As someone who loves both banana pudding & banana cake, I couldn’t be more excited about this delicious Banana Pudding Cake recipe!
In this fun twist on a southern classic, ultra moist banana cake layers are filled with a light (instant pudding-based) vanilla cream filling, layered with thinly sliced bananas and crushed Vanilla Wafers.
Banana Pudding…in Cake Form
This cake does not disappoint- it tastes just like banana pudding, but with the impressive height and presentation of a layer cake!
Whether you are celebrating birthdays, family gatherings, potlucks, or anytime you just need a good ol’ slice of cake, this banana pudding cake does not disappoint!
We decided that we wanted big banana flavor in our banana pudding cake, and so unlike some banana pudding cake recipes that call for a yellow cake, we decided to go with our favorite homemade banana cake recipe instead.
Our vanilla cream filling is based on a “mock mousse” recipe that we love, and it couldn’t be easier– instant vanilla pudding plus heavy cream whipped into a delightfully light and creamy filling.
This vanilla cream filling recipe is so easy to make and PERFECT for this recipe, as it really brings in the flavor and luscious consistency of banana pudding that we love so much!
How to Make a Banana Pudding Cake
*You can find our full, printable Banana Pudding Cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8 inch pans and line with parchment circles
- Blending the Dry Ingredients: In the mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients, sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, & salt. Turn on the mixer and blend for 30 seconds to incorporate.
- Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl
- In a separate bowl, slice and mash the bananas, add lemon juice, eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla and buttermilk. Lightly mix these ingredients with a fork to blend
- Time to add the wet ingredients! Slowly add the banana/buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients beating on medium speed for 1 minute, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and beat another minute.
- Divide it between the pans. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the freshly baked cake layers in their pans on a wire rack for about ten minutes and then turn out.
Prefer to Work with Doctored Cake Mix Recipes?
If you prefer to work with cake mix recipes rather than from scratch, we have you covered! Don’t miss our easy, delicious Banana Layer Cake Doctored Cake Mix recipe! You can easily swap out this three layer cake recipe for our scratch version if you would like in order to make the banana pudding cake!
Freeze Cakes for added moisture (and convenience)
For all of our cakes, whether we’re making a scratch cake or doctored cake mix, we like to wrap the layers while they are still warm in plastic wrap, then foil, and pop them in the freezer. We flip each warm cake layer onto a foil-wrapped cake board. Then apply the plastic wrap and foil.
Doing this simple step will make them extra moist. The dramatic temperature change (warm cake to cold freezer) creates additional moisture which becomes trapped inside of the wrapped cake layers.
Whenever time allows, we freezer our layers even if just for a few hours. However, tightly wrapped cakes are perfectly fine to be frozen for up to three months!
When you are ready to assemble the cake, simply move the cake layers from the freezer to the kitchen counter. Keep the layers wrapped at least 30 minutes or until condensation has formed on the foil. You may like to thaw the layers completely before assembling the cake although some bakers prefer to work with partially frozen cake layers as they are less fragile and easier to handle.
Assembling the Banana Pudding Cake
Now for the fun part!
- When it’s time to assemble the banana pudding cake, prepare your vanilla cream (from vanilla pudding mix and heavy cream), cream cheese frosting, crushed Nilla Wafers, and banana slices.
- Pipe a dam of cream cheese frosting about ¼-1/2 inch from the edge of the cake layer and fill with the vanilla cream.
- Next, we layered on crushed Vanilla Wafers followed by thinly sliced ripe bananas. Just as with banana pudding, the crushed cookies will absorb moisture from the creamy pudding and soften.
- Repeat the step above for the second layer, then add the third banana cake layer and fill any remaining gaps with cream cheese frosting.
Settling Cake Layers
Whenever time allows, I like to wrap the filled, unfrosted cake with plastic wrap and settle it under the weight of a small book, cake pan, or something that will add light, consistent pressure across the top of the cake for a few hours.
What is the purpose of settling cakes?
