Reminiscent of Magnolia Bakery’s iconic banana pudding, this banana pudding cake combines a variety of textures and flavors into one delicious confection. It’s got crunchy vanilla wafers, decadent cream cheese frosting, and vanilla pudding with fresh banana slices all piled onto a banana-flavored sponge cake. So loosen up and indulge in this banana cream cake with a cup of cold brew coffee for a truly enjoyable afternoon snack.
Tips on Making Banana Pudding Cake
This banana pudding cake recipe has three parts: the sponge cake layer, the pudding layer, and the frosting. Firstly, we suggest that you find those Nabisco Nilla Wafers, because it has the signature flavor and texture we all love in a banana pudding. Meanwhile, here are more helpful tips to ensure that you make them perfectly at home:
- Firstly, only make the pudding when the cake is ready to be filled and frosted. This is because the pudding should still be slightly pourable. If you make the instant pudding too soon, it’ll set up and will be difficult to spread on the cake.
- Don’t overfill the cake with pudding otherwise, it’ll turn into a mess. Instead, turn it into a layer cake by slicing the cake in half lengthwise or stacking two or three cakes together. As a result, you can have more vanilla cream filling layers!
- Keep the bananas fresh by spritzing the slices with lemon-infused water. Do so by mixing 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice with ½ cup of water. In addition, it’s best to slice the bananas only when you are ready to assemble them on the cake. This is because the less you expose them to air the less they will turn brown.
- Make it ahead of time. You can make the cake up to 4 days in advance and refrigerate it until needed. However, if you want to make it longer than 4 days ahead, you can wrap and freeze the individual unfrosted cakes then thaw them when ready to use. On the other hand, we don’t recommend freezing the assembled cake since it can alter the texture of the bananas and dairy.
More Banana Cake Recipes You’ll Love
If you love this banana cream cake recipe, we’ve got more banana cake recipe recommendations that you must-try! Check out our top picks:
- Chocolate Chip Banana Cake — An ultra-moist cake with chocolate chips topped with a rich chocolate ganache. This is certainly a must-try for chocolate lovers out there!
- Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting — It’s a simple banana cake with added crunch from nuts. Moreover, it has a cream cheese frosting with powdered sugar that’s not too sweet and just tasty enough to highlight the banana flavor.
- One Pan Banana Cake — The easiest of them all is this banana cake that you can make by dumping all the ingredients in the blender. Pour the batter into the pan, bake it, and you have a delicious homemade cake. It’s just perfect for lazy days.
- Sticky Toffee Banana Cake — This recipe comes with a decadent toffee sauce. Above all, we’re baking it in the sauce to really soak up all of its toasty flavors!
- Banana Pudding Poke Cake — It’s a mix of fluffy cake and pops of luscious melt-in-the-mouth banana pudding in each bite of this poke cake! In addition, it’s covered in whipped cream for added richness.
How To Make Banana Pudding Cake
Enjoy layers of banana-flavored sponge cake, vanilla pudding with real banana slices, crushed Nilla wafers, and cream cheese frosting in this banana pudding cake.
Ingredients
- 18½ oz yellow cake mix, or vanilla cake mix
- 3½ oz instant banana pudding mix
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup bananas, mashed
For Pudding:
- 3½ oz instant banana pudding mix
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 ripe bananas, sliced
- 1 cup Nilla wafers, crushed into big chunks
For Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 3½ oz instant vanilla pudding mix
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened at room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar, add more if needed
- 2 cups heavy cream, whipped, or 8 oz Cool Whip
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9-inch cake pans using cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together cake mix and pudding mix.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in eggs, water, oil and mashed bananas. Beat on low until blended.
- Scrape the bowl and beat for another 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the cake out and cool on a wire rack.
Pudding:
- Beat the whipping cream until frothy.
- Add the pudding mix and beat together until soft peaks form.
- Spread a layer of the pudding on top of the cake.
- Assemble banana slices, then top it with crushed vanilla wafers.
- Top with another layer of pudding.
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Beat the cream cheese until softened.
- Add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add the pudding mix and beat until well-combined.
- Using a spatula, fold the whipped heavy cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Cover the cake with frosting.
- Chill the cake until ready to serve.
- Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
- Sugar: 56g
- :
- Calcium: 126mg
- Calories: 604kcal
- Carbohydrates: 79g
- Cholesterol: 128mg
- Fat: 31g
- Fiber: 1g
- Iron: 1mg
- Monounsaturated Fat: 8g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g
- Potassium: 185mg
- Protein: 5g
- Saturated Fat: 19g
- Sodium: 574mg
- Trans Fat: 1g
- Vitamin A: 1031IU
- Vitamin C: 2mg
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Frequently Asked Questions
Should banana pudding cake be refrigerated?
Yes, the banana pudding cake should be refrigerated in order to keep it fresh. We recommend storing the cake in a well-sealed container. It’ll stay good for 4 days.
Can I make banana pudding cake in bundt pan?
You can. It’ll bake faster, so start checking if the cake is done in 25 minutes. Fill the middle hole of the bundt cake with pudding and banana slices and frost the cake as usual.
Conclusion
Indulge in your bananas and cream dessert dreams by making this easy banana pudding cake! With this easy to follow recipe, anyone, even beginners, can make a stunning batch of it.Have your own special recipe to share? Submit Your Recipe Today!
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