High Altitude Bourbon Banana Pudding Cake

A moist and luscious high altitude banana pudding cake with milk and bourbon soaked vanilla cake, filled with homemade banana pudding and topped with fluffy whipped cream. This dessert elevates the classic banana pudding with vanilla wafers into something a bit more sophisticated, and completely delicious. The milk soak keeps the cake soft and moist, similar to a tres leches cake, and is fantastic served cold from the fridge.

Looking for more recipes like this? Don’t miss my banana cream pie, oatmeal with caramelized bourbon bananas and hazelnuts, and banana bread coffee cake.

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Why You’ll Love This Cake

Stays Moist for Days. Thanks to the milk brushed over the cake, the creamy custard and fluffy whipped cream, this is a cake that stays soft and moist for days in the fridge.

So Much Banana Flavor. The key to the banana flavor in this pudding cake is steeping bananas in milk overnight. This infuses the milk with real banana flavor, and makes the best banana custard you’ve ever tasted.

Bourbon. Need I say more? Bourbon adds a really great flavor to so many desserts, and it’s perfect in this banana pudding cake. But you can certainly leave it out for an alcohol-free dessert.

No Brown Bananas. Most banana pudding recipes are made of vanilla wafers, vanilla pudding, and sliced bananas. But sliced bananas can pretty quickly turn brown and slimy, which is seriously gross in a dessert. So unless you have a big family who can eat an entire pan of banana pudding in one sitting, you need another way to add banana flavor. This is what I love about my banana custard recipe, made from banana infused milk. You’ll get just as much banana flavor, but without those slimy, brown bananas that you’ll be pushing aside in the leftover cake.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

Banana Milk

• Milk. Use whole milk, not skim or low fat milk, for the best flavor, and a rich, creamy texture in your banana pudding.
• Bananas. Your bananas should be pretty ripe and soft, with speckled brown spots on the peel, but not so ripe that they’re turning black.
• Vanilla Bean. Adds delicious vanilla flavor and pretty black specks.

Vanilla Cake

• Cake Flour. Cake flour makes a very soft, light and fluffy vanilla cake, as it contains a lower percentage of protein than all-purpose flour.
• Granulated Sugar. Adds sweetness and moisture.
• Baking Powder. Leavens the cake, making it rise.
• Coarse Kosher Salt. Balances the sweetness.
• Eggs + Egg Whites. I use 2 eggs, plus 2 egg whites, in my vanilla cake, which adds structure and richness, while the extra whites make it nice and fluffy. Save the leftover 2 egg yolks for the banana custard.
• Buttermilk. Adds richness and acidity for a light, fluffy, tender cake crumb.
• Melted Butter + Vegetable Oil. A combination of both butter and oil gives this vanilla cake the best flavor as well as a soft, moist texture.
• Vanilla Extract. Flavor.

Banana Custard

• Sugar. Granulated sugar sweetens the custard.
• Corn Starch. Thickening agent.
• Egg Yolks. Add richness and body.
• Banana Milk. The milk you infused with vanilla bean and bananas will make this the most incredible tasting custard.
• Butter. Adds richness and flavor.

Other

• Bourbon. Totally optional, but a little bourbon adds delicious flavor to this cake.

Instructions

Make the banana milk.

• Pour the milk into a saucepan. Peel the bananas, slice them into 1/2 inch slices, and add the sliced bananas to the milk.
• Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a paring knife, and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the vanilla bean to the milk.

• Over medium heat, bring the milk just to a simmer. Remove from the heat, cover, and refrigerate for 12 hours, or overnight, to infuse the milk with the flavor of the vanilla and bananas.
• When you’re ready to make the banana custard, remove and discard the bananas and the vanilla bean from the milk.

TIP: Measure out 2 1/4 cups of the banana milk to use in the custard, and reserve the rest for brushing over the cake.

Bake the vanilla cake.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a rimmed 13×18 half-sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper. Snip the corners of the paper and crease the edges so the paper fits inside the pan, completely covering the bottom of the pan and extending up the sides. Lightly spray the paper with non-stick baking spray.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
• In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg whites, buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla extract until smooth.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk until combined and smooth, about 10-15 seconds.  Pour the batter into the parchment lined pan.
• Bake the cake on the center rack for about 17-18 minutes, until baked through and the center of the cake springs back when gently touched.
• Set the cake on a cooling rack to cool while you make the custard.

Make the banana custard.

• In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar and corn starch. Gradually whisk in the egg yolks and banana milk until smooth.
• Over medium heat, whisk the custard constantly until it starts to boil and thicken. It should take about 10-12 minutes of whisking before it begins to boil and thicken. Once this happens, continue to cook, whisking constantly, for 1 full minute.
• Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Let the custard cool at room temperature for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until no longer steaming hot.

Assemble the banana pudding cake.

• After letting the cake and pudding cool to room temperature, you can assemble the cake.
• Lay a second piece of parchment paper on top of the cake, set a large cutting board on top of the paper, and flip the baking sheet over onto the cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper on the bottom of the cake (which is now facing up).
• Cut the cake in half, so you have two 9×13 inch rectangles. Carefully, lift one section of cake off the paper and place in your 9×13 baking dish.

Tip: Transferring a large piece of cake like this can be tricky, but if it breaks, don’t worry. No one will know the difference once it’s all layered with pudding and covered with whipped cream. If you have a large cake lifter, you can use that to help lift the cake into the pan. Or, you can try cutting the paper down the center, lift each section of cake up by the paper, and flip it over into the pan. It could also make it easier to cut each large section of cake in half again, and transfer the smaller sections into the pan.

• Once you have your first layer of cake in the pan, lightly prick it all over with a wooden skewer.
• Combine the leftover banana milk with the bourbon (if using), and use a pastry brush to brush half of the milk/bourbon mixture over the cake.

Tip: If you don’t want your cake to be very “wet”, you don’t need to use all the milk. But the milk soak keeps the cake so soft and moist, even when served cold, similar to a tres leches cake.

• Spread all of the banana custard over the bottom layer of cake.

• Place the second section of cake on top of the custard. Lightly prick the cake all over with a wooden skewer, and brush the rest of the milk/bourbon mixture over the cake.
• Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for several hours, until chilled.

Tip: This method makes a “stabilized” whipped cream, that won’t deflate on the cake. You have to be sure to whip it long enough, though. Too soft, and the cream will deflate as it sits.

Top with whipped cream.

• In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cold heavy whipping cream and vanilla until it starts to thicken. Gradually sprinkle in the powdered sugar and continue to beat until the whipped cream is thick enough to hold its shape.
• Spread or pipe the whipped cream on top of the cake and serve.

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Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I leave out the bourbon?

Yes, the bourbon is completely optional.

Why don’t you add any sliced bananas to the cake?

When exposed to air, sliced bananas turn brown and slimy, which makes the leftover cake pretty gross. If you can finish the cake fairly quickly, feel free to add some sliced bananas if you like.

Will the whipped cream on top deflate?

It won’t deflate if you make a stabilized whipped cream, per the recipe instructions.

How long does this cake stay fresh?

Cover the leftover cake with plastic wrap and keep it refrigerated, where it will stay soft and moist for at least 3 days, probably longer.

Will this recipe work as a banana pudding trifle?

This would make a wonderful layered dessert in a trifle dish. Just crumble the cake and layer everything in a large trifle bowl, or halve the recipe for a smaller trifle bowl. You could even layer everything into individual trifle dishes, parfait glasses or cute glass jars.

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