All cakes are prone to settling over time, which can cause bulging between the layers. While this isn’t harmful to the cake, it can be frustrating.
Adding the weight to the cake as we discussed above will minimize the chances of bulging. A gentle press-down on the cake doesn’t hurt either just before frosting ;0) -Since this cake has a perishable filling, you would settle it in the refrigerator.
Decorating our Banana Pudding Cake
- After frosting our moist cake tier with cream cheese frosting, I piped a double shell border using a piping tip 21. Instead of a traditional bottom border, I used crushed vanilla wafers.
- Next, I whipped up some sweetened whipped cream and piped it onto the top of the cake, using a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away. (In a pinch you could use a whipped topping like Cool Whip, but I love the homemade whipped cream- plus it is super easy!)
- We added a sprinkling of vanilla wafer crumbs to the top, and pushed cookies into the top border.
That’s all there is to it! I’m telling you, this banana pudding cake is legendary. This entire cake will disappear in no time at all!
Should Banana Pudding Cake be Refrigerated?
Here’s a peek inside. Because of the perishable filling, fresh bananas, frosting, and whipped cream, you will want to keep this cake refrigerated until a couple of hours before serving.
Cakes and frostings do firm up a bit when chilled and so it’s a good idea to remove it from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving so that it can soften and the flavors can really come out!
More Favorite Banana Cake Recipes to Try!
If you just can’t get enough banana deliciousness in your file of dessert recipes, you MUST try these other favorites from our site:
- Hummingbird Cake: This southern favorite is divine! A fantastic combination of bananas, crushed pineapple, pecans, and a hint of cinnamon.
- Banana Pecan Cake with Caramel Glaze– This moist, delicious banana pecan cake starts with a cake mix! We love the easy homemade caramel glaze too!
- Banana Cake with Butter Pecan Cream Cheese Filling: It’s every bit as amazing as the name suggests! The banana cake used in this recipe is very similar to today’s recipe, but with an added hint of cinnamon. A filling of buttered pecans and cream cheese frosting is the perfect complement! Definitely add this recipe to your must-try list!
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting– This scratch recipe has the perfect combination of flavors!
- Banana Split Layer Cake is the perfect summer birthday cake, with banana cake layers, strawberry slices, crushed pineapple, whipped cream cheese frosting, and a drizzle of chocolate! So gooood!
- Banana Cream Cake Moist banana cake layers are filled with banana pastry cream and frosted with banana cream cheese frosting!
And finally, at my house, when we have a hankering for actual Banana Pudding, this EASY recipe is the one that we’ve always used! SO delicious! Find it on my daughter’s site here: Easy Banana Pudding
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Banana Pudding Cake Recipe
All the wonderful flavor of banana pudding in cake form! We love this amazing recipe!
Ingredients
For the Banana Cake
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 3 cups (342g) cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder (12g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (3g)
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- 12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1 /2 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups (363g) buttermilk
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks ,1 cup, (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (total weight 452g) I use full fat cream cheese. Using reduced fat or the spreadable cream cheese will cause the frosting to be too soft. Soften very slightly.
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g) optional - it will cut the sweetness, popcorn salt is best to use because it is fine and dissolves faster
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla extract
- 6 to 6 ½ cups (690g to 747g) powdered sugar
For the Vanilla Cream Filling
- 1 small box instant Vanilla pudding (3.9 oz/96g) We used Jello- Brand
- 2 c. (464g) heavy cream or whipping cream (stir in a little more if recipe is too thick)
For the Sweetened Whipped Cream (top of cake)
- 1 cup (240g) heavy cream
- ¼ (29g) cup powdered sugar
- 1 (4g) teaspoon vanilla
Vanilla Wafers and Sliced Bananas for Filling
- 1 box Vanilla Wafers (we used about 20 coarsely crushed cookies in filling, plus additional for crumb border and cookies around the top. Adjust to your liking)
- Thinly sliced bananas (we used two in the filling- adjust to your liking)
Instructions
For the Banana Cake (Makes 8 cups of batter)
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, Grease/spray & flour three 8 inch pans and line with parchment circles
- In the mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients, sugar, flour, baking soda, baking powder, & salt. Turn on the mixer and blend for 30 seconds to incorporate ingredients
- Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl
- In a separate bowl, slice and mash the bananas, add lemon juice, eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla and buttermilk. Lightly mix these ingredients with a fork to blend
- Slowly add the banana/buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients beating on medium speed for 1 minute, scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and beat another minute.
