Banana Snacking Cake with Malted Chocolate Frosting

The dessert I’ve made most often in recent weeks is this Banana Snacking Cake with Malted Chocolate Frosting. It’s a “snacking cake” because it is not too big and is simple enough for a spontaneous afternoon bake. When I find myself with a few bananas around that are past their prime for eating out of hand, it seems like a good excuse to make a cake. Bananas that gave gone a deep golden brown with lots of dark spots are just right.

Jessie Sheehan’s 2022 cookbook Snackable Bakes provided the inspiration for this recipe. Sheehan’s book gathers together sweets that are easy to assemble and bake, yet rich in flavor.  Sheehan has a fun approach to baking, obvious in her Instagram posts and in the headnote for the banana snacking cake: “Make this now and thank me later.”

Easy to make

I like that the cake batter can be mixed by hand with a whisk at first and flexible spatula at the end. All in one bowl! When melted butter, brown sugar, buttermilk, and ripe bananas come together, the result is a moist, bursting-with-banana cake that’s finished in the oven in half an hour.

I use 3 bananas instead of Sheehan’s recommended amount of two.  With 3 bananas, the mashed fruit equals 1 cup or 1 1/4 cups, which just adds to the cake’s moistness.

Once the cake is baked, it cools for a while in its pan, sending lovely aromas through the kitchen. Then it rests on a rack outside of the pan until it’s ready to be frosted.

Dream Frosting

And wow, the silky, tangy chocolate frosting that tops this snacking cake turns it into a rich yet fun dessert.  Softened butter, cream cheese, and  vanilla extract create the base to which you add confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and chocolate malt mix powder.

I couldn’t find the malted milk powder that Sheehan’s recipe called for, but my store did have Ovaltine, a chocolate malt mix. I decided to use that, and the result was delicious.

Another fun touch that Sheehan suggests is topping the frosted cake with chopped malted milk balls, like Whoppers.

I am a big fan of those candies, but others in my family are not, I discovered.  So I just leave the Whopper adornment optional on individually served pieces.  Even those who are Whopper-averse love the flavors of the frosting.

Each bite of this banana snacking cake is dreamy.  The satiny, chocolate frosting marries so well with the moist, flavorful cake.

If you have leftovers, the cake can keep up to 3 days covered in the refrigerator.  My daughter prefers the textures and flavors of  the cake when chilled.

I’ll again use Sheehan’s words to sum this up: “Make this now and thank me later.”

Banana Snacking Cake with Malted Chocolate Frosting

Sunnyside Cook

Dawn Dobie

A moist cake bursting with banana flavor and topped with a tangy, malted chocolate frosting

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Cooling time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Dessert

Servings 9

Ingredients

  

For the cake

• ½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs --beaten in a small bowl
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• 1-1 ¼ cups mashed banana --about 3 very ripe bananas
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

For the frosting

• ¼ cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter-- at room temperature
• 4 ounces cream cheese --at room temperature
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 ¼ cups confectioners' sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup chocolate malt mix powder (I used Ovaltine)

For serving

• Sliced chocolate-covered malted milk balls (like Whoppers) for decorating -- optional

Instructions

 

For the cake:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom and sides of an 8 X 8 inch square cake pan with cooking spray or softened butter. Cut a piece of parchment paper measured to fit the bottom of the cake pan, but long enough to extend a couple of inches above the pan on two opposite sides. Place into the pan, allowing the extra paper to extend above the two sides.
• In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract together until thoroughly mixed. Add the beaten eggs and whisk to incorporate them. Add the buttermilk and the mashed bananas and mix well. Sprinkle the baking soda over the mixture and whisk to mix it in. Sprinkle the salt in and whisk well. Fold the flour in gently, using a flexible spatula, mixing only until you don’t see any evidence of flour in the batter. Do not overmix the batter.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared cake pan. Smooth the top of the batter and make sure it is evenly into all four corners. Bake from 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Test the cake with a wooden skewer or toothpick for doneness. Only a crumb or two should adhere to the wooden tester.
• Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to sit in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Use the parchment extensions to lift and transfer the cake to a rack and cool completely to room temperature. (If the cake sticks when you try to remove it, run a table knife around the perimeter of the pan to loosen it.) Make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting it.

For the frosting:

• Sift the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder into a wide, shallow bowl.
• Beat the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl at medium low speed with a hand mixer (or use a stand mixer with its paddle attachment). Scrape the bowl with a flexible spatula and add the vanilla extract and the salt, beating to combine them with the butter-cream cheese mixture. Slowly add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder mixture to butter-cream cheese mixture and beat until completely combined. Use the spatula to scrape the sides often. Add the chocolate malt mix powder and beat for an additional 30 seconds until thoroughly incorporated.
• Frost the top of the cake with a thick layer of the frosting.
• Cut into squares and serve, topping the servings with the cut malted milk balls, if desired.

Notes

Adapted from "Banana Snacking Cake with Chocolate Malted Cream Cheese Frosting" by Jessie Sheehan in her cookbook Snackable Bakes.

Cake can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 3 days.  Wait until serving time to add malted milk ball topping, if using.