Triple Chocolate Banana Cake
Triple Chocolate Banana Cake – chocolate, chocolate chip banana cake layers with banana cream filling and chocolate buttercream.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Monday and happy belated Mother’s Day, my friends! I hope you all had an amazing day celebrating moms in some way. We had a quiet day around here, but I loved it. I was able to bake and cook without cleaning up, and I basically ate a full half batch of the orange rolls I made. Doesn’t get much better than that, if you ask me!
Triple Chocolate Banana Cake
Today I’m sharing my new Triple Chocolate Banana Cake recipe. I came up with this one last week during one of my early morning planning sessions. Honestly, my best work and my best thinking is done between 5am to 7am. This is proof!
After doing several fruit-filled cakes and then a coconut cake, I was craving chocolate. As I was thinking about this craving the other day, and how to satisfy it, I instantly thought about chocolate banana bread. My friend, Maria, from Two Peas and Their Pod, makes an incredible chocolate banana bread. I made it a few months ago with the kids and it’s divine. As I drooled over Maria’s bread, I decided it was time to put those flavor in a cake together.
Chocolate Banana Cake Layers
These cake layers are full of flavor and moisture. My goal was to create a cake that tastes like chocolate but isn’t too chocolatey that you don’t taste the bananas. Balance is everything!
In this cake, you’ll be using a half cup of dark cocoa powder (I like this one) and one and a half cups of mashed bananas. I also added a half cup of mini chocolate chips for a little texture.
NOTE: when adding chocolate chips to cake batter, make sure to toss them in a little bit of flour. This helps prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake while the layers bake.
Banana Cream Filling
To balance the chocolate banana cake and chocolate buttercream, I’ve added one of my favorite fillings: my copycat Magnolia Bakery banana cream filling that I use in my Banana Cream Cake. This creamy filling is to-die-for. In fact, I love it so much that I created the recipe to actually give you a little more than you need in the cake. Totally intentional! Save a little for yourself and throw some Nilla Wafers and freshly sliced bananas in it for a yummy treat!
NOTE: If you’re making this cake ahead of time and plan to freeze it, DO NOT add the fresh bananas. They will brown. You can either leave them out completely or add a few sliced bananas with each slice of cake.
Chocolate Buttercream
This chocolate buttercream is a classic in my book. I honestly think you can pretty much pair it with pretty much any cake flavor.
NOTE: if the buttercream is overly soft after you add the ingredients (which includes the melted chocolate), just cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Remember to re-beat it before using.
Video Tutorial
Triple Chocolate Banana Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (64 g) light brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (364 g) mashed bananas about 4 medium-sized
- 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups (310 g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (75 g) dark cocoa powder
- 1 tsp (4 g) baking powder
- 2 tsp (8 g) baking soda
- 1 tsp (5.6 g) salt
- 3/4 cup (193 g) buttermilk at room tempetaure
- 3/4 cup (176 g) sour cream at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (93 g) mini chocolate chips before adding chocolate chips to cake batter, make sure to toss them in a little bit of flour. This helps prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake while the layers bake.
FOR THE BANANA CREAM FILLING
- 1.5 oz (42 g) instant banana pudding must be instant, don't use sugar free
- 7 oz (197 g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup (110 g) milk
- 1 1/2 cups (322 g) heavy whipping cream
- banana slices optional
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- 2 cups (452 g) unsalted butter slightly cold
- 10 oz (283 g) dark chocolate chips
- 1/3 cup (77 g) heavy whipping cream
- 5 cups (625 g) powdered sugar measured and then sifted
- 1 tsp (4.2 g) vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Spray three 8-inch pans or four 6-inch pans with nonstick spray, line the bottom with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and the sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Gradually add the eggs, scraping the sides of the bowl with each addition, Mix for about 2 minutes on medium speed after all the eggs are added.
- Add the mashed bananas and vanilla. Stir until combined.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk and sour cream. Whisk to combine.
- With the stand mixer on low speed, alternately add the the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture, starting and ending with the flour. Mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Divide the batter between the three 8-inch pans (about 20 ounces in each), and bake for about 30 to 33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes and then invert onto wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Cake layers can be made ahead of time and wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the freezer. Allow the cake layers to thaw for about 30 minutes before you stack and decorate the cake.
- I do NOT recommend using bake even strips on my cakes.
FOR THE BANANA CREAM FILLING
- This is best made the day before you want to assemble your cake.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the pudding mix, sweetened condensed milk and milk. Whisk until pudding dissolves. Cover and place in the refrigerator until the mixture sets.
- Meanwhile, whip your whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
- Once your pudding mixture has set, fold in the whipped cream to the pudding.
- Do not add fresh bananas yet. Cover the banana cream filling and refrigerate overnight.
- NOTE: do no use fresh bananas in this cake unless you plan on serving the cake the same day as you assemble. The fresh bananas will not hold up in the freezer or fridge overnight. They will brown.
FOR THE BUTTERCREAM
- Heat the cream in the microwave for about 45 to 60 seconds. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips to melt. Stir until smooth and silky. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
- Slowly add the chocolate mixture, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times. Mix on medium speed for about a minute after all the chocolate is added.
