Banana Cake with Spiced Mascarpone Frosting

This super moist banana cake with mascarpone frosting is a great everyday family dessert, or for any time you need to bring something to a party or a gathering, because just about everybody loves banana cake. And this one has a few genius tweaks that make it extra special.

1. A hint of cardamom in the cake
   • It gives the familiar banana cake a soft, mysterious note.
2. Mascarpone and a little spice in the frosting
   • Using mascarpone instead of cream cheese gives the frosting a luxe texture and a subtle tang.
   • Cinnamon and clove give the vanilla frosting a lovely fall vibe. I think cloves have been given a bum rap: they get stuck in a ham once a year and that’s the end of it. But seriously their fragrance is so clear and vivid. Just a dash gives this frosting its unique spiced flavor.

Don’t worry about your bananas

This banana cake requires two ripe bananas, or a generous cup mashed. You do not need to use super ripe black bananas, in fact personally I like to use ripe but firm yellow bananas. I like the fresher flavor and I feel like firmer bananas yield a nicer texture.

I skip the nuts

I almost always add nuts to my banana breads and cakes, but just for a change I left them out. I didn’t miss them, in fact I love the smooth texture of this cake, it slices like butter! In fact you can shave off super thin slices if you like, which is perfect for stealing snacks.

You can certainly add walnuts or pecans if you like ~ fold in about a cup, toasted and chopped.

Mascarpone beats cream cheese for this frosting

My spiced mascarpone frosting is an upgrade from regular cream cheese frosting

• Mascarpone is a rich, creamy Italian cheese made from cream. It’s softer, silkier, and less tangy than cream cheese.
• Mascarpone is easier to blend than cream cheese, so you can use it straight from the fridge.
• The frosting has a beautiful soft whipped texture right after it’s made, but chilling firms up the frosting into a sort of vanilla spice mascarpone fudge situation.

Banana mascarpone cake storage

Because of the fresh mascarpone in the frosting, this cake should be refrigerated after about two hours at room temperature. And while I usually prefer serving my cakes at room temp, the fridge does absolute wonders here ~ it sets the frosting into a firm, silky, almost fudge-like texture, and keeps the banana cake unbelievably dense and moist.

Tips to keep in mind

🍌 This banana cake with mascarpone frosting is a tall cake. It needs to bake in a 9″ springform pan. A regular cake pan will be too small.

🍌 The baking temperature is 325F because the cake needs to bake low and slow to get fully baked in the center. If it seems to be browning too fast, lay a loose layer of foil over the top toward the end of baking. Tip: be careful not to let the foil touch the top of the cake or it can mar the surface. If your oven runs hot this may not bake properly, check with an oven thermometer.

🍌 Know when it’s done: make sure to check the center of this moist banana cake ~ the center should not be jiggly, and it should spring back when touched lightly. The toothpick test is useful.

🍌 I have a Wolf range, but I’ve taken to baking in my countertop oven. It preheats quickly and seems to bake more evenly.

🍌 Even in the best recipes baking times can only be a suggestion because there are so many variables.

🍌 You will want to let this super moist banana cake cool completely before frosting. Yes, it’s frustrating to wait, but the frosting will melt if you try to frost a warm cake.

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Banana Cake with Spiced Mascarpone Frosting

4.02 from 89 votes

This moist banana cake is made with ripe bananas, buttermilk, and a hint of cardamom, then topped with a lightly spiced vanilla mascarpone frosting.

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Prep Time:15 minutes minutes

Cook Time:1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time:1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

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Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed, about 1 cup
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

spiced frosting

• 6 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 6 oz mascarpone cheese (you can substitute room temperature cream cheese)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cups confectioner's sugar, or more as needed for correct texture.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 9 inch round springform pan (the cake is tall, you will need high sides.)
• Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer, or by hand. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla and cardamom.
• Mash the bananas until smooth, and add the lemon juice. Blend in to the butter and sugar mixture, and don’t worry if it looks curdled.
• Whisk the flour with the salt and baking soda, and add to the bowl alternately with the buttermilk, blending until everything is just mixed.
• Turn the batter into the buttered pan, and smooth out the top. Bake for about 60-70 minutes, or until the cake is risen, not wobbly in the center, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. My cake took 70 minutes. Note: place a loose sheet of foil over the top of the cake toward the end of baking if it seems to be browning too quickly.
• Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before releasing the sides of the pan, then let it cool completely on a rack before frosting.
• To make the frosting, blend the butter and mascarpone cheese until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and cloves. Blend in the sugar, a cup at a time,until you get a smooth, thick frosting.
• The frosted cake can sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours, but then should be stored in the refrigerator.

Notes

This banana cake was first published in 2014, and has been re-tested and re-photographed in 2026.

NOTES ~ Click here to add your own private notes.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Sue Moran

Keyword: baking, banana, banana bread, cake, dessert, vanilla

Nutrition

Serving: 1 slice · Calories: 630 kcal · Carbohydrates: 94 g · Protein: 7 g · Fat: 26 g · Saturated Fat: 16 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 5 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 110 mg · Sodium: 291 mg · Potassium: 171 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 67 g · Vitamin A: 858 IU · Vitamin C: 2 mg · Calcium: 74 mg · Iron: 2 mg

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

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