This Banana Berry Coffee Cake is a perfect balance of bananas and juicy berries. Frozen or fresh can be used. The buttery crumb topping provides just the right amount of crunch and sweetness.
I always have excess sandwich bread. With warmer temps and the increasing humidity, things are starting to mold a little more This coffee cake is ideal for mornings when you don’t have time for a big breakfast or when you just want to grab and go. It’s also a great way to use up bananas that would have gone to waste otherwise.
The abundance of mashed bananas along with berries and sour cream provide great moisture. The crumb topping offers just the right amount of crunch, butteriness, and sweetness.
How long will this cake last?
This cake keeps best refrigerated in an airtight container. It’s good for 5 or more days. The refrigeration also enables the streusel to remain crisp.
The cake could be stored at room temperature for a day. Make sure to place a paper towel over the top to absorb moisture and place in an airtight container. Refrigerate after one day as moisture from the bananas and berries will cause the crumb topping to soften at room temp.
Recipe highlights:
- Mash bananas. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar. Add egg. Beat until well blended.
- Mix in sour cream, bananas, vanilla and almond extracts.
- Mix in dry ingredients.
- Combine flour, sugars, and melted butter to make the streusel (I forgot to add brown sugar in the photo below, hence the follow-up photo).
- Work mixture until crumbly.
- Place the batter and berries in a prepared baking pan in layers.
- Add streusel topping.
- Bake at 350° F for about 45 minutes.
- See recipe card below for detailed instructions.
What type of bananas to use?
Use soft, overripe bananas with lots of dark brown spots…the kind that you can smell from 10 feet away are the best. Well, maybe a slight exaggeration, more like 3 feet away. They provide the cake with optimal banana flavor, moistness, and sweetness. Less ripe bananas have less of all three.
To always have overripe bananas at your disposal, freeze them. Peel and cut into chunks, then place in the freezer on a parchment-lined baking sheet for about 2 hours or until frozen. Transfer into a plastic zip lock bag or air tight container and freeze until ready to use. Be sure to defrost prior to use for making the cake.
How to make bananas ripen faster?
If you don’t have any on hand, there are there are ways to speed up the ripening process:
- Place bananas in a paper bag. Close and place in a warm area for a 2 to 3 days to ripen. If you have green-ish bananas, it will take longer. The bag helps trap in the ethylene gas the bananas naturally release and speeds up the process. Placing an apple or two in the bag also expedite ripening.
- For immediate ripening, bake them. Preheat oven to 300° F. Place bananas on a lined and rimmed baking sheet. Bake for roughly 30 minutes or until the bananas are soft and black. Allow to cool before peeling.
Recommended supplies:
(Affiliate links. The products I recommend are either what I use, are on my wish list, or come highly rated.)
- A 9-inch square cake pan—this one is non-stick aluminized steel with extended handles for easy grip.
- This green mixing bowl set has non-slip base and pour spout.
- Silicone spatula for scraping the mixing bowl.
- This Cuisinart handheld mixer has 9 speeds and comes with a storage case.
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Banana Berry Coffee Cake
Description
This Banana Berry Coffee Cake is a perfect balance of bananas and juicy berries. Frozen or fresh can be used. The buttery crumb topping provides the just the right amount of crunch and sweetness.
Ingredients
For the streusel:
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Peel and mash bananas with a fork. Measure out one cup. Set aside.
- Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bow. Set aside.
- Add sugar and 6 tablespoons butter to a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Beat in egg until well incorporated.
- Add extracts, banana, and yogurt. Beat until well incorporated. The mixture will look granular. It’s fine and will smooth out once the dry ingredient are added.
- Add dry ingredients, 1/3 at a time, into the wet. Blend just until combined.
- Rub the 2 teaspoons butter onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan. Coat with a dusting of flour tapping out excess, or line with parchment paper for easy removal of the cake.
- Spread half of the batter into the pan. Add half of the berries, tucking some into the batter.
- Add the remaining batter. Spread evenly. Add remaining the berries, tucking some into the batter.
- Add the streusel mixture to the top.
- Baked 350° F for 40-45 minutes or when a tooth comes out with a few dry crumbs attached. Place onto a cooling rack to cool.
- Combine all of the ingredients into a small mixing bowl.
- Use a fork or spatula to combine until the mixture looks like damp, coarse sand.
- Makes 9 servings.
To make the streusel:
Note
- Layering the batter and berries help prevent frozen berries from bleeding into the batter. If using fresh berries you could use the layering method, or mix the berries into the batter first. Fresh uncut berries should not bleed into the batter as much as frozen.
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Mixing bananas and berries–genius! And the cake is so pretty with the pink and blue berries showing!
Thank you Inger. I think berries make banana baked goods even better, and I love the pretty pops of color they provide.
Love the idea of combining berries into a delicious banana bread. The photos alone make me wish a had a piece right now.
I think the bananas and berries compliment each other beautifully. I’m happy to know the photos had you sold, Karen 🙂