Banana Split Sundae in CAKE form! This Banana Split Layer Cake features 4 moist and fluffy layers of banana cake. Sitting between those layers is chocolate, caramel and strawberry buttercream along with peanuts, fresh strawberries and caramel sauce. Decorated with a gorgeous vanilla buttercream, sprinkles and cherries, this is THE cake to make for any celebrations!

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my full disclosure policy for details. 

Can someone say BEST CAKE EVER?! I’ve been wanting to make a banana split cake forever now, so when I finally got the chance, I went above and beyond! Three iconic banana split sundae flavours are loaded between the fluffy banana cake layers and the decoration gives total “summery fun birthday” vibes!

What’s in This Banana Split Cake?

There’s about 5-6 different flavours in this thing! Insane, right?! The flavour euphoria you’ll go through after each bite is seriously intense. Here’s all of the craziness going on in this cake:

1. Banana Cake Layers: For the first time in a long time, I’m bringing back my banana cake recipe that originally debut in this Banana Caramel Layer Cake! 
2. 3 Flavour Filling: Every banana split contains 3 scoops of different ice cream flavours, so between these cake layers we’ve got 3 different flavours of buttercream + additional goodies to add even more flavours!
3. Vanilla Buttercream Frosting: On the outside of this cake we’ve got a fluffy vanilla frosting tinted yellow to give it a fun banana split appearance. 

Banana Cake Layers

The banana cake is one of the softest cakes you’ll ever have! Thanks to the full cup of sour cream, you’ll end up with a super soft crumb! 

This cake uses all of the same ingredients as my perfect banana bread recipe, just different measurements to give it more of a cakey texture than a bread texture. 

I’m not gonna go into too much detail about the banana cake. A few tips I have is:

1. Bananas: use overripe bananas. Like black splotches on the peel bananas. This’ll give your cake the best banana flavour!
2. Creaming: make sure to cream the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes on medium-high speed for the fluffiest texture!
3. Room Temperature: for the best results, all of your ingredients should be at room temperature so they combine smoothly. Leave your butter out for 30 minutes to 1 hour, and the sour cream and eggs for 15-30 minutes. 

This cake can be baked in 4 8-inch round pans, or 3 9-inch pans. You can also wrap and refrigerate or freeze the layers until you’re ready to start assembling!

1 Buttercream Recipe + 3 Flavours!

Here’s where things start to get wild! You’re gonna make a big batch of vanilla buttercream, then divide it between 3 bowls. Each bowl will be a different flavour!

1. Chocolate: only a tablespoon of cocoa is needed to give the vanilla buttercream a nice chocolate flavour. 
2. Strawberry: instead of 1 cup of vanilla buttercream, you’ll need 2 cups for the strawberry frosting, since we’ll be piping it on top as well. For this layer, you’ll need to prepare a strawberry sauce the night before so it can chill completely before you add it to the frosting. 
3. Caramel: I had some leftover caramel sauce available that I added to this portion. You may not want to prepare a batch of homemade caramel sauce, especially with all the other work you have to do. Because of that, I’ll let you get away with using store bought caramel sauce. 

Alright, now it’s time to assemble the layers!

1. Chocolate Layer: spread on the chocolate frosting, sprinkle on some chopped peanuts along with a drizzle of chocolate sauce. 
2. Strawberry Layer: spread 1 cup of the strawberry frosting and top with fresh sliced strawberries. You can even drizzle on any extra strawberry sauce you may have!
3. Caramel Layer: caramel frosting with fresh sliced bananas on top! Drizzle some more caramel on top if you’d like!

Time for The Fun Decorations!

Let’s get back to that vanilla frosting. Scoop about a cup of the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip and set it aside. 

Add a few drops of yellow food colouring to the remaining frosting and beat it to combine and smoothen the frosting back out incase it began to harden. 

Frost the outside of the cake with a crumb coat and final coat of the yellow vanilla frosting. Now while the frosting is still sticky, grab a small handful of chopped peanuts and press them into random spots around the cake. Immediately do the same with rainbow sprinkles!

