This easy one-layer plantain cake is sweet, moist, and perfectly spiced! Add the salty peanut butter frosting, and you'll have a crowd-pleasing dessert that feels gourmet without breaking a sweat.
And if you enjoy this recipe, you'll love my golden banana fritters or chocolate peanut butter pound cake, too!
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What is plantain cake?
Plantain cake is a baked fruit cake using mashed or pureed plantains, similar to banana cake or banan bread. Depending on what you add to it, you can make a healthy plantain breakfast cake or a more decadent dessert version. We're doing the latter today!
❤️ Why You'll Love this Recipe
Simple to Make - This recipe comes together in under an hour with just about 15 minutes of hands-on work. The rest of the time is baking and cooling--easy peasy!
Unique Flavor - You'll taste sweet golden plantain with subtle earthiness and cozy warming spices in the cake. If you're unfamiliar with sweet plantain, think banana bread but better! The frosting takes it over the top with rich, nutty, salty flavors that give a nod to another popular ingredient in West African countries like Nigeria and Ghana.
My family loves creative cake recipes, so I have plenty more to share with you: birthday cake tres leches, peach honey pound cake, blueberry lemon quick bread, crushed pineapple upside-down cake, and strawberry sheet cake with cream cheese frosting!
What You'll Need for this Recipe
Plantains are the flavor star here, specifically overripe plantains (not green or even yellow) for the most natural sweetness and soft texture. Then we roast it to deepen the flavor. Read my how-to on picking overripe plantain for tips!
Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar for sweetness and tender texture with a touch of molasses taste. You can use either light or dark brown sugar here.
Warming Spices like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg complement the plantain perfectly. Use high-quality ground spices for the best flavor.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Toppings - I like to finish this cake with flaky sea salt and chopped groundnut (aka roasted peanuts), but you can get creative with sprinkles, other chopped nuts, or toasted coconut flakes.
Vegan - Use plant-based butter, egg, and milk alternatives to make this cake dairy-free and vegan.
Shape - You can double this recipe to make a layer cake--square or round--or make muffins, cupcakes, or a sheet cake.
How to Make Ripe Plantain Cake with Frosting
- Step One: Roast the plantains then peel and mash it into a puree. (Photos 1 and 2)
- Step Two: Whisk together the dry ingredients. (Photo 3)
- Step Three: Beat the mashed plantain with the other wet ingredients. (Photo 4)
Pro Tip #1
Leave the peels on the plantains while roasting to hold all the flavor and sweetness inside!
- Step Four: Combine the wet and dry mixtures into a batter then transfer it into a square pan and bake until golden brown. (Photos 5 and 6)
- Step Five: Beat the frosting ingredients until smooth and fluffy. (Photo 7)
- Step Six: Frost the cooled cake then sprinkle flaky sea salt and chopped nuts over top. (Photo 8)
Frequently Asked Questions
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days, then transfer to the refrigerator for continued storage up to one week.
To freeze, cool the cake completely to room temperature, then wrap it snugly in plastic wrap followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Keeps in the freezer for up to four months. Thaw the cake at room temperature for about three hours, then unwrap it, and frost.
How to Serve
Serve your plantain cake at room temperature or slightly warmed up--just not too much or the frosting will slip and slide everywhere! It's great with a scoop of plantain ice cream or a drizzle of caramel for extra razzle dazzle.
This is an amazing everyday dessert for make weeknights extra sweet or to cap off special occasions like cookouts, family dinners, or even holidays!
Make this cake the final course in a Nigierian-inspired dinner menu:
- Appetizers: meat pie
- Entree: suya street tacos
- Sides: Naija jollof rice
- Drink: chapman drink mocktail
More Favorite Recipes for Ripe Plantain
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
I hope you and your family will enjoy this sweet plantain cake recipe soon and very soon. And sharing is caring, so be sure to pin this recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
📖 Recipe
Sweet Plantain Cake with Salted Peanut Butter Frosting
Equipment
- 1 whisk
- 1 stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 2 overripe plantains
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
For the Frosting
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon milk at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts chopped or crushed, optional garnish
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt optional garnish
Instructions
- Roast the Plantain: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place plantains on a parchment or foil-lined baking pan and into the oven to roast for 20 minutes. Let them cool for a few minutes until safe to handle, then carefully remove the peels and scoop out the fruit into a bowl and mash it with a kitchen spoon. (Alternatively, you can purée the plantain in a blender or food processor if you prefer a completely smooth cake batter.)2 overripe plantains
- Grease and flour a square 8 x 8 inch baking dish and set aside.
- Make the Cake Batter: In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a hand mixer, beat together the mashed plantain, eggs, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, oil, milk, and vanilla extract until uniform with small chunks of mashed plantain (about two minutes). Add the flour mixture and beat until it starts to come together then finish mixing by hand so as not to overmix the batter.2 eggs, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar, ¼ cup unsalted butter, ¼ cup oil, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Bake the Cake: Transfer the batter into the prepared baking dish then into the oven to bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave cake in the pan for 10 minutes then invert it onto a cooling rack to come to room temperature (about 45 minutes).
- Make the Frosting: While the cake cools, use a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat together the powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, salt, vanilla extract, and milk until smooth and uniform, pausing to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl a couple of times.1 ¼ cup powdered sugar, ½ cup peanut butter, ¼ cup unsalted butter, ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon milk
- Finish the Cake: Spread frosting over top of the cooled cake then sprinkle with chopped peanuts and flaky salt, if desired, and serve.2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
Marcia says
I did try to make the cake by adapting the recipe to be plant based. Very moist and rich tasting 👌
Jazzmine Woodard says
Hi, Marcia! Thank you for your note--I'm so happy you could adapt this cake to be plant based.