The Best Chocolate Banana Cake with Silky Ganache (+VIDEO)

I'm sharing how to make a perfectly moist chocolate banana cake with some very simple steps. Enjoy this amazing cake with silky chocolate ganache!

🤎 I love this chocolate banana cake frosting because:

• It's super moist.
• It's rich yet soft and tender.
• You can enjoy it in many shapes and sizes.
• It's so quick and simple to make.

In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:

• The difference between baking soda and baking powder
• The reason why we add hot water to the chocolate cake
• How to make the silky chocolate ganache
• How to store the cake ...and so on!

Jump to:

• 📌 What's In Chocolate Banana Cake?
• 📌 The Reasons We Use Hot Water To Make Chocolate Cake
• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 How To Make Chocolate Banana Cake
• 📌 Tips For Moist Chocolate Banana Cake
• 📌 VIDEO: Chocolate Banana Cake
• 📌 The Printable Recipe
• Perfectly Moist Chocolate Banana Cake

📌 What's In Chocolate Banana Cake?

Cake:

• Banana
  • Use ripe bananas for the best result.
• Egg
  • It helps to create a soft texture.
• Oil
  • I used olive oil. You can also use any regular oils.
• Vanilla extract
  • You can omit it or use a different extract instead.
• Granulated sugar
  • It helps to create a moist & soft texture.
• Salt
• All-purpose flour
• Cocoa powder
  • I like to use dark high quality cocoa powder.
• Baking powder
  • Baking powder reacts to moisture and heat and helps to create a fluffier texture. It's often added more for white cakes, butter cakes, etc.
• Baking soda
  • Baking soda reacts to acid (cocoa powder and vinegar for this sponge) and helps to create a fluffier cake with more volume. That is why it is often used for chocolate cake recipes.
• Hot water
  • Use hot simmering water.

Ganache:

• Dark chocolate
  • I used 58% Couverture chocolate. You can use your favorite chocolate.
• Heavy Cream
• Honey(Optional)
  • It helps to create a smooth ganache.
• Toasted walnut for topping (Optional)

📍 The printable recipe is at the very end of this post.

Jump to Recipe

📌 The Reasons We Use Hot Water To Make Chocolate Cake

• The flavor of chocolate gets enhanced more with the heat.
• Gluten in flour gets strengthened a bit more with heat which creates nice bounciness.
• The chocolate cake cooks up slightly more evenly.

For those reasons, it's common to use hot water for some types of chocolate cakes.

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

📌 How To Make Chocolate Banana Cake

The 8 simple steps:

1. Mix all the dried ingredients.
2. Mash bananas with a fork until it looks like an oatmeal breakfast meal.
3. Mix all the wet ingredients.
4. Add the dried ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.
5. Add hot water and mix.
6. Bake at 365F | 185C for about 40 minutes until the center cooks through.
7. Make ganache(Optional). Add heavy cream to melted chocolate little by little and mix well each time. As an option, add honey and mix.
8. Spread ganache on top, slice & enjoy!

Cake: Enough for 2 1.5 QT pans

📍 The printable recipe is at the very end of this post.

Jump to Recipe

📌 Tips For Moist Chocolate Banana Cake

Preparation

• Preheat the oven: to 365F | 185C
• Coat a thin layer of butter inside the pans. This prevents cakes from sticking to the pans.

Step 1: Mix all the dried ingredients.

First, add sugar and salt to a bowl.

Sift in all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda just to make sure there are no lumps of flour.

Whisk well until they look even. And set it aside.

Step 2: Mash bananas.

I highly recommend using ripe bananas for this cake. Not only it's easier to mash it, but it also gives the cake a better texture and sweetness. When they are perfectly ripe, you'll see brown stains all around the skin.

👩🏻‍🍳 If your banana is not ripe enough, leave it outside in a warmer place or add apples in the same bag to fasten the ripe process.

Mash bananas until it looks like an oatmeal breakfast meal. I still like to leave small pieces so that I can see them slightly when I slice the cakes. You can use a fork to do so or use a masher.

Step 3: Mix all the wet ingredients.

Now add whole eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.

