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Buckwheat Banana Cake With Yogurt-Espresso Frosting

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Alex Lau
  • Active Time

    45 minutes

  • Total Time

    2 HR 30 minutes

Earthy, nutrient-rich whole grain flours give this classic banana loaf cake recipe (a.k.a. banana bread masquerading as dessert) some added personality.

Ingredients

8 Servings

Cake

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1

cup whole wheat flour

½

cup buckwheat flour or whole wheat flour

2

teaspoons ground cinnamon

1

teaspoon kosher salt

1

teaspoon baking soda

½

teaspoon baking powder

4

very ripe bananas

cup (packed) dark brown sugar

2

large eggs, beaten to blend

½

cup olive oil

½

cup sour cream

Frosting and Assembly

4

ounces cream cheese, room temperature

½

cup plain Greek yogurt

Pinch of kosher salt

cup powdered sugar

½

teaspoon espresso powder

Preparation

  1. Cake

    Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°. Coat an 8½x4½" loaf pan with nonstick spray, then line with parchment, letting it hang over on both of the longer sides. Whisk whole wheat flour, buckwheat flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium bowl.

    Step 2

    Mash bananas and brown sugar in a large bowl until virtually no lumps of banana remain and brown sugar is dissolved. Mix in eggs, oil, and sour cream. Add dry ingredients and mix in with a rubber spatula. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.

    Step 3

    Bake cake until the top springs back when gently pressed and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55–65 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan 30 minutes. Turn out cake onto rack and let cool completely.

    Step 4

    Do Ahead: Cake can be baked 4 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

  2. Frosting and Assembly

    Step 5

    Whisk cream cheese, yogurt, and salt in a large bowl until no lumps remain. Sift powdered sugar through a fine-mesh sieve into bowl and whisk vigorously to combine, then stir in espresso powder.

    Step 6

    Serve cake with frosting alongside for spreading over.

    Step 7

    Do Ahead: Frosting can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.

Nutrition Per Serving

Calories (kcal) 450 Fat (g) 24 Saturated Fat (g) 7 Cholesterol (mg) 70 Carbohydrates (g) 56 Dietary Fiber (g) 2 Total Sugars (g) 32 Protein (g) 8 Sodium (mg) 440
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How would you rate Buckwheat Banana Cake With Yogurt-Espresso Frosting?

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  • The day you bake this cake, it's solid. On day two, its great. On day three, it's the best banana bread you'll ever have. The longer it sits, the better it tastes - it's more moist and flavorful. This is the case for a lot of cakes, especially those that have olive oil, but it's ESPECIALLY the case for this one! If you're serving this to a crowd, I would make it a few days ahead so you can give them that wow-factor.

    • Hope

    • Cambridge, MA

    • 9/25/2023

  • Delicious!!! The only thing I changed in the cake was I used all whole wheat flour because I didn’t want to buy buckwheat for 1/2 c flour. I was shocked at how light this cake is for whole wheat. Great texture, wonderful flavor!! I didn’t make the frosting. I just dusted it with powdered sugar and it’s perfectly sweet enough!. I would 100% make this again!!

    • Sue

    • Cincinnati, Ohio

    • 7/13/2023

  • Moist and tasty. Have made it many time

    • Anonymous

    • 1/29/2023

  • Fantastic banana bread! It’s the only one that equals my Aunt Estelle’s banana bread from many, many years ago. Heck, it might even be better.

    • Pat

    • Moorhead, MN

    • 2/28/2022

  • I LOVE this banana bread…. Nutty, banana and warm cinnamon…completely addictive!

    • Anonymous

    • Boston MA

    • 12/18/2021

  • I liked this cake a lot but didn't find it very sweet. Normally that's a good thing combined with the cream cheese in the frosting, I just found it too savory. I also did not like the 'instant' coffee flavor. Next time I'd skip the frosting and just dust it with powdered sugar. It's less effort and more elegant anyway. Also I tried to give this recipe 4 stars but the website saved it as 5. Explains a lot.... lol

    • HangryGurl

    • Santa Fe, NM

    • 5/3/2021

  • I SWEAR I had buckwheat flour but could I find it??? Of course not! Having already mixed pretty much everything else, I decided to throw in 1/2 cup of bran in the wet ingredients and let that sit for a bit. OMG did this every make the best, moistest banana loaf! You don't really realize you are getting the goodness of bran! I also halved the oil and threw in some soft butter for that creamy salty kick. Amazing!!!

    • alain gauthier

    • Ottawa Canada

    • 5/6/2020

  • Had some leftover buckwheat flour from making BA’s buckwheat CC cookies and like everyone else in quarantine, I’ve got tons of frozen nanners. Flavor was good but the loaf ended up a bit stodgy and had a strange, slightly gritty? texture throughout. Icing was delicious, and would definitely use it again with other loaves.

    • Anonymous

    • Los Angeles, CA

    • 5/1/2020

  • Total time 2 minutes?????

    • Anonymous

    • California

    • 4/13/2020

  • I figured this recipe would be good... but wow!!! It was amazing!!! I did add a 1/2 tsp of espresso powder into the bread in addition to the icing, and weighed the dry ingredients, but otherwise followed it exactly

    • Anonymous

    • Phoenix, A.

    • 4/12/2020

  • Just made this and followed the recipe as written bu added about 1/2 cup chocolate chips and skipped the frosting. Delicious!

    • Anonymous

    • Minneapolis

    • 4/2/2020

  • Such a lovely loaf! I only had three bananas and it was still plenty moist and banana-y. The nutty buckwheat flour almost convinces me I'm not eating cake. Will definitely make again. Maybe next time I'll add (whispers) chopped up chocolate, eeeee!!!

    • alexbeggs

    • Bon Appétit

    • 3/14/2020

  • I found this recipe in a stack of old magazines, and it's become my go-to banana cake. The buckwheat/whole wheat combo is nutty and textural. I sub brown coconut sugar for the brown cane sugar with no noticeable difference; the loaf stays moist and is enjoyed throughout the week. n.b. the printed recipe says total time is 2h30min, not 2 min!!

    • Anonymous

    • Filthadelphia

    • 10/3/2019