For the top, add the strawberry frosting to another piping bag with a large round tip. Pipe poofs of strawberry frosting around the top of the cake, then pipe poofs of vanilla frosting directly on top of the strawberry. This makes it look like there’s 2 scoops of ice cream around the top of the cake!

I made a ganache to drip on top of each poof, but you can use chocolate sauce instead. To finish the sundae look, sprinkle on some rainbow nonpareil sprinkles and top with a maraschino cherry. The iconic cherry that looks far better than it tastes. 

We’re finally done! This cake will definitely have you collapsing onto the couch in exhaustion, but it’s so worth it when you and you’re guests take that first bite!

SHARE YOUR PICS!

Follow me on Instagram and tag #queensleeappetit so I can see and share all of your Queenslee Appétit creations in my stories and the QA Newsletter!

>>PIN ME FOR LATER<<

FOLLOW QUEENSLEE APPÉTIT

Like what you see? Make sure you‘re following Queenslee Appétit for more tasty recipes!

Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook |

Have any questions about the recipe? Contact me here, and I’ll be happy to help!

SWEETEN UP YOUR INBOX!

SUBSCRIBE to the Queenslee Appétit Newsletter to recieve new recipe notifications, monthly baking tips, sneak peeks to upcoming recipes, exclusive recipes and more!

Let’s get baking!

Continue to Content

Banana Split Layer Cake

Yield: 14 servings

Prep Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes

Banana Split Sundae in CAKE form! This Banana Split Layer Cake features 4 moist and fluffy layers of banana cake. Sitting between those layers is chocolate, caramel and strawberry buttercream along with peanuts, fresh strawberries and caramel sauce. Decorated with a gorgeous vanilla buttercream, sprinkles and cherries, this is THE cake to make for any celebrations!

Print

Ingredients

Banana Cake:

• 3 cups (384g) all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 and ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
• ½ cup (110g) light brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup (60ml) vegetable oil
• 1 cup (227g) sour cream, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 3 overripe large bananas, puréed or mashed (1 and ½ cups)

Strawberry Sauce:

• 1 cup (6oz) fresh or frozen strawberries, stems removed and diced (if frozen, thawed)
• 2-3 tablespoon granulated sugar (or to taste)
• 3 tablespoon water
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice

Buttercream Base Filling:

• 1 and ½ cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 cups (720g) Powdered Sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Yellow Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• 1 and ½ cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 6 cups (720g) Powdered Sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• Few drops of yellow gel food colouring

Ganache:

• ½ cup (90g) dark chocolate chips
• ¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream

Chocolate Peanut Filling:

• 1 cup vanilla buttercream (recipe above)
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ cup chopped peanuts
• Ganache, for drizzling (recipe above) *see notes

Strawberry Filling + Border:

• 2 cups vanilla buttercream (recipe above)
• ½ cup strawberry sauce
• 2 fresh strawberries, stems removed and diced

Caramel Banana Filling:

• 1 cup vanilla buttercream (recipe above)
• 2 tablespoon caramel sauce + more for drizzling
• 1 banana, thinly sliced

To Decorate:

• Chopped peanuts
• Rainbow sprinkles
• Rainbow nonpareils
• Maraschino cherries with stems

Instructions

For the Banana Cake Layers:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F (177°C). Prepare four 8x2-inch round cake pans with parchment rounds, and grease the sides. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
4. Add oil, sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined.
5. Lower speed to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time. Make sure to occasionally stop and scrape down the bowl.
6. Gradually add the dry ingredients and slowly mix until just combined. Add the banana purée and mix until well combined. DO NOT OVERMIX. Batter should be thick.
7. Divide batter equally between four cake pans (or however many you have. Just wash and re-use), about 2 cups per pan. Spread into an even layer using an offset spatula. Bake 2 layers at a time for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and cake springs back when lightly touched.
8. Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool in pans for about 10 minutes, then turn onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

For the Strawberry Sauce:

