Banana Pudding Layer Cake
This Banana Pudding Layer Cake is a delicious and unique dessert that is always a crowd favorite. With layers of moist cake, sweet banana pudding filling, and a light and fluffy buttercream frosting, this sweet treat is the ultimate banana cake.
Do you love Banana Pudding as much as we do? If so, next time give this Banana Pudding Poke Cake or these Banana Pudding Cups a try!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s the perfect dessert for banana lovers!
- It combines the classic flavors of banana pudding with a moist and delicious layer cake.
- It also looks like it came from a bakery but at a fraction of the price!
Banana pudding is such a classic dessert. However, we like creative and fun treats like this cake, these Banana Pudding Walking Tacos, or even these Banana Pudding Cups. They are all perfect for sharing with friends and family.
🛒Ingredients
We’ve made this list to help you save time on your next trip to the grocery store. You can find the full amounts needed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- French Vanilla cake mix
- eggs
- water
- oil
- toasted coconut
- caramel sauce
- Nilla wafer cookies
- instant banana pudding
- whole milk
- sweetened condensed milk
- cream cheese
- Cool Whip
- unsalted butter
- powdered sugar
- pure vanilla extract
- heavy whipping cream
🔪 How to Make This Banana Pudding Layer Cake
This is a quick overview of the steps needed to make this recipe. You can find the full instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Make the cake batter, divide it evenly between three cake pans, and then bake accordingly.
- While the cake bakes, make the banana pudding filling.
- Make the frosting, and then fill the cake layers with frosting and banana pudding filling.
- Frost the cake, and decorate it with caramel sauce and vanilla wafers.
🥄 Equipment
This is a list of the equipment that you will need to make this recipe:
- mixing bowls
- Electric mixer
- round cake pans
- Round cake board
- Cake leveler
- Squeeze bottle
- Piping bag with a large star tip
🥫 Storage
Storage – Keep the cake in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Make sure to cover it tightly with plastic wrap or place it in an airtight container to prevent it from drying out.
Freezing – If you want to freeze the cake, make sure it has cooled completely. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and then place it in an airtight container or freezer bag. It will stay fresh for up to 3 months. To thaw, leave it in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Serve With
Serve this cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a glass of cold milk or a cup of your favorite coffee. You can also serve this cake as a sweet treat after your family’s favorite meal such as this Sheet Pan Lasagna.
💭 Tips
- For an extra burst of flavor, try adding a handful of chocolate chips or chopped nuts to the batter before baking.
- When baking a cake, it’s always important that you don’t overmix the batter, as it can result in a dense and tough cake. Mix just until all ingredients are well incorporated.
- Use a toothpick to check if the cake is done—when it comes out clean, it’s ready to be taken out of the oven.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting or adding any toppings to ensure they don’t melt from the heat of the cake.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this banana layer cake recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Absolutely! You can bake the cake layers a day or two in advance. Once they’ve cooled completely, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or store them in an airtight container to keep them fresh.
To prevent your layer cake from sliding, start by leveling each cake layer to ensure it’s flat. Spread an even layer of frosting or filling between each cake layer, and don’t overfill, as this can cause sliding.
🍽 More Banana Recipes
Do you enjoy banana desserts? If so, try these delicious recipes:
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Banana Pudding Layer Cake
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- Electric mixer
- round cake pans
- Round cake board
- Cake leveler
- Squeeze bottle
- Piping bag with large star tip
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 30.5 ounces French Vanilla cake mix two boxes
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup oil
- 2 cups toasted coconut ( reserve a bit for topping)
- 16 ounces caramel sauce
- 5 ounces Nilla wafer cookies
Banana Pudding Ingredients
- 3.4 ounces Instant Banana Pudding
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
Vanilla Frosting Ingredients
- 3 cups unsalted butter softened
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 5-7 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- sprinkle toasted coconut on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray cake pans with pam baking spray.
- Follow the directions on the back of the cake box to make the batter.
- Divide the batter between the three pans and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow to cool completely.
- Using a cake leveler, slice off the rounded tops to make the cakes leveled.
Banana Pudding Directions:
- Using a large mixing bowl, beat together the banana pudding and milk for about 5 minutes.
- Mix in the Sweetened condensed milk until smooth then mix in cream cheese until smooth.
- Fold in the cool whip until smooth4. Scoop the pudding into the piping bag.
Frosting Directions:
- Using a standing mixer, beat all the frosting ingredients until creamy and stiff peaks.
- Scoop into the piping bag.
Building the cake:
- Place one cake round onto the cake board.
- Using the cake frosting, pipe a thick outline around the edge of the cake. This will be the barrier to keep the pudding in the middle.
- Pipe pudding into the middle of the cake layer.
- Place the second cake layer on top of the first one. Repeat steps with the frosting and pudding with the second cake layer.
- Place the third cake layer on top.
- Using the remaining frosting, frost entire cake.
- Sprinkle the toasted coconut onto the bottom of the cake.
- Pour the caramel sauce into the squeeze bottle and squeeze it along the top edge of the cake that way the sauce drips down along the sides.
- Using the remaining frosting in the piping bag, pipe dollops of frosting along the top.
- Sprinkle with toasted coconut and place a Nilla wafer cookie against the frosting dollops. Sprinkle toasted coconut on top.
- Place in the fridge for 1 hour to allow the frosting to harden before cutting into slices and enjoying.
Disclaimer
Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
This cake is so good! I love using cake mix as the base. It makes it so much easier than a fully homemade one.
This cake was a dream! The layers were so soft and moist, and the banana pudding filling made it extra special!