Banoffee Cake recipe morphs banana and toffee banoffee pie flavors into a decadent layer cake. Dulce de leche caramel frosting covers fluffy banana cake with golden, buttery pan fried bananas on top.
What is Banoffee?
Banoffee pie gained popularity in the United Kingdom as a dessert made up of bananas, toffee, caramel, or dulce de leche, on a crumbled biscuit base.
The word “banoffee” comes from the conglomeration of bananas and toffee joined together. Banoffee pie cake combines these flavors with a banana layer cake, dulce de leche caramel buttercream, and fresh bananas on top.
How To Make Easy Banoffee Cake
Make an easy, yet impressive, layer cake to impress company, celebrate a birthday, or supersize into a wedding cake! Banoffee pie cake looks laborious, but is actually quite feasible to make with these easy step-by-step directions and photos!
First, prepare the banana cake layers and give them ample time to cool completely. When the cakes are done cooling, prepared the caramel dulce de leche frosting to fill and frost the cake.
Finally, make the quick pan fried bananas to sprinkle on top a billowy cloud of whipped topping.
Below each component of the cake recipe is broken down with pictures. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the printable recipe card, ingredient amounts, and detailed instructions.
Fluffy Banana Cake
The key to making fluffy banana cake is to first make sure all the ingredients are room temperature. Room temperature ingredients bind together more uniformly, creating a smoother, lighter, and better incorporated batter.
Also, make sure to blend the butter with sugar thoroughly. Don’t stop mixing once they are blended together. Beat a few minutes longer and it will transform into a light, fluffy mixture.
- First mash the bananas with lemon juice.
- Whisk together dry ingredients. Prepare cake pans and set aside.
- In a large bowl beat together butter and sugar until very pale, light, and fluffy. Add egg yolks and extracts.
- Add flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, to the creamed butter and sugar. After flour and milk has been added, mix in bananas.
- Beat egg whites separately until stiff. Fold gently into cake batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes clean. Allow banana layer cakes to cool completely.
Dulce de Leche Frosting
Make sure the cake layers have completely cooled before starting the frosting. You will want to prepare the frosting right before using so the ingredients don’t separate.
- To begin, make a dulce de leche buttercream. Whip the butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in half the can of dulce de leche, setting the rest aside for later use.
- Fold in 2 cups of whipped topping, commonly known as Cool Whip. If preferred homemade whipped cream, made from heavy cream, may also be used.
- Spread the toffee frosting between the banana cake layers, cover the top completely, and then thinly cover the sides.
- Refrigerate the cake so the frosting can set while the sauteed bananas are prepared.
Pan Fried Bananas
The reason for using sauteed pan fried bananas is two fold. First of all, they taste amazing. What’s not to love about slightly crispy, golden bananas with a soft, sweet interior?
Secondly, fresh banana slices do not hold up well. Pan frying the bananas gives this cake more shelf life. The bananas will hold up to 3 days in the refrigerator, without turning to brown mush like fresh bananas do.
How to store / freeze
If you don’t plan on serving Banoffee cake right away, store it in the refrigerator up to 3 days, well covered. The cake, frosting, and bananas all taste best when at room temperature, so be sure to set out several hours before serving.
Leftover cake slices may also be individually wrapped and frozen in an airtight container up to 3 months.
Can I make recipe gluten free?
Yes! I’ve made this cake substituting gluten free all purpose flour. My preferred and recommended brand to use is Cup4Cup gluten free flour.
Using homemade dulce de leche
Canned dulce de leche is found in the ethnic aisle of supermarkets or at Hispanic grocery stores, and can also be used to make Carmelita Cake.
It can also be made at home using canned sweetened condensed milk.
Substituting heavy cream for whipped topping
The banoffee layer cake uses Cool Whip, or whipped topping, to make the frosting fluffy. However, this recipe may also be made using homemade whipped cream.
Beat together 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream with 3 tablespoons sugar until stiff peaks form. This will yield 3 cups whipped cream, which is amount needed for this cake recipe.
What else can I top banoffee cake with?
You can definitely take this cake to the next level! Sprinkle on toffee bits, candied pecans, or drizzle chocolate sauce or hot fudge over the sauteed bananas.
Not all the dulce de leche is used in the cake, so it may also be served with ice cream topped with the remaining sauce warmed. It’s the perfect birthday cake treat!
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step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!