1. Combine fresh diced strawberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a saucepan on medium-high heat and bring to a boil.
2. Once the mixture begins to boil, lower the heat and allow the strawberries to cook and soften, breaking up the strawberries and stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon for about 5-8 minutes.
3. Pour sauce into a blender or food processor and pulse until the strawberries are smooth. Press through a fine mesh sieve and discard the seeds. Allow to cool completely.
4. Once cooled, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Buttercream Filling Base:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter and salt until super pale and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes. 
2. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add half of the powdered sugar, one cup at a time and beat on low speed after each cup until combined.
3. Once combined add heavy cream and vanilla and continue to beat until combined and smooth.
4. Add remaining powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low speed until it’s all combined. 
5. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for about 5-7 minutes, or until frosting is light and fluffy. Add 1 cup of frosting to 2 separate bowls, and 2 cups to 1 bowl.
6. Scoop remain frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Set aside.

For the 3 Flavoured Frostings:

1. Chocolate: Add the cocoa to 1 of the “1 cup” bowls and slowly stir with a spoon until completely combined.
2. Strawberry: Add the strawberry sauce to the bowl with 2 cups of frosting. Stir to combine.
3. Caramel: Add the caramel to the remaining bowl of frosting with 1 cup. Stir to combine. Set aside.

For the Yellow Vanilla Buttercream:

1. Repeat the above frosting steps to make a second batch of vanilla buttercream.Tint with yellow gel food colouring. Set aside.

For the Ganache:

1. In a heat safe bowl, microwave the heavy whipping cream and chocolate together in 30 second intervals, until the cream is steaming hot. This takes me about 1 minute.
2. Stir until the mixture comes together to form a thick ganache. Set aside.

Assembly:

1. Use an offset spatula to place a dollop of vanilla frosting onto a cake board or serving platter that’s on a turntable. Place one cake layer on top.
2. For the Chocolate Layer: Spread the chocolate frosting into an even layer. Sprinkle on the chopped peanuts and drizzle with some of the ganache or chocolate sauce. Top with another cake layer.
3. For the Strawberry Layer: Spread on 1 cup of the strawberry frosting and top with sliced strawberries. Drizzle with more strawberry sauce, if desired!
4. For the Caramel Layer: Spread on the caramel frosting and top with sliced bananas. Drizzle on more caramel sauce. Place final cake layer top side down.
5. Frost the entire cake with a thin layer of vanilla buttercream. Chill the cake for 30 minutes.

Decorating:

1. Remove cake from refrigerator and frost the entire cake with a thick layer of yellow vanilla frosting.
2. Grab small handfuls of chopped peanuts and press each handful into random spots around the side of the cake. Repeat with rainbow sprinkles.
3. Add the remaining cup of strawberry frosting to a second piping bag fitted with a large round tip. Pipe poofs of frosting around the top of the cake. Repeat with the white vanilla frosting reserved in the piping bag.
4. Pour ganache into a disposable piping bag or a ziplock bag and snip off the tip. Drip the ganache off each poof. Top with rainbow nonpareils and a maraschino cherry. Slice and serve!

Notes

• Make ahead: (1) Banana Cake layers can be made ahead of time and double-wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. (2) Ganache can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator covered. Reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds and stir until smooth. (3) Vanilla Frosting can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for several months. Before using — allow frosting to come to room temperature, then re-whip in a stand mixer until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
• Fillings: I don’t suggest making the frosting fillings ahead of time, since it’ll be a lot easier to re-whip the entire batch of vanilla frosting in the mixer rather than re-whip all 3 flavours individually.
• Strawberry Sauce: you can use thawed frozen strawberries instead of fresh strawberries, though the cooking time may be longer since there will be more liquid.
• Ganache: the ganache can be substituted for chocolate sauce.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Wilton Aluminum 8-Inch Round Cake Pan Set, Multipack of 2

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 565Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 79mgSodium: 522mgCarbohydrates: 68gFiber: 3gSugar: 41gProtein: 7g

BON APPÉTIT!

Love, Dedra

©QUEENSLEE APPÉTIT. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to this post for the recipe.