My Banana Poppy Seed Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting is a little one bowl banana snack cake that makes everybody happy!
A handful of everyday ingredients pulls together to make a really special cake…I’m not sure if it’s the ripe bananas, the crunchy poppy seeds, the sour cream in the batter, or that frosting with a virtual galaxy of vanilla bean specs. But in the end, does it really matter? This cake is perfect, that’s all we need to know.
banana poppy seed cake ingredient notes
bananas
- Don’t let anyone tell you you must have a blackened banana to make this cake. I’ve used bananas straight from the supermarket and that’s fine. Firm bananas have a different flavor profile from over-ripe ones, but both will work.
poppy seeds
- Poppy seeds not only make this little cake pretty, they add crunch and nutty flavor. Poppy seeds, like all seeds, can go rancid if stored too long, so give your jar a sniff and make sure yours are fresh. If you’ve had yours for a year or more, time to replace.
sour cream
- Makes a moist tender cake.
vanilla bean
- Vanilla beans are expensive, but you can also use vanilla bean paste, which is one of my favorite new discoveries. It gives you that same flavor and beautiful specs at a much lower cost. The heavy vanilla presence in this frosting really makes a difference, and extract just doesn’t cut it.
- Don’t waste your bean ~ after scraping the seeds for this cake, pop the pod into your canister of sugar. It will flavor the sugar for months to come.
take note…
This banana poppy seed cake is on the small side. I could have called it banana poppy seed bars, or blondies. But the frosting sealed the deal, it’s definitely a cake, just a small one.
Of course you could double the recipe and made this grand layer cake, but I like it this way, it’s more approachable, more snackable. And I could never eat a layer cake for breakfast 😉
banana poppy seed cake comment highlights
I know this is going to become your favorite…
Some like to roast their bananas first for extra flavor and sweetness (roast ~ peel on ~ in a 400F oven for 15-20 minutes.)
One reader made the snack cake into muffins.
One used applesauce in place of the egg, another substituted egg whites.
Several of you skipped the frosting altogether and love this cake as is.
Chris emailed me to let me know this recipe was her most successful bake sale item ever!
Bridget bakes it in a loaf pan, and says it is her “go to banana bread.”
I’ve gone bananas!
Banana Poppy Seed Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting
Equipment
- 9×9 square baking pan
Ingredients
the cake
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
the vanilla bean frosting
- 3 to 4 ounces brick style cream cheese
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- milk or cream for thinning the icing
- a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and butter your pan. I like to line with a sling of parchment paper so I can remove the cake for frosting and serving, but that's optional.
- Cream the butter, sugar and sour cream together. Beat in the egg, bananas, vanilla, and poppy seeds. (Make sure the bananas are mashed smooth first)
- Sift your flour, baking soda and salt into the wet mixture and blend just until thoroughly combined ~ but don't over mix.
- Spread the batter into your prepared baking pan.
- Bake for about 25 minutes until a toothpick just comes out clean.*
- Let the cake cool before frosting.
- To make the frosting— blend everything together until you have a thick, creamy, spreadable consistency. Taste to adjust your lemon juice. Note: I do this quick and easy in my food processor. This way you can start with cold cream cheese!
- Heap onto the completely cooled banana cake and swirl it around thickly.
Notes
Nutrition
Cake is cooling now and smells delicious.I assume in step 2 did you mean to add 1 Tbsb vanilla extract and not the vanilla beans as written? It appears the beans are intended for the frosting in step 7 so I`m going with that.
Yes, thanks for catching that, I fixed 🙂
This looks delicious! What size pan(s) would be appropriate? Square? Loaf? And how much VBP do you recommend to sub in the frosting for the whole bean?
Oh gosh, the pan size disappeared! It’s a 9×9 square pan. You could also do 8×8 with a slightly longer cooking time.
Made this multiple times and still never bothered with the frosting. Great snack cake on its own. Roasted the bananas to cut down the sugar needed. Yummy!
Sue, I was looking at both your Banana Poppy Seed cakes (this one with Vanilla Bean frosting) and your other cake with the Lemon Buttercream frosting.
This cake calls for 1/2 cup of Poppy Seeds and the other cake calls for 1/3 cup. Which amount would you recommend?
Another question: This cake calls for 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract and the other one shows 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract. Is one of these amounts wrong?
I’d like to make one of these cakes for my niece’s birthday at the end of February.
I made these cakes at different times, and they have different amounts os some ingredients just because that’s the way I roll 🙂 Some people don’t like too many poppy seeds, so the amount is completely up to you. I adore vanilla, and sometimes I get heavy handed. I think a teaspoon is fine for this cake.