Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This sheet cake is far too easy to make considering how delicious it is. My best friend, Tania, loves the banana cake with cream cheese frosting that they sell at a local bakery here in the Bay Area called Icing on the Cake. It’s a soft banana sponge cake topped with creamy cream cheese frosting and it’s heavenly. She often gets it for her birthday and this year I was inspired to find a copy-cat recipe. This one comes pretty close.

Banana desserts, especially banana bread, often gets categorized as dense and heavy since it’s so full of moisture. This is not a bad thing by any means. In fact, I’m usually on the hunt for the richest banana bread of all. However, when making banana cake, the lightness factor is desirable. If it’s a cake, it’s nice to have a soft sponge with a delicate crumb, that has a spring when a fork is wedged into it. This is a winner.

It’s light and soft, yet still has the signature banana taste and moist texture. It’s really a cake! And the cream cheese frosting, is as always, the best part of any dessert. It’s made even more appetizing here, accompanied with thin slices of fresh banana and a sprinkling of chopped walnuts.

Next time you’re required to feed a crowd, or transport a sheet cake to an event, or even if you have some spotted bananas that are begging to fulfill a final mission, make this.