- Pour batter into the prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes 10 minutes on the rack and then turn out.
For the Vanilla Cream Filling
- Combine the pudding mix and heavy cream in a mixing bowl. I prefer to mix with a hand held mixer, but a whisk is just fine too. If using a mixer, start on low speed until well combined. Then, switch to high speed and whip the pudding until thick and fluffy. If mousse is too thick, mix in small amounts of heavy cream to reach desired consistency.
- If mixing by hand, simply whisk rapidly for a couple of minutes or until mixture is nice and thick.
- Refrigerate until ready to use. Cakes with this filling should be chilled until close to serving time.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
- Add the vanilla. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
- Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
For the Sweetened Whipped Cream
Chill the mixing bowl and beaters/ whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes. Pour the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla into the chilled mixing bowl, begin beating on low speed gradually increasing to medium high speed. The cream begins to thicken (approx. 1 ½ minutes) and soft peaks form….peaks that slightly bend over. Watch closely as this happens quickly. Do not over beat or it will turn into butter.
Assembly of Cake
Pipe a dam of cream cheese frosting about ½ inch from the edge of the cake layers. Fill in with vanilla cream. Layer on crushed vanilla wafer cookies and thinly sliced bananas. Repeat for next layer, then top with remaining layer. Frost cake with cream cheese frosting. Add border (We did a double shell border with a tip 21), add dollops of whipped cream (we piped on with a large round tip), and top with a sprinkling of crushed vanilla wafers.
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Wow that looks and sound delish! :-) Yummy!
Can’t wait to try this. You never disappoint
Thank you, ladies! xoxo
I have a question. Would this cake turn out as well without the cookies between the layers? Are the cookies really important to keep the cake from becoming soggy?
Hi Judy, it’s no problem to leave the vanilla wafers out of the filling, you can just put them on the outside ;0)
I made mine this morning for work thursday. had all my ingredients and stuff right by me, got it all done and forgot to add the sliced bananas./ guess they wont know the difference tomorrow..
Hi Rebecca, The cake looks wonderful!! Your friends at work will love it! They will never think about the missing sliced bananas because they are getting banana flavor from the cake. Plus now you won’t have to worry about those bananas turning brown. Thanks for posting your picture!
How could I make this in cupcake form?
This cake is a wonderful tasting cake. Thank you so much. Used it for my mother’s birthday cake.
@Lei- I haven’t made these as cupcakes but if I were to try, I would bake the banana cupcakes, then load a piping bag (with the end snipped away) with the pudding filling, insert into the cupcake about halfway down and give it a squeeze to fill it. Swirl with cream cheese frosting and top with a mini vanilla wafer. You may even want to put broken pieces of vanilla wafer into the center of the cupcake along with the filling. Let us know if you try it!
@Miranda- I’m so happy that you liked it! Thanks so much for your feedback! xoxo
Can you Bake this cake in a Bundt pan
Hi Darian, To carry out the banana pudding theme of the cake you will need the vanilla cream filling, crushed vanilla wafers, and whipped cream on top. Do you plan to cut the bundt cake into layers? I think the cake could be baked in a bundt pan. The recipe makes 8 cups batter, fill your bundt pan approximate 2/3’s full.
I made this cake Saturday and it was a huge HIT!! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Reini, Wonderful, I am happy that the cake was a hit. Thank you for posting your review!!
I made this for a bake off at work and won. We love banana pudding amd this was next level delicious.
