Banoffee cake is a delicious, easy dessert perfect for any holiday or special occasion!
Made with overripe bananas for an ultra moist banana cake then covered in a homemade caramel sauce, and silky caramel buttercream. This Banoffee cake recipe will become a family favorite in no time.
Banoffee Cake
If you’re a fan of banana bread, then you are going to absolutely fall in love with this delicious Banoffee cake! A traditional English dessert, this sweet, buttery cake is made from overripe bananas, topped with a homemade frosting, then drizzled with a delicious caramel sauce that you can whip up right at home.
Made from scratch, start to finish, Banoffee cake is the perfect dessert for holidays, birthdays, or any special occasion. It’s also easy enough to make during the week for a nice surprise after a hectic day at work or school.
Why You’ll Love This Banoffee Cake
There are so many reasons I love Banoffee cake, and not just because it’s so delicious!
- It’s easy. Baking is all about the details and measurements, but once you have that down, it’s a breeze! This cake recipe, complete with my detailed, step-by-step directions, is perfect for experienced and novice bakers alike. Plus, you can make the homemade frosting and caramel sauce while the cake bakes — so much time saved!
- It’s festive. I must say, this is a beautiful cake. Decorated with tasty bananas and dripping with sweet caramel, this cake is easy enough for an anytime dessert and elegant enough for your next special occasion.
Tips & Tricks
- Enjoy it fresh. There really is nothing like a fresh cake. It’s moist, buttery and the ingredients are perfectly balanced! While you can freeze Banoffee cake, I would recommend against it. It’s not the easies make ahead dessert, as not all parts of the cake freeze well. That being said, if you do need to freeze, you can store your Banoffee cake in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy, you’ll just need to allow the cake to thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
- Keep the leftovers. I’m all about sweets that have a shelf life longer than a day! Why? Well, who doesn’t want to sneak a little bit of cake in the afternoon? If you end up with leftovers (accidentally or on purpose), you can keep your Banoffee cake in the fridge for 2-3 days. I’d recommend wrapping it in plastic wrap to help the cake maintain it’s freshness.
- Save your bananas. I know it’s tempting to toss your overripe, brown and bruised bananas — but remember, they are PERFECT for baking! Whether you’re making this Banoffee cake for Easter or Mother’s Day, or just whipping up some banana bread over the weekend, there are so many delicious ways to use those overripe bananas.
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- Milk
- Lemon juice
- Butter
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Kosher Salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Baking soda
- Flour
- Overripe bananas
For the Caramel Sauce:
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
- Heavy cream
- Sea salt
For the Frosting:
- Unsalted butter
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Kosher salt
- Caramel sauce (above)
- Banana
How to Make Banoffee Cake
Step 1: Begin Cake. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease, flour and line 2- 8 inch cake tins with parchment paper and set aside.
Step 2: Make buttermilk. In a small measuring cup add milk and lemon juice, mix together and allow mixture to sit for 10-15 minutes to ‘curdle’ and become buttermilk.
Step 3: Begin batter. In a bowl fitted with a stand or hand mixer, add butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat mixture for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and beat eggs in one at a time on low speed.
Step 4: Combine batter ingredients. In a medium bowl mix together sifted flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda together. Alternate milk and flour mixture to wet batter mixture and mix together until just incorporated. Remove from the mixer and fold in mashed bananas.
Step 5: Bake. Divide cake batter into cake tins evenly and smooth out the tops. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center. Allow cakes to cool for 20-30 minutes and then remove from tins and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
Step 6: Prepare Caramel Sauce. In a heavy bottom saucepan heat sugar on medium heat until melted, about 5-10 minutes. Stir consistently with a wooden spoon and be VERY careful not to burn. The color should be an amber brown. Any darker and you have burned your sugar. Add in butter slowly and stir until melted. Very slowly add in heavy whipping cream.
NOTE: The butter and cream will splatter and bubble up because they are a different temp to the sugar, so be careful!
Step 7: Thicken caramel sauce. Continue to boil and stir for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. At this point we are just trying to thicken the caramel. Remove pan from heat add in salt and stir. Transfer caramel to a glass jar and cool completely before refrigerating. To reheat the caramel place jar in microwave for two 30 second increments, stirring after the first.
Step 8: Make Frosting. In a large bowl fitted with a stand or hand mixer beat butter for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time on low speed until incorporated.
Step 9: Combine frosting and caramel sauce. Beat in caramel sauce until well incorporated. If frosting feels too thin, add in ½ cup powdered sugar at a time and if too thick add in 1 tbsp of heavy cream in.
Looking for more delicious dessert recipes? Give these a try!
- Banana Bread Brownies
- Lemon Poppyseed Loaf Cake
- Cinnamon Banana Bread
- Mango Ice Cream – Vegan & Healthy!
- Strawberry Crumble
Other cake recipes to try:
- Key Lime Cake
- Strawberry Dump Cake
- Hot Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream
- Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
- No Bake Lemon Meringue Cheesecake
Banoffee Cake
ingredients
For cake:
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup butter at room temp
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 3 cups all purpose flour sifted
- 3 medium overripe bananas mashed
For caramel sauce:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter diced
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp sea salt
For frosting:
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar sifted
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ⅓ cup caramel sauce cooled
- Extra banana slices for topping
instructions
- For cake: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease, flour and line 2- 8 inch cake tins with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small measuring cup add milk and lemon juice, mix together and allow mixture to sit for 10-15 minutes to ‘curdle’ and become buttermilk.
- In a bowl fitted with a stand or hand mixer, add butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat mixture for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and beat eggs in one at a time on low speed.
- In a medium bowl mix together sifted flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda together. Alternate milk and flour mixture to wet batter mixture and mix together until just incorporated. Remove from the mixer and fold in mashed bananas.
- Divide cake batter into cake tins evenly and smooth out the tops. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean in the center. Allow cakes to cool for 20-30 minutes and then remove from tins and finish cooling on a cooling rack.
- While the cake is baking prepare the caramel sauce:
- In a heavy bottom saucepan heat sugar on medium heat until melted, about 5-10 minutes. Stir consistently with a wooden spoon and be VERY careful not to burn. The color should be an amber brown. Any darker and you have burned your sugar. Add in butter slowly and stir until melted. Very slowly add in heavy whipping cream.
- *Note the butter and cream will splatter and bubble up because they are a different temp to the sugar, so be careful!*
- Continue to boil and stir for another 30 seconds to 1 minute. At this point we are just trying to thicken the caramel. Remove pan from heat add in salt and stir. Transfer caramel to a glass jar and cool completely before refrigerating. To reheat the caramel place jar in microwave for two 30 second increments, stirring after the first.
- For frosting: In a large bowl fitted with a stand or hand mixer beat butter for 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract and 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time on low speed until incorporated.
- Beat in caramel sauce until well incorporated. If frosting feels too thin, add in ½ cup powdered sugar at a time and if too thick add in 1 tbsp of heavy cream in.
This is a great recipe! I made it for my husband and he loved it!