- Mix in the vanilla and pinch of salt.
- With the mixer on slow speed, gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the powdered sugar is added, mix the buttercream for another few minutes on medium-high speed. You'll notice the color lighten - don't worry, it darkens as it sits out after you decorate your cake.
- Buttercream can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Allow the buttercream to reach room temperature before using and make sure to rebeat it for a bit.
- If you buttercream seems soft, refrigerate for a bit.
ASSEMBLY
- Place the first cake layer, top side up, on a cake board or cake plate. Pipe a rim of buttercream around the edge of the cake. This will act as a barrier to the banana cream filling.
- Evenly spread about 1 cup of banana cream filling over the cake layer. If you're serving the cake same day, add sliced bananas as shown in the video above, otherwise, leave the bananas out.
- Repeat these steps for the second cake layer.
- Place the final cake layer, top side down, on the banana cream filling. Apply a thin layer of buttercream around the entire cake. This is your crumb coat. Freeze the crumb-coated cake for 15 minutes.
- Once the crumb coat is set, continue to frost your cake with the remaining buttercream.
Can I make this recipe into cupcakes? If so how long should I bake and how many will a 3 layer cake give me?
Yes you can! 18-20 minutes but keep an eye on them! Itll make about 2 dozen.
Hi Courtney, how can I make layer cake if my oven only fits one or two 6 inch cake pans?
Should I bake one pan first and bake the others after the first one? Will it affect the batter if it sits on the counter waiting for the first cake to be baked? Or can I put one pan in middle rack and one pan in bottom rack? I’d like to hear your suggestions.
Thanks!
Just put two pans in at a time. The batter for the other two can sit on the counter if they are going in right after!
On instant banana pudding how do u measure 1.5 oz? Small box is 3.4oZ? Making this now an not sure if u used whole box or how to measure in oz
The smallest box of instant pudding mix is 3.4 ounces (96 g) and calls for 2 cups of milk. Do I just use less?
Hi, is there a UK equivalent to instant banana pudding? Thank you
I’m so sorry I don’t know.
Did you add the chocolate chips to the batter? Lol I got all the way to then end of the recipe, still had the chips so I used them to decorate. I think on your insta you mentioned throwing them in the batter now that I think about it. I just didn’t see it in the directions.
Sorry! I will fix that. Yes dust the chocolate chips with flour so they don’t sink and stir them into your batter at the very end before you pour into your pans!
Hi Courtney, it’s hard to find instant banana pudding (annoying) where I’m from, can I use the “cook & serve” pudding? Thank you!
Sonia
It should work!
Hi! If I half this recipe, how many cake layers will I get if I use 6” pans? 2? 3? Thanks!
2
Hi Courtney, Can I use 2 9” pans instead of 3 8”? Thank you…
Yes!
Hi Courtney!
I will be making this cake recipe for my birthday. I just wanted to confirm if for this cake specifically we preheat the oven to 325 degrees and bake it at that? Not 350 degrees like most cakes?
Thank you!
Yes!
I can’t find instant banana pudding anywhere. My cook & serve pudding package is 135g and calls for 3 cups milk to prepare. Should I use half the package with the sweetened condensed milk and enough milk to make 1.5 cups?
Yes
Recipe sounds wonderful! Does the banana cream filling set fairly firm for stability when stacking layers?
Yes just make sure you pipe your rim of buttercream to keep it in!
The 42 gram pudding mix the recipe calls for should be in powder form or cooked and prepared .
Powder
This cake was SO good! I’m not usually one to choose anything banana-flavored, but I made this at a friend’s request and couldn’t stop eating it!! Moist and flavorful with just the right balance of chocolate and banana.
So happy to hear you love it!
Hi, I’m so excited to try this but i just ran out of butter milk. Can I just double the amount of sourcream or can i skip the buttermilk altogether?
Thanks, MJ
I would use half part sour cream and half part milk for the buttermilk replacement.
This cake is delicious but one question….how to store left overs?
So glad you loved it! I like to slice up the leftover cake and wrap each slice in plastic wrap and freeze them.
What are leftovers? There wont be any.🤣
So good!
OMG! This cake! Everyone loved it so much! There were hardly any leftover pieces. The banana inside the cake makes it so moist, delicious and decadent. The banana cream filling is rich but oh so light at the same time if that makes sense. I did not add fresh banana to the filling because I had to make the cake the day before serving. I used my tried and true hershey cocoa powder frosting. Best cake ever! Thank you.
Yay!!
This looks sooooo good!! Can I make this with a chocolate cream cheese icing instead?
Sure!
I loved this cake probably more than I expected. I didn’t think it was overly chocolatey, but had the nice taste of the bananas in the cake layers with also a tiny bit of texture from the mini chocolate chips. The filling was so good, I just wish I had served it with extra filling on the side. I brought the cake to someone’s house and forgot to bring the filling with me. It had enough banana flavor, but honestly, the banana was not overpowering or prominent, it was just a real nice balance of everything. I forgot to add bananas in the middle, but I would recommend that as well. Another 10/10 from Courtney