This turned out to be one super moist and ridiculously flavorful little cake.
I love it when the baking Gods smile down.
I didn’t want to make anything complicated or fussy because I’m on vacation in Aruba.
I also wanted to keep it reasonably healthy since every day is a bikini day here.
There’s no butter in the cake itself, just 1 egg, and I used banana-flavored Greek yogurt.
I was shocked when I saw banana Chob for sale in an Aruban grocery store, and promptly snagged a couple. It’s my favorite yogurt for baking.
The cake is similar to the Banana Pudding Cake with Vanilla Caramel Glaze in my cookbook. However, this cake is slightly smaller, doesn’t call for pudding, and the glaze is even easier.
To make the glaze, you can simply melt the butter or melt a vegan buttery-spread in the micro. But I prefer to brown it. If you’ve never browned butter before, read this tutorial or this or this.
The Cliff’s notes are to simply cook the butter until little brown specks appear, keep on swirling the pan, and don’t let the brown specks turn black. The process takes about 3 to 4 minutes and it’s easy.
I don’t know why people make such a big deal over browning butter, but it really adds such another level of nutty, rich flavor and it’s 4 minutes very well spent.
Pour the buttery glaze over the soft, warm cake, and let it soak in. I made the cake at night, glazed, and covered the cake with foil. By morning the glaze had soaked in almost completely.
It seeps into the nooks and crannies of the cake, and imparts such a comforting flavor. It makes an already moist and tender cake even more so.
If you need a little banana cake that you don’t have to drag your mixer out for, and takes just minutes to whisk together, this is the one.
It’s soft, fluffy, and light, with just enough density to be satisfying.
If you’re like me, ripe bananas seem to multiply on the counter, and you can never have too many banana and banana recipes. I have 40+ Banana Bread and Banana Dessert Recipes.
Add this one to the list.
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Browned Butter Glaze Soaked-Greek Yogurt Banana Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
- 6 ounces Greek yogurt (I used Chobani Low-Fat Banana
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 cup mashed ripe bananas, about 2 large or 3 small/medium
Browned Butter Glaze
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3/4 of 1 stick
- about 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Instructions
- For the Cake – Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together egg, sugars, oil, yogurt, and vanilla until smooth and incorporated.
- Add the flour, baking soda, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Add the bananas and stir to just incorporate.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the top is domed, golden, center is set, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. At about the 20 minute mark, or at any point if your cake is getting a bit too golden or dark before the center is setting, tent with foil (lay a sheet of foil over the top of your cake). I tented at the 20 minute mark and baked for 35 minutes total. Baking times could vary from 25 to 45 minutes depending on water content of the bananas, yogurt, climate, and oven variances.
- Allow cake to cool in pan on a wire rack while making the glaze.
- For the Browned Butter Glaze – Add butter to a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter has melted and begins to brown and brown specks appear; the process usually takes 3 to 5 minutes. During that time, the butter will hiss, foam, sputter, and make lots of noise. This is the water releasing. After the noises subside, small brown specks will begin to appear. Swirl pan frequently throughout the whole process, and nearly continuously after you see the specks because that’s when the butter is prone to burning, and the specks can go from brown to black. I push the envelope and cook the butter as long as I possibly can to develop the most amount of flavor.
- After butter is browned to your liking, transfer to a heat-safe medium-sized bowl.
- Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and optional salt until smooth.
- Pour glaze over warm cake. Smooth it lightly with a spatula.
- Cover cake and allow it to rest so glaze can seep in before serving. I suggest at least 2 to 3 hours; I rested my cake overnight. Cake will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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40+ Banana Bread and Banana Dessert Recipes
Thanks for the entries in the 3-Piece Baking Set and Gluten-Free Dough Giveaway and the $100 My Sweet Muffin Giveaway
What’s your favorite banana recipe?
So amazing that you’re in Aruba! Sounds amazing, but I’m sure makes baking a challenge. And I’m guessing you are one of the few people who have tried to smuggle yeast packets and baking pans past TSA lines!
And that brown butter glaze, so dreamy!
