Banana. Peanut butter. Chocolate. I mean, who doesn’t love that combo? This banana cake has it all. It’s unfussy and super easy to make. It’s naturally sweet and moist thanks to the ripe bananas. And it’s topped with peanut butter ganache. Are you kiddin’ me?
I honestly can’t believe I never thought to make peanut butter ganache before this. I have probably made thousands of batches of ganache through my 15+ years working in professional bakeries and restaurants. But never, in all that time, did I make a single batch of peanut butter ganache.
Well, the idea finally struck me, and it did not disappoint.
Why you need to make this banana cake
Dense. Moist. Chocolatey. Sweet without being too sweet. If these are adjectives you like to describe your cakes, then this is the recipe for you. Plus, you can simply whisk all the ingredients together, pour it into one pan, and bake.
I love the little bit of crunch you get throughout the cake by adding the chopped salted peanuts to the batter. It’s optional, but highly recommended!
Tips for making this cake
The banana cake itself is super easy to make. The main thing to keep in mind is to use very ripe bananas. I want to see more black than yellow on those peels. The riper the bananas, the sweeter and more concentrated the flavor.
The ganache is where things get a little bit trickier. Ganache is a simple frosting, but because we’re working with chocolate, things can definitely go wrong.
Ganache troubleshooting
When you make the ganache, be sure not to overheat the cream. You want to take it off the stove right when tiny bubbles start to form around the edges, but don’t boil it!
If your ganache curdles and the fats start to separate, your ingredients likely got too hot. Add a little cold cream, a tablespoon at a time, and whisk until it comes back together. Yes, you can often fix a broken ganache.
A ganache should be perfectly smooth, thick, and shiny. If you whisk your ganache ingredients together and end up with some unmelted chunks of chocolate remaining, you’ll need to reheat your ganache. But do it carefully! I like to put the ganache bowl over a pot of barely simmering water (you only need an inch or two of water in the pot). Whisk frequently while warming, and remove the pot as soon as the rest of the chocolate starts to melt.
Variations
If you want your peanut butter ganache to have a stronger peanut butter flavor, you could use a less intense chocolate for your frosting.
Just remember that chocolate is made with varying amounts of milk, so the ratio of chocolate to cream in ganache varies for different chocolates. For this recipe, I used bittersweet chocolate. If you’d like to use a semisweet or milk chocolate, you’ll need a little bit less cream in your ganache recipe.
You could also make this cake with almond butter, sunflower butter, or just about any other nut butter you please in place of the peanut butter.
More one layer cakes:
Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Ganache
Equipment
- 8-inch round cake pan
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup sour cream or plain whole milk yogurt
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup salted peanuts, chopped
Peanut Butter Ganache
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Garnish
- Flakey sea salt
- Chopped salted peanuts
Instructions
For the banana cake:
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter an 8-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a second bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, and vanilla.
- Gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until nearly combined; add chopped peanuts and continue folding just until no more flour streaks remain.
- Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake until cooked through and lightly golden, about 50-60 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Invert cake from pan and remove parchment.
For the peanut butter ganache:
- Add chopped chocolate to a medium bowl.
- In a saucepan, combine heavy cream, peanut butter, and salt, whisking until peanut butter melts. Heat on low just until bubbles start to form around the edges of the pan – do not boil!
- Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and add vanilla. Allow to sit for about one minute. Whisk to combine, starting in the center and slowly working outwards as ganache comes together. Mixture should be smooth and shiny with no chocolate lumps. If your ganache curdles and the fat starts to separate, it likely got too hot. Add a little cold cream, a tablespoon at a time, and whisk until it comes back together.
- Pour ganache over cooled cake. If it's quite thin, it may need to sit for a while before you glaze the cake. It should be thick but pourable.
- Decorate with chopped peanuts and coarse sea salt flakes, if desired.
Did you try this recipe?
Be sure to leave a comment below!
