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Starting Friday on the sweet side with this Coconut Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting.
You guys. This cake. I LOVE it.
I know I say this so often, but this cake is so good, words really cannot describe its deliciousness. If you like banana, coconut, and chocolate, you absolutely have to make this cake. Like no questions, you have to make it.
Not sure what’s going on this month, but I am in serious cake making mode. In the last two weeks, I have made so many cakes it’s insane. I have one for you today and two more to follow (assuming I can get the recipes right…it’s taking a bit of effort) all before Easter. So, plenty of cake coming your way.
It’s so weird how I go through certain food phases, but I am for sure in a cake phase. I figure it’s not a bad thing, I mean, everyone likes cake, right?
Yes, everyone likes cake…don’t try to tell me otherwise.
As you can probably guess by the mass amount of banana and chocolate recipes here on HBH, I pretty much adore the combo. Adding in sweet coconut to the mix just makes me adore it even more. So naturally this cake had to happen.
The real secret to this banana cake is the roasted bananas. Yes, roasted bananas. If you haven’t tried roasting your bananas yet, today is the day, because it is a game changer. My next banana recipe is going to be banana bread with roasted bananas, and I already know it’s going to be the best ever…
Anyway, this cake is loaded with banana flavor and I think that’s why I love it so much. Most banana cake recipes call for three or less bananas, and to me, that just did not seem like enough for a tall three layer cake. My recipe uses six whole bananas and while I know that might seem like a lot, trust me, it’s the right amount. Roasting the bananas makes them extra soft and sweet. In turn you get bananas that mash-up so well and provide you with the most moist and perfectly sweet cake ever.
Again, so good.
Since Easter and spring time inspired this cake, I also decided to stir in some sweet coconut for a nice tropical touch. For whatever reason, Easter makes think tropical, probably because growing up we would head to Florida at Easter.
Ahh, those were the days.
While the cake is the obvious star here, the frosting is very important as well. A lot of banana cakes are paired with a cream cheese frosting similar to that of a carrot cake. But you guys, you know me, if I’m making a banana dessert, it’s going to include chocolate. It’s just the way I have to do it.
Enter the chocolate frosting. It’s light, airy, very chocolatey, flavored with plenty of vanilla, and finished with a spoonful of coconut cream for even more flavor and the perfect whipped texture. It’s quite possibly becoming my new go-to frosting recipe. That’s how much I love it.
And when slathered all over this sweet coconut banana cake? Well…there’s nothing better.
So moist, so flavorful, and just so mouth-watering good.
I happened to make this cake while my brother, Brendan was in town, and I was so happy I did. Like me, Brendan loves bananas, chocolate, and coconut anything. This cake was right up his alley and I was pretty excited when he walked into my house the other day to say that it might just be the best cake he’s ever had.
YESSSS. Bren has been around the world and eaten some of this best food there is to eat, so this is a big compliment.
Meaning, if Brendan says it’s good, then you have to trust that this is a recipe worthy of your time.
Meaning, you should make it this weekend, as a test drive, and then make it again over Easter weekend, if you celebrate. And if you don’t celebrate? Just make it anyway, because it’s fun, and spring is near, and you need a little banana, coconut, chocolate sweetness in your life. Enough said.
Coconut Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Servings: 24 servings
Calories Per Serving: 444 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 6 ripe bananas, peel on
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
Chocolate Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 sticks butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup canned coconut cream
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter/spray with cooking spray.2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the whole bananas on the baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes or until the tops of the bananas are blackened on the outside. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool enough to handle, remove the peel, and mash the bananas. 3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand-held mixer) beat together the oil, yogurt, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat in the bananas, mixing until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined. Stir in the shredded coconut. 4. Pour the batter among the 3 cake pans and bake 30-35 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool five minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack. Cover and let the cakes cool completely before assembling.5. To make the frosting, add the cream cheese and butter to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Beat another 2-4 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy. Beat in the coconut cream until combined. 6. Place one cake layer on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread with frosting. Repeat with the remaining 2 cake layers. Frost the cake sides. Serve or store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Bring to room temp. before serving.
The best slice of cake. The best.
Can I use frozen bananas for this? I have 1/2 fresh and 1/2 frozen that I was saving for banana bread. This is going to be the perfect cake for my husbands birthday this weekend!
Hi Stephanie! Yes, you can thaw your frozen bananas and use them. Yum! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
Could I make into 2 9″ layers instead? I do not have 8″ layer tins and cannot get any in time for my daughter’s birthday? Looks delicious
Hey Norma, I would recommend baking 3 (9 inch) cakes layers instead. The layers will still come out great, just bake 2-3 minutes less than directed. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you and happy holidays! xTieghan
For the coconut banana cake with chocolate frosting… can you substitute the greek yogurt with heavy cream or cream cheese… yogurt is not like by one of the family members.
