Easy Southern Banana Pudding Cake

the completed banana pudding cake set on a cake stand

This is a delicious twist on a classic Southern dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, southern

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Servings

Calories 1625kcal

Author Bintu Hardy

Ingredients

For the Cake:

1 box of vanilla cake mix use the dry mix only and replace the back of the box of cake mix ingredients with:
1 cup (128g) flour
½ cup (104g) sugar
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 cup (236ml) water
¾ cup (177ml) vegetable oil
1 cup (240g) sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5.1 ounces (1 box) banana instant pudding

For the Filling:

1 cup (120g) cool whip whipped topping
1 ¼ cup (350ml) milk
5.1 ounces (1 box) vanilla instant pudding
3 bananas sliced

For the Milk Brush:

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons milk

For the Frosting:

6 large egg whites
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
6 cups (750g) powdered sugar
2 cups (453.6g) butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla beans (I used the caviar from vanilla beans, as it adds pretty speckles in the frosting)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Pinch of salt

Other ingredients:

vanilla wafers, crushed for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 F / 162 C. Prepare three 8-inch round cake pans by cutting out parchment paper to line the inside of each pan and greasing the sides. Set aside.
Mix cake ingredients together until combined. Divide mix equally into the 3 pans and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.
While cake is baking, whisk the filling ingredients together and then refrigerate until needed.
Next, make the frosting by adding butter and sugar one cup at a time to a mixing bowl and cream together. Then add egg whites, whipping cream, vanilla beans (if using) or vanilla extract, salt, and lemon juice. Continue beating until fluffy and then set aside.
When the cakes are done, place them on a cooling rack for 10 minutes then turn over and let them continue to cool face down. When cool remove the parchment paper.
Place vanilla wafers in a zip lock bag and crush with a rolling pin, then set aside to use as garnish when frosting the cake.
Place one cake on a cake plate and begin to create the filling layers as follows:
step 1: use a pastry brush to coat the top of the cake with a thin layer of milk brush mixture.
step 2: add a layer of vanilla wafer cookies.
step 3: spoon on and smooth out a layer of pudding filling.
step 4: add one layer of banana slices.
Place the second cake on top and then repeat the four layering steps. Then top with the third cake round, leaving it dry and ready to frost.
Frost the entire cake evenly and then pat with crushed vanilla wafers along the bottom 3” of cake and the top of the cake. Create dollops of frosting along the top edge using a piping bag.

Video

Notes

Recipe Tips

Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
Flat layers of cake will work best. If your cake layers have domes, use a serrated knife or a cake level to level them.
A pastry bag will help create beautiful dollops of frosting. Cut the corner off of a plastic storage bag if you do not have a pastry bag.
Crush several Nilla Wafers and use them to garnish the finished cake.

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