Fresh strawberries turn this moist and fruity banana loaf cake into a zingy seasonal treat! Delicious as a snack or with ice-cream as an easy dessert.
Banana loaf cake, aka banana bread, is our standard way to deal with too-ripe-to-eat brown bananas here at FFF towers. I have an ancient recipe scribbled in my notebook in blue crayon which is the easiest, most delicious banana bread ever – although I’ve no idea where it first came from. All I know is, it works, brilliantly, every time.

Rapid ripening
So, when three bananas started to be more brown than yellow, I knew what I had to do. I also knew that as fresh strawberries are now at the peak of the season, and hence cheap as chips, we had a HUGE punnet of them in the fridge. What better way to make the banana loaf cake into a seasonal summer treat than by incorporating some of these luscious red berries?

Banana loaf cake – Full of fruit
I tweaked my tried-and-trusted banana cake recipe a little, to better let the fruit flavours shine through, and added fresh strawberries to some of the mixture so I could marble the batter. Finally, I topped the cake with halved strawberries, which provide both a beautiful decoration and an intense pop of concentrated berry flavour.

The end result looked absolutely gorgeous and tasted wonderful too!
My daughter Kipper was delighted to have a slice as her afternoon snack, and I persuaded myself that it must count towards her 5-a-day… right?

Banana cake ingredients
To make a loaf of this delicious banana cake with strawberries yourself, all you’ll need are the following seven ingredients:
- ripe bananas – of course!
- sugar – I use golden caster sugar for its flavour but ordinary white sugar is also fine
- self-raising flour
- baking powder
- egg
- sunflower oil
- strawberries – to add that lovely summer berry flavour

What’s the time? Banana bread time!
I’m also happy to confirm that this strawberry and banana loaf cake is lovely with a cuppa for elevenses, delicious for afternoon tea, and works particularly well with or without a scoop of ice-cream as an easy dessert.
The fresh fruit makes this banana bread wonderfully moist, but does mean that it will only keep for a day or two and is best eaten straight away. I doubt this will be a problem.

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Fresh strawberry & banana loaf cake
Ingredients
- 2-3 very ripe bananas, peeled
- 100 g golden caster sugar
- 225 g self-raising flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 egg
- 110 ml sunflower oil
- 200 g strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).Line a 22 x 13cm (8¾ x 5 inch, or 2lb) loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
- In the food processor, blend the peeled bananas and the sugar to give a smooth mixture.
- Add the flour, baking powder, egg and oil, and process to a batter.
- Transfer about ⅔ of the mixture to a separate bowl. Hull the strawberries, and reserve about 50g (4-5 berries) for the top. Roughly chop the rest and add to the batter in the food processor. Pulse until combined.
- Spread half the ‘plain’ batter into the prepared tin. Pour and spread the ‘strawberry’ batter over, then top with the rest of the plain batter. Run a knife or a skewer through the batter a few times to swirl the two together.
- Halve the reserved strawberries and arrange in a line on the top of the loaf. Press gently down.
- Bake the cake at 170°C (340°F) for around 45 minutes, until risen, golden, and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.
- Once cold, peel away the greaseproof paper and serve!
Nutrition
More recipes using ripe bananas
If you’d rather make a healthier banana loaf cake without any added sugar, try my banana bread with streusel topping – refined sugar free! Or these delicious and easy sugar-free banana scones, which are a terrific afternoon tea treat.
Or if you just want more delicious fruity bakes, how about coconut lemon cake with olive oil & yogurt, plum and almond crumble cake, or Devon apple cake with honey crumble topping.
Andrea
Super delicious. I didn’t have strawberries so replaced it with frozen raspberries. All family loved it.
Helen
Sounds delicious Andrea! Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Taryn Varcoe
I threw in a handful of blueberries as well and added cinnamon sugar to the top. Was lovely.
Helen
That sounds delicious Taryn!
Kavey Favelle
Love the combination of strawberries and bananas, would not have thought of this but really like the idea!
Helen
Thanks Kavey. I think I was subconsciously influenced by a banana-strawberry ice-cream we used to get as kids. I only remembered it after I’d baked the cake…
Hannah Hossack-Lodge
Banana bread is absolutely the best way to use up browning bananas! I haven’t tried a strawberry version before, it sounds delicious 🙂
Helen
Thanks Hannah! It is delicious 🙂
Janice
I’ve put a lot of different flavours in banana bread but never tried strawberries. It looks really pretty.
Helen
Thanks Janice. Banana bread is a bit of a blank canvas, isn’t it? I usually add dried fruit or nuts or chocolate chips, but I thought that strawberries would add a lovely summery twist – and they did!