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Banoffee Cake
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 1 ½ cups (450g) mashed bananas (about 3-4 bananas)
- 2 teaspoons (10mL) fresh lemon juice
- 3 cups (360g) all purpose flour or gluten free all purpose flour (I recommend Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 3 large eggs, separated and room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (10mL) vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (5mL) (optional) banana extract
- 1 ½ cups (360mL) buttermilk*, room temperature
Dulce de Leche Buttercream
- 1 cup (226g, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 13.4 ounce can dulce de leche
- ⅛ teaspoon salt (omit if butter is salted)
- 8 ounce Cool Whip whipped topping (see recipe notes for substituting heavy cream)
Pan Fried Bananas
- 2 large bananas, sliced thickly at an angle
- 1 ½ tablespoon (21g) butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (175°C) Spray three 9" (23cm round) cake pans with cooking spray. Line each bottom with a cut-to-size parchment or wax paper circle. Spray tops of paper and set aside.Tip: If you only have two 9" cake pans, bake 2 layers, and store remaining batter covered on counter. Bake 3rd layer in COOLED cake pan.
- In a small bowl, mix mashed bananas with lemon juice and set aside. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl cream 3/4 cup (170g) butter with sugar until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Mix in vanilla and (optional) banana extracts.
- Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to creamed butter / sugar and combine. Alternate with 1/3 buttermilk and mix well. Repeat until all the flour and buttermilk has been mixed in. Mix in mashed banana mixture.
- In a separate clean, dry bowl beat the reserved egg whites until stiff. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the banana cake batter. Gently fold in remaining 2/3 until no streaks remain. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
- Bake for 30-33 minutes (may need a couple minutes longer if using gluten free flour) or until toothpick inserted at center comes out clean. Turn onto wire racks and cool completely.
Dulce de Leche Buttercream
- In a large mixing bowl beat softened butter until smooth and creamy. Mix in half the can of dulce de leche (set aside remaining for topping) and salt until well combined.
- Fold in 2 cups (or 2/3 container) of whipped topping into dulce de leche buttercream until well combined and smooth. Reserve remaining cup of whipped topping in the refrigerator for later use.
- Place first layer of cake on platter and top with 1/3 frosting. Spread evenly with offset spatula. Top with second layer and repeat with another 1/3 frosting. Finally, top with remaining layer.
- Use remaining frosting to completely cover top of cake and thinly cover sides. Refrigerate immediately to set while pan fried bananas are prepared.
Pan Fried Bananas
- In a large nonstick saute pan melt butter over medium heat. Add banana slices in a single layer so they are all making contact with the pan.
- Cook for 2 minutes undisturbed, or until bottoms turn golden brown. Flip banana slices and cook on the other side for 2 minutes longer, or until golden brown. Remove from heat to cool.
Cake Assembly
- Remove cake from the refrigerator and top with remaining Cool Whip whipped topping.
- To the remaining dulce de leche stir in 2 tablespoons water until smooth. Drop about 2 tablespoons of thinned dulce de leche over the whipped topping. Use a butter knife to gently swirl into the whipped topping.
- Top cake with cooled pan fried bananas and serve with remaining dulce de leche and ice cream, if desired.
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Equipment Needed
Recipe Notes
*Homemade buttermilk
In a liquid measuring cup pour in 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Pour regular milk on top until the combined ingredients reach 1 cup mark. Stir and let sit for 5-10 minutes.Substituting heavy cream for whipped topping
Beat together 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream with 3 tablespoons sugar until stiff peaks form. This will yield 3 cups whipped cream, which is amount needed for this cake recipe.Using homemade dulce de leche
Canned dulce de leche is found in the ethnic aisle of supermarkets or at Hispanic grocery stores. It can also be made at home using canned sweetened condensed milk.Can I make recipe gluten free?
Yes! I’ve made this cake substituting gluten free all purpose flour. My preferred and recommended brand to use is Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour.How to store / freeze
If you don’t plan on serving Banoffee cake right away, store it in the refrigerator up to 3 days, well covered. The cake, frosting, and bananas all taste best when at room temperature, so be sure to set out several hours before serving. Leftover cake slices may also be individually wrapped and frozen in an airtight container up to 3 months.What else can I top banoffee cake with?
Sprinkle on toffee bits, candied pecans, or drizzle chocolate sauce or hot fudge over the sauteed bananas. Not all the dulce de leche is used in the cake, so it may also be served with ice cream topped with the remaining sauce warmed. It’s the perfect birthday cake treat!Nutrition
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