💬 I use olive oil as a healthier option. You can also use any regular oils such as vegetable oil or canola oil.

And mix everything until they look nice and even.

I usually start heating the water after mixing the wet ingredients. I was not adding it yet so that it does not cook eggs. Add it as a very last thing!

💬 When you start heating the water too early, it starts boiling and evaporates too much. That is why I like to start heating at this time.

Step 4: Add the dried ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.

Mix until it looks evenly mixed. The batter is quite thick, especially at the very beginning, so use a spatula to mix them.

Step 5: Add hot water and mix.

Now to finish the batter, add hot water and mix.

If you add all the water at once, eggs might get cooked, so add about ⅓-1/2 first, mix well, and add the rest.

Once everything looks even, the batter is done!

Step 6: Pour into pans and bake!

🔥 Bake at 365F | 185C for about 40 minutes until the center cooks through. (The time & temperature may vary depending on the oven.)

To check if it's done, there are 2 ways you can try:

• Insert a toothpick and see if it comes off clean. You might see the toothpick is a little bit wet because of the mashed banana and it is totally fine. Just make sure it's not the wet batter.
• Touch the center of the cake. If it's completely dried and bounces back gently, it is done!

Today, I am using 2 1.5 QT pans. You can use 1 larger pan instead or even cupcakes! Use any pans you have. Just adjust the baking time and temperature accordingly!

After it cools down

After they are out of the oven, let them cool down completely before you take them out from the pans. They are still very fragile while they are hot.

How to remove cakes from the pans

Insert a spatula or a small knife to make sure that the cake is not sticking to the pan. When you do that, push the spatula inward slightly to detach the side and the bottom.

Step 7: Make ganache. (Optional)

I like to spread a very generous amount of dark chocolate ganache on top to compliment this cake. It is optional but I highly recommend trying it if you have extra time. The moist, soft cake and silky, smooth ganache match so well together. It's very simple.

First, melt chocolate in a water bath. I used 58% Couverture chocolate. You can pick from a 50-70% range as you like. Once the water is simmering/boiling, turn off the heat and place a bowl on top of a pan. You do not want to keep boiling as you heat since the chocolate can get burned or the condition might get worse.

Once the chocolate melted completely, add heavy cream. I like to heat heavy cream slightly until it does not feel anything (or slightly warm) when you touch it. It is optional but they get blended more easily by doing so.

To let them emulsify more, add heavy cream little by little and mix well each time. It is important to make sure the ganache looks smooth before you add the next cream. I divided it into 4-5 times this time.

Today, I am adding honey. By adding it, the ganache stays slightly shinier and softer even after it cools down a bit. And the flavor matches well with the banana flavor. I only added 1 tablespoon but you can add more if you want to see the effects more.

Also, use a spatula to mix the ganache. When you mix it with a whisk, it'll contain more air. You'll see more air bubbles in the ganache which does not look so appealing!

Step 8: Spread ganache on top, slice & enjoy!

👩🏻‍🍳 Right after it's made, the ganache might be too loose to coat on top of a cake depending on the temperature of the chocolate and heavy cream. In that case, just set it aside for some time. It'll slowly get thicker.

💡 Note that the ganache gets hard when it cools down completely. Just like buttercream or any other ganache. The texture completely changes then, so do not chill the frosted cake in a fridge if you want to enjoy smooth, soft ganache. I always start making it right before I serve.

As an option, sprinkle toasted walnuts on top! The crunchiness of the walnut matches so well with the moist cake and smooth ganache. Yum! You can also use other types of nuts or diced chocolate, etc.

This chocolate banana cake is incredibly moist yet soft and has an amazing texture. It's the ultimate chocolate cake that is so simple to make but still, you can amaze your friends and family with its incredible texture and flavor.

📌 VIDEO: Chocolate Banana Cake

To see all the steps visually and get a better understanding of all, check out the video tutorial:

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💬 I appreciate it if you can leave a review here if you tried this recipe and loved it! I always love to hear how you enjoyed it at home with your friends and family.

📌 The Printable Recipe

If you love chocolate, also check out my other chocolate desserts such as my classic chocolate cake and opera cake. I'm sharing how to make it step-by-step.

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