Mini Banana Cakes
on Apr 02, 2024
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These tender, flavorful mini banana cakes with cream cheese frosting are perfect for your next tea time. There’s no baking involved and you only need 6 ingredients.
Easy Mini Banana Cake
Mini cakes are perfect for tea time and parties since they’re bite-sized and meant to be eaten with your hands.
This is the easiest mini banana cake recipe ever because it involves no baking. It only takes only 10 minutes to assemble these sweets using store-bought banana bread.
The tangy homemade cream cheese frosting ties everything together. It’s got the perfect level of sweetness and hint of fragrant vanilla.
The pretty layers in these mini cakes will make them an impressive addition to your next brunch, party, or afternoon tea.
RELATED: Victoria Mini Cakes
Recipe Highlights
- This 6-ingredient recipe saves time by using store-bought banana bread as the banana cake layers.
- You only need 10 minutes to make these mini cakes, and they can be done a day in advance.
- This recipe makes 4 mini cakes, but you can easily scale this recipe up for a large crowd.
RELATED: Strawberry Sando Tea Sandwiches
Ingredient Notes
- Banana bread: You can find loaves of banana bread at many bakeries and supermarkets. Use one with or without nuts depending on your preference.
- Unsalted butter: Take the butter out of the fridge in advance so it can get very soft to make the cream cheese frosting.
- Cream cheese: Use full-fat or reduced fat cream cheese, but make sure to let it soften since cold cream cheese results in lumpy frosting.
- Powdered sugar: Sift the powdered sugar to avoid clumps.
- Heavy cream: If you don’t have heavy cream on hand you can substitute with half and half.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla adds richness to the flavor of the cream cheese frosting, so don’t skip using it.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Cut circles out of banana bread slices using a round cookie cutter.
Step 2: Make the cream cheese frosting.
Use a fork to mix the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract until soft.
Step 3: Fill a plastic sandwich bag with the cream cheese frosting. Cut a small hole on one corner to create a makeshift piping bag.
Step 4: Assemble the cake.
Squeeze a layer of cream cheese frosting onto the top half of a banana bread circle.
Step 5: Place a second banana bread circle on top and pipe another layer of cream cheese frosting.
Step 6: Add a third banana bread circle on top and a final layer of cream cheese frosting on top.
Tea Sommelier’s Tip
To pair these mini cakes with a pot of tea, go for black tea, like Earl Grey or English breakfast tea. Green tea is also a good option since it goes well with sweets.
Recipe Notes
Butter and cream cheese must be very soft.
You want the butter and cream cheese to be very soft and creamy so that no lumps form in the cream cheese frosting. The frosting should be as smooth as possible after you mix it together.
To soften your butter and cream cheese in a hurry, you can microwave them both for 15 seconds on low power.
If making a large batch of frosting, use a hand mixer to mix the ingredients.
Cake and frosting can be made in advance.
You can make these cakes in advance by cutting out the banana bread circles and making the cream cheese frosting the day before. The next day, you can assemble these cakes in a matter of minutes.
Use a high-quality vanilla.
Vanilla is an essential part of any good cream cheese frosting because it accentuates the flavor and adds depth. Use a good vanilla extract or real vanilla for the best tasting cream cheese frosting.
Expert Tips
- Garnish with chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans on top for a little crunch.
- To get the cleanest edges possible, chill the banana bread before slicing and cutting.
- Take the leftover trimmed banana bread and make a trifle by layering pieces in a cup with pudding or whipped cream and fresh berries.
Questions You May Have
Yes, these mini cakes will hold up overnight without getting soggy. Just make sure they are placed in an airtight container so that they don’t dry out.
Cream cheese frosting perfectly compliments banana cake, but if you’re not a fan of cream cheese frosting you can opt for a simple whipped cream or buttercream frosting, like the one used in these Victoria Mini Cakes.
While you can use other cookie cutter shapes, try to keep it super simple. The banana cake can easily fall apart if the cutter is too detailed in shape.
Related
- Matcha Tiramisu
- Easy English Scones
- Jam Pennies Tea Sandwiches
- Matcha Pancakes
- 24 Best Tea Sandwich Recipes
If you tried this Mini Banana Cakes recipe, please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating and let me know how you like it in the comments below.
Mini Banana Cakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 slices banana bread
- 1 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
- 1 ½ tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cut circles out of the banana bread slices using a 2" cookie cutter. Cut 2 circles out of each slice of banana bread.
- Make the cream cheese frosting.Put butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla extract in a bowl and use a fork to mix it together.
- Add the cream cheese frosting to a plastic sandwich bag. Snip one corner of the bag.This is to create a makeshift piping bag to make it mess-free.
- Assemble the mini cakes.Pipe a layer of cream cheese frosting on top of a banana bread circle. Add a second banana bread circle, then pipe another layer of cream cheese frosting on top. Place a third banana bread circle on top, followed by a final layer of cream cheese frosting.Don't pipe too close to the edges since you don't want the frosting to ooze out, making it messy to eat.
- Repeat until there are 4 mini cakes.
Notes
- It’s important to use softened, room temperature butter and softened, room temperature cream cheese. Take the butter and cream cheese out of the fridge in advance so they can get to room temperature. To soften them in a hurry, you can microwave them for 15 seconds on low power. Don’t use full power, which will melt them.
- You can use banana bread with or without nuts depending on your preference.
- Sift the powdered sugar to avoid clumps in the frosting.
- If you don’t have heavy cream on hand you can substitute with half and half.
- Vanilla extract adds richness to the flavor of the cream cheese frosting, so don’t skip using it.
- You can prep these cakes in advance by cutting out the banana bread circles and making the cream cheese frosting the day before, then assembling the cakes ahead of time.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