If yeast smuggling is a crime, I’m guilty. Same with Baking Pans!! WOW, sounds like you’ve done this once or twice, too! Over the years of having our house down here, I’ve outfitted a kitchen, bit by bit, overweight bag by bag. This trip it was a popsicle mold and a new 7-cup Cuisinart food processor. Not a ‘cheap’ item in the States, but down here, it would have been more expensive than a Vitamix – but you can’t even get things like that! And I always travel with Red Star Platinum :)
Wish I had a slice of this cake for breakfast because you know I’m loving that brown butter glaze!
Oh my, looks absolutely divine! Wish I could have a bite right now!
Love that you glazed it at night and by morning it was all soaked up into the banana goodness! This cake looks like a banana lover’s dream! Chobani is definitely my go-to baking yogurt. Beautiful vacation baking Averie!
Mine too. I love the stuff. I swear they made that banana yogurt just for bloggers :)
I wish I were in Aruba with you! I’ve been looking for a good banana cake recipe so I can’t wait to try this.
Btw, I tried your peanut butter frosting (from your peanut butter brownies recipe in your cookbook) and I adore it! It was a huge hit with my family and friends and I would absolutely make it again. I talk about it on my blog today. :) That was my 2nd recipe I’ve tried from you and it was yet another winner. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome recipes!
Thanks, Tina, for the awesome comment & feedback and so happy you love the book and the recipes! Headed over to your site now!
Oooooooomg.
This looks like the perfect banana cake! Love that it is healthy-ish with a bit of decadence :)
Browned butter is the best. Soooo good.
Browned butter makes everything better!! This banana cake looks crazy good!! I have a bunch of brown bananas so I might be making this soon!
And I have that Six Banana Bread recipe I linked in the post if you need to really use some up!
Oh WOW! I just started experimenting with browned butter and it is something else! Your cake looks so tantalizingly delicious!
Thanks Shashi!
Anything that is glaze soaked is right up my alley! Loving this!
The only thing better would have been adding some rum to it :)
I am always looking for new recipes to use up ripe bananas and this looks like an awesome one! I love that you’re baking so much while on vaca! :)
Well, it’s my job :) Plus, my family eats a crazy amt of food when we’re here b/c we’re so active!
Ohmygoodness–this banana cake looks so moist and flavorful. I love the shot you have where you can see the black banana specks. I cannot wait to try this recipe. Thank you!!!
Glad you like it – the pic and the cake! Pls LMK if you end up trying it!
I bet grocery shopping on an island can be an adventure–you never know what you might or might not find! I remember some of your previous posts from Aruba though and you always seem to get innovative and come up with something using what you have. This cake looks pretty incredible–and glaze soaking in overnight? I love when that happens!!
SUCH an adventure. Omg. Sometimes I can’t find lettuce. But I can find Chobani. Sometimes I cannot find any coffee other than decaf, but I can find beer from Brazil, times a million :) The glaze just made this cake SO good!
This cake looks delicious and so perfect as vacation food. I also love that it makes a reasonable-sized cake, because I’m certain that if it made a 9″ two-layer cake, I would go and eat the whole gosh-darned thing!
As for my favorite banana recipe, I’m partial to bananas foster. Or anything with bananas and rum, really.
Oh I LOVE bananas foster! I have shooters based on the theme :) https://www.averiecooks.com/2012/09/bananas-foster-shooters.html
And layered cakes – never! First of all, we don’t ‘need’ that much cake. Second of all, too much work! I am all about the easy, smaller cakes :) Life of a blogger, gotta keep the recipes moving in and out so smaller batches are always preferred!
I have to agree about layered cakes too. I almost never make those big ones because it’s too much work and wayyy too much cake to enjoy. And I hate having to keep leftover cake because I think cakes are almost always at their best when fresh. Smaller batches are the best :-)
Cakes are really best at their freshest, yes. I mean honestly, most baked goods are, with the exception of say pie or cheesecake that you can keep in the fridge and 2-3 days really doesn’t matter that much. Okay & the brownies I just posted about, you could get away with stashing those in the fridge for half a week and they’d be just as good :)
YUM a brown butter glaze? This has to be good. I love using yoghurt in muffins since I find it better than butter milk!
For the best soak age for the glazes I like to use a stick of uncooked spaghetti and push small holes all over.
Oh that cake we call a ‘poke cake’ here. I poke it with the back of a wooden spoon and let the glaze really soak in but then you do have to cover it with whipped cream or a whippy frosting so you don’t see the holes as much. Not that adding (more) frosting is ever an issue :)