Bananan Cream Cake

Think banana cream pie, but built tall. A sponge cake gets sliced into three layers, filled with vanilla pudding loaded with sliced bananas, frosted in sweetened whipped cream, and crowned with more bananas and toasted coconut. It’s a showpiece dessert that’s surprisingly easy to assemble.

The filling is vanilla pudding cooked from a box mix, cooled, then folded with 2 ½ cups of thinly sliced bananas. Cooling the pudding completely before adding the bananas is important. Warm pudding will turn the banana slices brown and mushy instead of keeping them firm and fresh.

Covering the pudding surface with plastic wrap directly touching the surface prevents a thick skin from forming on top. That skin creates lumps in the filling that show through the whipped cream frosting.

Pro Tips

• Use a long serrated knife to split the sponge cake into three even layers. Toothpicks inserted around the circumference at the cutting height give you a guide to follow.
• Frost the assembled cake up to 8 hours ahead, but add the sliced bananas and toasted coconut garnish just before serving. Exposed banana slices brown within an hour.
• Toast the coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly. It goes from golden to burnt in seconds.
• Chill the cake after frosting. Cold whipped cream firms up and holds the layers together for cleaner slicing.

Variations

• Replace vanilla pudding with butterscotch pudding for a deeper, more caramel-like flavor that pairs beautifully with bananas.
• Add a thin layer of chocolate ganache between the pudding and each cake layer for a chocolate-banana cream cake.
• Fold ¼ cup of dark rum into the cooled pudding for an adults-only version with Caribbean flair.