Banana Crumb Cake from Live Well Bake Often

Banana Crumb Cake - made February 13, 2025 from Live Well Bake Often

Crumb topping

3/4 cup (95 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter

Cake

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (4 medium ripe or 3 large ripe bananas)

1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Crumb Topping: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cube the cold butter into small pieces; add to flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, two knives or your hands, cut the butter into the mixture until it starts to clump together and is crumbly. Chill while you make the cake batter.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Make the cake: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for 2-3 minutes until well combined and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition. Add in vanilla.
5. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, mixing on low speed until just combined. Add banana and mix on low speed until combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Remove crumb topping from refrigerator and sprinkle evenly on top of batter, squeezing handfuls of crumb topping to make large crumbs.
7. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

If you have overripe bananas (and buttermilk) to use up and you're tired of banana bread, this is an excellent alternative. 

The streusel crumb topping makes this cake. Squeeze large handfuls of it before you put it in the refrigerator to chill while you make the cake batter. Then when you sprinkle it over the cake batter in the pan, don't break the crumbs up too finely. You want them large and chunky. They'll crisp up during baking and add both sweetness and texture to the soft cake.

The mashed banana adds a lot of moisture to the cake so this isn't something you want to underbake or you'll end up with a gummy texture. I could've probably left this in the oven a few minutes longer but it still turned out well, albeit a little bit dense. But it still tasted good. The sweetness comes from the topping but you also want to use bananas that are as (over)ripe as possible to enhance the flavor of the cake.