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When you’re a walnut company, everyone wants your recipes for various walnut cakes, because they know they will be delicious. Well folks, we definitely do not have a shortage of cake recipes: sheet cake, red velvet, fancy black walnut and SO many more. However, one of our favorites is the Black Walnut Banana Cake. We may be biased, but we think it’s one of the best recipes you’ll find anywhere for Banana Cake.
What makes this cake the BEST banana cake? Cake science is complicated, but we’re pretty sure the reason this recipe is so exceptional is that we’ve found the perfect ratio of Black Walnut to banana. The nutty crunch of our big, bold Black Walnut pieces, contrasted against the moist and aromatic banana batter, make this cake a must-have with coffee and conversation.
Another thing that’s great about this cake is that, unlike a lot of other sweets, it’s packed with protein, Vitamin A, and fiber—and that’s just from the Black Walnuts! When you count the potassium from the bananas, it almost doesn’t feel like dessert anymore. Oh but, we promise, it definitely tastes like dessert!
You can make it a couple of different ways. 1) As a snack cake, served warm with a generous sprinkle of Powdered Sugar or Whipped Cream. Or 2) As a layer cake (see frosting recipe below) Either way, we’re sure you’re going to enjoy it!
Black Walnut Banana Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the DRY Ingredients:
Whisk together and reserve:
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon any baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Black Walnuts:
toss with 2 Tablespoons of the DRY Ingredients and reserve:
- 1 cup Black Walnut large pieces plus some for garnish
For the WET Ingredients:
stir together and reserve:
- 1½ cup mashed ripe bananas (3-5 plus some slices for finished cake)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup buttermilk (yogurt or sour cream will work!)
For the BUTTER Mixture:
Cream until light and fluffy, adding eggs in one at a time, and reserve:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
For the CAKE:
Add the DRY Ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the WET Ingredients, in three rounds ending with the Dry Ingredients. Toss in the Black Walnuts with the last addition of DRY Ingredients before the batter is completely incorporated. Try not to over mix the batter, less is more here. The batter will be very thick.
Divide batter equally between two buttered cake pans and gently smooth it into even layers in the pans.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, checking the cakes at 20 minutes to see if they need turning. Cake is done when it has shrunk from the sides of the pan and the center springs back from a gentle touch.
Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to finish cooling.
For Frosting:
Beat together, adding the cream last to adjust the texture:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 2-4 Tablespoons Cream
When the layers are THROUGHLY COOL, frost the bottom layer of the cake with ½ the Frosting. Top with slices of 2 ripe Bananas. Add the second layer and frost the top of the cake with the remaining ½ of the frosting. Garnish with additional Black Walnuts and banana slices.
Enjoy!
Directions
Ingredients
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Black Walnuts Large Fancy Pieces plus some for garnish
- 1½ cup mashed ripe bananas (3-5 plus some slices for finished cake)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup buttermilk (yogurt or sour cream will work!)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
Directions
- For the DRY Ingredients:
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside - For the Black Walnuts:
Toss with 2 Tablespoons of the DRY Ingredients and set aside - For the WET Ingredients:
Stir together bananas, vanilla and buttermilk and set aside - For the BUTTER Mixture:
Cream brown sugar, sugar, butter and eggs until light and fluffy. Note: Add eggs in one at a time, and set aside - For the CAKE:
Add the DRY Ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the WET Ingredients, in three rounds ending
with the Dry Ingredients. Toss in the Black Walnuts with the last addition of DRY Ingredients before the batter
is completely incorporated. Try not to over mix the batter, less is more here. The batter will be very thick.
Divide batter equally between two buttered cake pans and gently smooth it into even layers in the pans.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, checking the cakes at 20 minutes to see if they need turning. Cake is done
when it has shrunk from the sides of the pan and the center springs back from a gentle touch. - Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to finish cooling.
- Tips: As a snack cake, serve warm with a generous sprinkle of powdered sugar and whipped cream. As a layer cake, when the layers are cool, frost the bottom layer of the cake with frosting. Top with slices
of 2 ripe Bananas. Add the second layer and frost the top of the cake with frosting. Garnish with additional Black Walnuts and banana slices.