Hi Angel, you really do not taste the yogurt at all, so I do think you can still use it. That said, you can also replace it with an equal amount of whole-milk buttermilk or room temperature cream cheese. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Just made this tonight, and wow I love it! Like eating banana bread for dessert. I found your comment below for converting the portions to a 9×13 size pan and it worked out perfectly. Fluffed up very nice, as did the frosting!
Thank you Haley! xTieghan
This is AMAZING! Directions are super clear and simple – easy to make. Some commenters say they did not have enough frosting, I did though. The cake was moist and banana flavor was prominent. Everyone raved about this!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan! I only have 9 inch pans. Should I still use 3? The cake looks delicious and I want to make it for my nieces birthdays. Thank you! 🙂
HI! Yes, I wouls still recommend using 3. I think that will be just fine. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
My trial run of this cake came out SUPER dense! Is this an error on my end or how the cakes consistency should be? Wanting to figure this out because it is SO delicious and the best vehicle for that frosting on the planet. Also wondering my shredded coconut was unsweetened… does the sweetened help it to taste more like coconut? Because I have a dense and strong flavored banana bread cake as of right now.
Hey Kat, this cake should in no way be dense. It should be light and fluffy. Was there anything you changed about the recipe? Are you baking soda and baking powder fresh? This is really import! Any details you can give me on how you made this would be helpful. Thank you! xTieghan
Can I do this in a 13x9x2? Thanks!
HI! This is a bit too much cake for a 9×13 inch pan. If you cut the batter down by about 1/3 it should work perfectly for a 9×13 inch cake. I broke out the measurements below for you. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
4 ripe bananas, peel on
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut
I made this cake and served it at to my cousins, and it was a hit! What I like about this cake is that it is not too sweet, and the choc icing is so creamy. Plus, it is easy to make. The cake is all gone, everyone asked for a to-go piece! Thanks for the awesome recipe! P.S. – I have a challenge for you. In the neighboring town of Idaho Springs, there is a bakery named Edelweiss. They make almond crescents, which are the bomb. Please figure out the recipe and post it! 🙂
Wow that is so amazing! I am so glad you and your cousins loved this cake Katie! Thank you for trying it! Oh and I am so down to try to make those!
Wow! I’m so glad I believed you and made this recipe. I made it for my son’s first birthday party. Made on Friday night, ate on sunday. It was still so moist and everyone loved it! I must have been mad making a recipe for so many people without testing it first! I made a double batch and baked it in 4 tins (2 each recipe). I used a chocolate Swiss buttercream instead because I needed it to support the top tier smash cake and all my baby decor! It’s was wonderful!! Xo
Thank you so much Tina! I am so glad you loved this recipe!
Another incredibly delicious recipe! Your recipes do not disappoint! I made this cake over the weekend for a birthday celebration and the family lost their minds after first seeing and then eating this cake! Wish I could post a picture of it here because I don’t Instagram. Instead of decorating with flowers, I simply sprinkled the top of the cake with toasted coconut. Simply Perfect!
Sounds so amazing! I totally wish I could see it, but I am so glad you enjoyed this Donna! Thank you!!
Just to add to the post above, I did make a slight revision and replaced the brown sugar with coconut sugar. Would that be a reason why the cake turned out a little drier for me?
Thank you!
Rebecca
HI! Yes, that could have been it for sure! I have found coconut sugar to be very dry in almost all baked good.
Hi!
I made this cake over the weekend and it was very tasty but turned out little dry. I want to make it again but infuse more moisture. Do you have any suggestions?
Also, I noticed that there was quite a bit of liquid that came out of the bananas after roasting, was I supposed to use the liquid too in the cake?
Thank you!
Rebecca
HI! So you are not supposed use the liquid that comes out of the bananas. Did you change anything about the recipe? It is very hard to say what might help without knowing how you baked the cake. My recommendation is to reduce the cooking time by a few minutes. Let me know if you changed anything about the recipe and I might be able to help more! Please let me know if you have other questions. So glad you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂
I made the coconut banana cake last night and it turned out perfectly delicious! My family raved about it! This one is going in my go-to recipe stash. Thank you, Tieghan!
I am so glad you loved this! Thank you Angela!
Hi all… I have the batter in the oven as I’m writing this… just looking at the directions for the frosting (planning ahead was never my strong suit)… is one cup of cocoa powder correct, as in 8 ounces by weight? As much as I love chocolate it seems like a lot! Thanks!
Hi! 1 cup cocoa powder is correct. Please let me know if you have other questions. Hope you love this recipe! Thanks! 🙂