this change.

annie h.

made exactly as is (except I mixed the wet ingredients in a bowl and slowly added in the dry -- not the other way around). baked 25 mins and it turned out beautifully. I used two small ripe bananas and the banana flavor was VERY strong, somehow seemed stronger than normal banana bread. awesome quick delicious number!

Marla W

Making a 9 x 13 pan of snacking cake. A reader said to multiply ingredients by 1.5. How long to bake? I made vanilla coconut buttercream icing for it the lastime. Rave reviews from guests.

Debbie in Seattle

OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS AMAZING! It is so easy to make, and so delicious. My family went through a pan so quickly, I had to make a second. I’ll probably never make banana bread with over-ripe bananas again.

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