Wonderful, Cheree, I’m so happy you won!! Thanks so much for your review of the recipe!!
Just finished making this cake and can’t wait to have my first slice!
Hi Christie, Your cake is beautiful!! I hope you love it.
Amazing how this cake can actually taste just like homemade banana pudding! So moist and flavorful- this has quickly moved up to one of my top 5 favorite cakes!
Yay!! I am thrilled that the recipe is on your top 5 list! Thanks so much for your positive feedback.
Can you use all purpose flour instead of cake flour?
Hi Victoria, This is how you can turn your all purpose flour into cake flour:
For each cup of flour in the recipe, measure out 1 cup all purpose flour (plain in the UK) remove 2 Tablespoons of the all purpose flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so measure 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk to blend.
I hope you will enjoy the cake.
My son wants this cake for his birthday, but my daughter must eat gluten free. Any suggestions since cake flour has wheat?
Hi Crystal, I am sorry but we don’t have a gluten free version for this cake. You could reserve some of the vanilla cream filling, add some banana slices to it and his sister could have a small bowl of banana pudding when you are eating the cake. It will be good and your son will get the cake he wants.
great recipes i am going to try that banana pudding cake for thanksgiving
Many years ago I had ordered banana cake in a restaurant and it turned out to be the lightest and most fluffy slice of banana cake I’ve ever had. I’m a experienced baker and have tried many recipes for banana cake throughout the years unsuccessfully. I love the reversed creaming method and will be making your banana cake as it sounds delicious. I do love the texture of this method. Since I had this light and fluffy banana cake many years ago before the reverse creaming method came about I have to assume that the light and fluffy cake I tasted was a result of the regular creaming method. Would you have any idea how this baker accomplished this banana texture. I would appreciate any help.
Many thanks
This cake has become a hit! I’ve even made it in four 9 in round pans and made two cakes from this recipe! Delicious!!
Hi Lori, Your cake is absolutely beautiful!! So happy you have enjoyed the recipe!
I’m nervous, but i’m making this for my sister today. Pound cakes are my thing, layer cakes, not so much… hopefully it turns out right. Do I need to level the layers? Do you use cake strips for even baking?
Hi Darnisha, Don’t worry, just read through the recipe to be familiar with the procedure. It is great if you have a kitchen scale, that makes for the most accurate measurements. Don’t scoop flour into the measuring cup, instead spoon flour into a measuring cup for dry ingredients. Slightly overfill the cup then level off with the back of a knife. Cream the butter and sugar until it lightens in color and is fluffy (important step). Don’t mix above medium speed or mix for too long. It is personal preference whether you level the cake layers or not. This recipe does not bake up with a very high dome. You can easily level with a long serrated bread knife, if you have one. Leveling the layers does make it easier to frost the cake, eliminating the gap between layers. You can definitely use baking strips if you want to. I hope all will go well, let me know.
Cakes was me and my grandmother. (maggies) thing. Yesterday makes 2 years she has been gone. So today im making your cake to feed my heart with her love
Hi Rebecca, You have such a nice memory and sentiment about your grandmother.
Can this cake be made with regular American buttercream instead of cream cheese buttercream? I’m making this cake as a two tier baby shower cake and find the cream cheese frosting is too soft.
Hi Cathleen, You could use American buttercream to frost the cake. When making cream cheese frosting, be sure to use full fat cream cheese. Also, don’t over mix the frosting, the longer it is mixed the softer it becomes. If it does become too soft, chill the bowl of frosting in the refrigerator for a short while, approximately 15 minutes. We often need to do this. You can also chill your filled piping bag if the frosting softens up while piping.
How many people does this cake serve?
Hi Oaks, For generous size servings, it will serve 14. If you are cutting party size servings there will be more but smaller servings. Below is a link to a baking times and serving chart
http://fromkarenskitchen.com/tips/party_cake_batter_amounts_baking_times_2inch_pan.php
Hello I am making this beautiful cake soon and would like to know does the cake flour need to be sifted?
