Banana Cream Cake

Just like one of my other favorite cream-filled cakes, Coconut Cream Cake, this Banana Cream Cake is incredibly rich, creamy, and super duper moist. (I know, I know how many of you hate that word, but I want you to know that this is a stick-to-your-fork kind of cake.)

Besides baking a really good banana bundt cake, the thing I MOST wanted from this recipe is for every bite to contain a ridiculous amount of banana cream filling.

So, stacking cake layers with banana cream sandwiched in between was out because if you spread the layers with too much cream filling, they just slip and slide right off. Not that I didn't try. And not that we didn't eat the result even though it was a complete mess. 🤷🏻‍♀️

What works out SO MUCH better is to bake the cake in a bundt pan and then squeezed the filling inside, Twinkie style. This results in slices of cake that contain quite a bit of creamy, dreamy, insanely delicious pastry cream.

But... I still wanted MORE.

So, the recipe makes enough to stuff the cake with a generous amount of banana cream filling and still have enough left over to serve a spoonful or two (or three) on the side. 👏👏👏

Banana Bundt Cake Ingredients

• Cake flour creates a super soft, tender, fluffy cake. But, if you don't have any cake flour, I've included a good substitution in the recipe notes. (For more information about the difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour, check out the FAQ section.)
• Baking powder and baking soda work together to help the cake rise and create a soft, tender texture.
• Salt. Always, in everything.
• Nutmeg and ginger are the perfect warm compliment to the flavors of banana and vanilla.
• Butter and vegetable oil. Butter for flavor and vegetable oil for moistness.
• Brown sugar adds more flavor than granulated sugar and also creates a softer, moister cake.
• 3 large eggs + an extra egg yolk for extra richness.
• Pure vanilla extract. Don't use imitation vanilla in this cake because it can create a bitter aftertaste.
• Very ripe bananas. What do you do with over-ripe bananas? Make banana cake!
• Buttermilk. Buttermilk gives this cake a rich, buttery flavor and soft, fluffy texture.

Banana Cream Filling Ingredients

The banana cream filling for this cake is simply:

1. My all-time favorite pastry cream, and
2. A very ripe banana

My favorite pastry cream recipe is super simple, remarkably stable, and perfect for anything from filing a pie, to layering into a flaky Napoleon, to filling doughnuts, profiteroles and eclairs and, of course, to fill a cake with creamy, dreamy deliciousness.

The pastry cream will keep for days in the refrigerator and will hold its own at room temperature for hours without breaking down. Also, and most importantly, it's ridiculously rich and delicious. 

Cream Cheese Buttercream Ingredients

• Equal amounts cream cheese and butter create the creamiest, most delicious buttercream for this cake.
• Pure vanilla extract.
• Salt.
• Powdered sugar. (aka, confectioners sugar)
• And, if you like, crushed vanilla wafer cookies to sprinkle over the frosted cake.

Prepare the bundt pan so your cake will not stick: Coat the inside of the pan with a thin layer of vegetable shortening or butter then shake some flour around inside the pan until it's completely covered. Turn the pan over and tap out the excess flour.

Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, vegetable oil, and brown sugar until the mixture appears light in color and fluffy in texture.

Add the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating until each one is incorporated into the batter before adding the next.

Add the vanilla and the mashed banana and beat just until everything looks combined.

In a small bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. Add the dry ingredients to the batter in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk: ⅓ of the flour, ½ of the buttermilk, ⅓ of the flour, ½ of the buttermilk, ⅓ of the flour. 

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake.

How to know when this cake is done baking: The cake is done when it's beginning to pull pulling away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out without any raw batter on it.

Let the cake cool for about 5 minutes inside the pan then carefully turn it out of the pan onto a wire rack. Allow the cake to cool completely before filling it with banana pastry cream and frosting it with cream cheese buttercream.

How to Fill a Bundt Cake with Banana Pastry Cream

In order to achieve the cake-to-banana-cream-filling ratio that I wanted in a banana cream cake, I baked it as a bundt cake and squeezed the banana cream filling into the center just like a giant Twinkie. The technique is pretty simple as long as you're careful to not allow filling to squirt out the top and sides.

Before you begin, you're going to need:

• A large pastry bag
• A large decorator tip

I used a large round decorator tip, but a star shaped one will work just as well. Drop the tip into the pastry bag, clip the top of the bag off to allow the tip to poke through, and fill the bag with pastry cream so that it's about halfway full.

Flip the cake upside down, so that the flat bottom is facing up. (BTW - It's super important that the cake be 100% cool before you fill it or it will just melt the pastry cream.)

Insert the decorator tip into the center of the cake and squeeze some banana cream filling in there. As you do, the bottom of the cake will crack. This is ok. Just watch to make sure that you're not squeezing so much filling in there that the sides and top are cracking as well. 

After the cake has been filled with pastry cream, position a plate or cake stand over the bottom of the cake and carefully flip it over so that it's right side up again.

See that? The filling is now a hidden gem. A delicious surprise for every lucky duck you share a slice with.

FAQs

Other Buttercream Options

If you're not a fan of cream cheese buttercream, or simply don't have any cream cheese on hand, here are a couple of other good options:

• Classic American Buttercream
• Italian Meringue Buttercream 
• Get your chocolate and banana fix by frosting this cake with Classic Chocolate Buttercream OR Milk Chocolate buttercream

True confessions: I might like chocolate buttercream on this cake even more than cream cheese buttercream because chocolate and banana is just sooooo YUM. But, it does change the overall flavor profile of the cake significantly. 

Whatever you use to frost your cake, I love adding a sprinkle of crushed vanilla wafers. They are a nostalgic nod to classic banana pudding and add just the right amount of texture and crunch to this super creamy cake. 

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