Banana Cream Cake

This super moist Banana Cream Cake has banana pudding filling, a little bit of cinnamon, and homemade cream cheese frosting is a banana lover's dream! If you like bananas or banana bread, you are going to LOVE this cake!

I decided to make a Banana Cream Cake because my 4-year-old was asking for it. He had banana cake with cream cheese frosting a few weeks ago and somehow remembered it and decided that was the treat he wanted.

This recipe is inspired by the Banana Cake Recipe from my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I made a few changes and added a banana pudding filling and cream cheese frosting. Yum!

Jump to:

• Why I You'll Love This Recipe
• Key Ingredients For This Recipe
• How to Make a Moist Banana Cream Cake
• How to Assemble a Banana Layer Cake
• Ripe Bananas Are The Key To This Recipe
• Easy & Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting
• Expert Tips For This Recipe
• Buttermilk Substitution
• Recipe FAQs
• Banana Cream Cake

Why I You'll Love This Recipe

This Banana Cream Cake with banana pudding and cream cheese frosting offers a heavenly combination of flavors and textures. The moist and tender banana cake layers paired with the luscious banana pudding filling create a delightful burst of banana goodness in every bite.

The rich and tangy cream cheese frosting adds a perfect balance, elevating the cake to a truly indulgent dessert experience that banana lovers would absolutely adore.

Key Ingredients For This Recipe

• Ripe Bananas: Ripe bananas are the star of this cake. The more brown the better because they will be sweet and the banana flavor is enhanced.
• Vegetables Shortening: Vegetable shortening helps make this cake ultra moist and fluffy. If you don't have vegetable shortening or don't want to use it, you can substitute unsalted butter.
• Cinnamon: Cinnamon is going to enhance all of the flavors in this cake and give it a little something extra. Don't skip the cinnamon, it makes a big difference.
• Banana Pudding Mix: You could make your own banana pudding, but let's be honest, the boxed mix is so good and easy to make. You will have some leftovers for easy snaking later.

*See the recipe card for the complete list of ingredients and quantities.

How to Make a Moist Banana Cream Cake

Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare your cake pans. I used my 6" cake pans that are 2" deep to make 3 layers.

In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and stir together. Add the bananas, buttermilk, shortening, and vanilla and mix with a hand mixer.

Add the eggs and continue to beat for 2 minutes. Pour the cake batter into the cake pans and tap on the counter to remove air bubbles. Place the pan(s) in the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes.

While the cakes are baking, make your banana pudding and cream cheese frosting and place them in the fridge to get nice and cold before assembling and frosting the cake.

How to Assemble a Banana Layer Cake

Once the cakes have fully cooled, cut the top off with a serrated knife to create a level top. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate.

Put about half of the banana pudding in the middle of the cake and spread it out with a spatula leaving about ½ inch around the edge. Add the next cake layer and repeat the pudding layer.

Place the last layer on the top, bottom side up, so you have a nice flat top to work with. At this point, you want to frost a crumb coat on the cake.

To create a crumb coat, place a thin layer of frosting all over the entire cake and then place it in the freezer for 10 minutes. This will help eliminate crumbs in the final frosting layer.

Remove the cake from the freezer and fully frost it with the remaining frosting. You can also pipe on decoration as desired or garnish with fresh banana slices or chopped nuts. Leave the cake in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Ripe Bananas Are The Key To This Recipe

Most people know to save ripe bananas for banana bread, but there are so many other uses for them as well! When you have a ripe banana, just throw it in the freezer and you will always have a few on hand for future use.

When you are ready to use them, allow them to unfreeze on the counter or zap them on defrost in the microwave for a few seconds and you are in business. Here are a few things you can make with ripe bananas:

• Banana Cake (obviously 😆)
• Banana Bread
• Frozen Banana "Ice Cream"
• Ripe bananas can be an egg or oil substitute when baking

Easy & Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting

The homemade cream cheese frosting for this recipe is the perfect complement to the sweet banana flavor of the cake. I used vegetable shortening instead of butter when making my cake because I wanted the frosting to be pipeable and a little stiffer.

If you don't have vegetable shortening or want to use butter, it will work just as well. Just remember to keep the frosting nice and cold until you are ready to frost your cake!

Expert Tips For This Recipe

• This is a one-bowl recipe! That means you can just add all of the ingredients to one bowl for the cake, how great is that?
• I used my hand mixer for all of the steps, but of course, you can also use your stand mixer, or if you want to burn some calories, use a hand whisk💪🏻.
• When baking, it's usually best to have your ingredients at room temperature, in this case, the eggs and buttermilk. While I recommend this, you can also just get to it and still have an amazing cake.
• Cream cheese frosting is one of the best things ever (just sayin') BUT it can be tricky if it's warm outside or in your home. The freezer and fridge are your friends when frosting this cake and storing it.

Buttermilk Substitution

Okay, so a lot of Banana Cake recipes out there call for buttermilk. I LOVE to bake, but I'm gonna be honest, I NEVER have buttermilk on hand.

The good news is, you can easily make sour milk and use it instead and no one will ever know. In fact, when I made this cake last that's exactly what I did. Remember 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice. Stir, rest, and use!

Recipe FAQs

If you get a chance to make this Banana Cream Cake, tag me on Instagram or Facebook and show me, or leave a review below! You can also follow me on Pinterest and sign up for my e-mail list to receive more fun and delicious recipes right in your inbox.