Hi Dee, I do not sift the flour. When the flour and other dry ingredients are in a bowl, I whisk for at least 30 seconds. This blends the ingredients as well as adding air into the flour. Hope you will enjoy the recipe.
Hi Sara, We suggest making the cake in advance because there are many steps to the recipe. Baking in advance and freezing the layers just helps to speed things up on the day of assembly. If freezing layers, cool in the pans 5 to 10 minutes, turn each layer onto a cake board, then wrap each layer individually with plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. You can freeze up to a month of wrapped air tight. I would not freeze in the cake pans. Click on the link below for Melissa’s 2 part video on Making a Cake from Start to Finish.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/video-tutorials/how-to-make-a-cake-from-start-to-finish/
Can i use all purpose flour instead of cake flour?
Hi Erika, If you do not have cake flour, use this substitution. Measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons of cornstarch (corn flour in the UK). Whisk to blend and proceed with the recipe.
I made this cake for someone and she was well pleased. I had leftover pudding, cookies, bananas and that heavenly whipped cream so I layered it up for my family and I to enjoy. Next time I have to make a cake for us as well. Thank you for this recipe!
Catherine, Your cake looks amazing!! Thank you for your nice comments on the recipe.
So any suggestions on how to adjust the recipe to make it a 2 layer 13X9 sheet cake?
Hi Monti, First, double the cake recipe. The recipe makes 8 cups of batter so you will need to make it twice unless your mixer can hold 16 cups of batter. Let the baked cakes cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cake board. This cake will be heavy so I would tape 3 cake boards together for strength or it could bend when carrying the cake. I think 1 recipe of the filling will be enough. You can make this in advance and refrigerate. I think you should increase the the cream cheese frosting recipe by 1/2 so you will be sure to have enough. I hope all goes well.
My question before making this cake is, are the instructions correct? I’m used a the crabbing method where the dry ingredients are added last.
Hi Cintia, If you wish, you can make this recipe using the traditional mixing method. If you re-write the method, if would be best to count the ingredients as it is do easy to leave something out. This recipe using the Reverse Creaming Method. If you have never used this method, it would be a good idea to watch Melissa’s video on this method, click on the link below to watch.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/?s=reverse+creaming+method
I made this and everyone is still talking about it a week later. It was a hit! I froze the cake while it was warm (about three days before I needed it). The next day I made the frosting, then a day later the pudding and the whipped topping the night before. The only change I made was I used French vanilla pudding.
Hi Judy! We are so happy to hear it. Your cake looks amazing, thanks so much for your feedback!
A friend asked me to make her husband’s birthday cake. He loves banana pudding. This cake is amazing! The cake is full of natural banana flavor, and the texture was light and fluffy. I made a double recipe and baked 2 13×9 cakes. Used my favorite buttercream, and covered with whipped cream, Nilla wafers. Photo won’t Thank you!!upload, but I couldn’t have been prouder. Very impressive cake!
Great! I’m so glad that you all enjoyed it! It is one of our favorites ;0) xo
I made this amazing cake and everyone loved it! I also made cupcakes with this recipe and they turned out great too! For the cupcakes I cut the recipe in a third and it made 1 dozen cupcakes and I baked at 350 for 22 minutes. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi KayElleElle, Your cake is perfectly beautiful and great presentation for your cupcakes! It is good to know that the recipe can be cut by a third and still work well. Thanks so much for posting a photo and the helpful information.
I made this cake for my son-n-law’s Birthday. I followed the recipe to a T. It was such yummy cake! My only issues are I need to keep practicing to get a smooth iced cake, and I have to continue to work on my whipped topping. Mine is not as fluffy as I would like it to be. The taste was great and I got lots of compliments on how great it was. I will definitely being making this cake again. Thank you for this wonderful website and the very detailed recipe provided.
Hi Kimberly! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe, thanks so much for your feedback!