Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake

Name: Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 cup butter, softened (unsalted butter if possible); 1¾ cups granulated sugar; 2 eggs; 2 ripe bananas, mashed; ⅓ cup sour cream, crème fraîche or plain yogurt; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 2½ cups all purpose (plain) flour; 2 teaspoons baking soda; ⅓ cup cocoa; 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional; ¼ teaspoon salt (omit if using butter with added salt); 1 cup boiling water

ByApril HarrisUpdated: January 24, 2026

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This no-fail Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake recipe is one of my family's favourite cakes. It's easy to make, perfect for any occasion, and always moist and delicious.

Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake really is cake nirvana. It is moist chocolatey deliciousness that you can eat absolutely plain, or you can dust it with a light dusting of confectioner’s (icing) sugar. Glaze it if you like, or if you are very brave, frost it with chocolate buttercream. Buttercream makes for a very rich cake, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

If you don’t plan to glaze or frost the cake, you can serve it just off room temperature – not too warm or it won’t slice properly – with a scoop of ice cream melting over the top. Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake is also yummy with a small dollop of whipped cream and some sliced bananas.

I’ve been making this Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake recipe for years, ever since my cousin Esther made this recipe for a family gathering almost thirty years ago. It was one of my husband’s first visits to my family in Canada. Esther made the cake in layers and decorated it with flowers and butterflies, which looked gorgeous and tasted even better.

A Versatile, Easy to Make Cake

Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake is one of the easiest to make, go-to cakes I know. You can make it in an ordinary Nordic Ware Bundt Pan (affiliate link), or a decorative Nordic Ware Bundt Pan (affiliate link). The pans are reliable, long lasting, and in my experience, the cakes always come out of the pans beautifully but be sure to follow the directions for greasing or oiling the pan. Of course you can always make this Chocolate Banana Cake as two or three layers or about 24 cupcakes.

I make this cake all year round, but I also love making a decorative cake like this one at Christmas; the icing sugar reminds me of snow!

Be careful not to overfill the Bundt pan with batter; leave some space for the cake to rise. If your pan is too small, you can use the extra batter to make cupcakes, which will bake in about 15 minutes. This recipe freezes well if you have any leftovers, although we rarely have leftovers!

Can The Recipe Be Made Without a Bundt Pan?

Absolutely! You can make this cake in two or three 8 or 9 inch layer cake pans or it will make about 24 cupcakes.

When making a layer cake, be careful not to over-fill the pans. I sometimes make three layers with this recipe instead of just two because it is easier to frost – although you do need a bit more frosting! Two layers will usually take about 20 to 25 minutes to bake and three layers about 15 to 20 minutes. You can test them by inserting a skewer or piece of dry spaghetti in the centre. When the cake is done it will come out clean (without any batter clinging to it).

Cupcakes take about 15 to 20 minutes to bake. Again, do the skewer test to be sure they are done, and always leave cake or cupcakes until they are completely cooled before frosting. .

You probably have the ingredients for Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake already on hand. If not, they are pretty easy to assemble. I’ve used bananas from the freezer and from the fruit bowl with equal success.

Recipe Adjustments

When I first started making this cake years ago, it was hard to get sour cream in England, so I used crème fraîche or plain or vanilla yogurt, all of which work well. Low fat sour cream and crème fraîche work too, although I think the results are even better with full fat varieties.

I have reduced the sugar in the recipe a bit, and I recommend using unsalted butter.

Once or twice I have added cinnamon to the batter and was very pleased with the results, although I tend to stick with the original recipe most of the time.

The Secret To Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake

You may find Step 8 of the instructions a little shocking, but please don’t be alarmed. While pouring the boiling water over top of the batter does sound a little crazy, it actually makes for an incredibly moist and delicious cake. Just use care when pouring and stirring as boiling water is, well, boiling hot! Please take care not to burn yourself.

Storing Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake

The unfrosted cake keeps well covered at room temperature for at least 3 days. If you have used buttercream frosting you may want to refrigerate the cake to help the frosting stay fresh. You can freeze the cake or cupcakes without frosting for up to one month.