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Banana & pecan coffee cake

• Cassie Best

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Serves 12

Easy

Prep: 25 mins

Cook: 30 mins

plus cooling

A star rating of 4.3 out of 5.3 ratingsRate

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This banana cake borrows something from classic coffee & walnut cake, but swaps walnuts for pecans – their maple-y sweetness works beautifully with banana and coffee

Freezable (Freezable without icing)

Vegetarian

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Cassie's tips for better banana cakes

• Use truly overripe bananas - think: black skins and soft, almost collapsing flesh – the kind you’d no longer choose to eat. The riper the banana, the sweeter, softer and more flavourful your cake will be.
• Keep bananas in the freezer - if you bake often, freeze overripe bananas whole in their skins so they don’t go past the point of being useable. Defrost for about 30 mins before peeling and mashing. It’s an easy way to reduce waste, and means you’re always halfway to a banana cake.
• Add spice to deepen the flavour - banana cakes are often improved by warm spices. Cinnamon works well, but nutmeg, ginger or cardamom all add extra depth and round out the flavour.

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

• 250g butter

  softened, plus extra for the tin

• 75g pecans

• 200g light brown soft sugar

• 2 overripe bananas (150g peeled weight)

• 4 eggs

• 200ml strong coffee

  (we used 1 tbsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 200ml boiling water), cooled

• 300g self-raising flour

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the icing

• 250g mascarpone
• 200g double cream
• 2 tbsp light brown soft sugar

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Nutrition: Per serving

• kcal575
• fat42g
• saturates24g
• carbs42g
• sugars23g
• fibre2g
• protein7g
• salt0.72g

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Method

• step 1

  Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lightly butter two 20cm loose-bottomed cake tins and line the bases with baking parchment. Tip the pecans into a dry frying pan and toast over a low-medium heat for 3-4 mins until fragrant. Leave to cool, then roughly chop.

• step 2

  Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl using an electric whisk for about 3 mins until pale and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas until mostly smooth, then whisk in the eggs and 100ml of the cooled coffee.

• step 3

  Pour the banana mixture into the butter mixture, and beat until combined. Add the flour, cinnamon and a pinch of salt, then mix again until smooth. Stir through half the toasted chopped pecans.

• step 4

  Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins and bake for 25 mins, or until risen, golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 10 mins before carefully turning out onto a wire rack. While the cakes are still slightly warm, spoon 2 tbsp of the remaining coffee over each sponge and leave to soak in as they cool completely. Once cool, will keep wrapped and frozen for up to three months. Defrost completely before icing and serving .

• step 5

  For the icing, beat the mascarpone, double cream, brown sugar and remaining coffee together to soft peaks using an electric whisk. Be careful not to overwhip, as the mascarpone can seize quickly. If it becomes too thick, loosen with a splash more cream. Chill until needed.

• step 6

  Once the cakes are completely cool, spread half the icing over one sponge and top with the second. Spread over the remaining icing and scatter over the remaining pecans. Will keep chilled for up to four days.

Baker's notes

Salted or unsalted butter: does it matter?

Many baking recipes call for unsalted butter, mainly because it gives you complete control over seasoning. But, in reality, most sweet bakes benefit from salt, as it sharpens flavour, balances sweetness and can intensify chocolate. At home, I bake with salted butter because it’s what I usually have in the fridge, then adjust from there. Rich bakes in particular – brownies, cookies or anything caramel-based – often welcome an extra pinch of salt. The type matters, though: unless a recipe specifies otherwise, measurements generally refer to fine table salt. Sea salt flakes behave very differently – it tastes less intense by volume and is added for texture as much as flavour, giving bakes that satisfying sweet-salty finish.

Use fine salt within a recipe and save flaky salt for scattering, but don’t underestimate what a little salt can do for sweet bakes.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, August 2026

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A star rating of 4.3 out of 5.3 ratings

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