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Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream

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Soft Tender Banana Cake Layers, filled with banana pudding filling, frosted with cream cheese buttercream and topped with fresh bananas!
Servings 12 people

Ingredients

Banana Cake Layers

  • 2 medium ripe (brown skinned or very speckled) bananas about 1 cup mashed
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sour cream room temperature
  • 4 egg whites room temperature
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon banana extract *optional
  • 1 15.25oz box White Cake Mix I used Duncan Hines

Banana Pudding Filling (or easily substitute with a banana pudding mix!)

  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk divided
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 egg yolks
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Cream Cheese Buttercream

  • 2 sticks (or 1 cup) unsalted butter left out at room temperature for about 10 minutes
  • 8oz cream cheese
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream (plus more if needed)
  • 7-8 cups powdered sugar

Extras

    Instructions

    For the Banana Cake

    • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees convection bake. (If you're doing traditional bake or convention bake, you'll need to leave them in the oven a little bit longer). Prep three 6" cake pans with a swipe of shortening and a dust of flour. Set aside.
    • In a bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, buttermilk, sour cream, egg whites, vegetable oil, and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Sift in the cake mix and stir until just combined (don't overmix!). Split evenly between the prepared cake pans.
    • Bake for 25-27 minutes until the cakes are finished. Let cool in the pan for about 2 minutes, then flip them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Wrap up in plastic wrap and freeze until you're ready to stack your cake.

    For the Banana Pudding Filling (make a day in advance if making from scratch)

    • If using a boxed pudding mix, prepare the mix according to the directions on the package and refrigerate until ready to assembly.
    • If making from scratch, whisk together 1/2 cup of the cornstarch with the milk. Make sure it's thoroughly combined and set aside.
    • In a separate bowl, whisk up the egg yolks, set aside.
    • In a small saucepan, whisk together the milk, salt, and sugar over medium heat until you see little bubbles around the edges. Add about 1/2 cup of the warmed milk into the whisked egg yolks, and then add it back into the saucepan (we don't want to cook the eggs here, just heat them up to a safe temperature).
    • Whisk constantly while adding in the slurry (cornstarch and milk mixture) until it starts to thicken a lot.
    • Add in the mashed bananas, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice. Add to a glass dish, cover with plastic wrap up to the pudding line, and let set up overnight.

    For the Cream Cheese Buttercream

    • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip up the butter until it's light and fluffy, then add in the cream cheese. Whip up again until they're uniform and there are no cream cheese lumps. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
    • Add in the salt and vanilla and whip up again.
    • Add in the heavy cream, then slowly add in the powdered sugar with the mixer on low in 1/2 cup increments. Add in more heavy cream if needed, but go easy - cream cheese tends to soften and you don't want it to get soupy or too soft!
    • Whip up the buttercream on high speed for 2-3 minutes until it's lighter in texture and color.

    Assembly

    • Stack and fill the cake layers (make sure to pipe dam around the outside edge of each layer so the filling (you only need 1/2 cup per cake round) doesn't sneak out.
    • Crumb coat the cake and freeze for about 3 minutes, and beat out any air bubbles in the buttercream with a spatula or wooden spoon for a smoother buttercream.
    • Spread on a final layer of buttercream and use a decorative cake comb to create the look on the outside of the cake.
    • Right before serving, add on a few slices of fresh banana.