Southern Banana Pudding Cake

You are going to love this southern banana pudding cake. Made from a doctored-up boxed cake mix and filled with banana pudding before being covered in a homemade whipped cream cheese frosting.

If you're looking for the ultimate banana pudding cake recipe, this one is it. Made with minimal ingredients and effort, this cake looks almost too good to eat!

Make a fancy Southern Banana Pudding Cake for under $10 with this great recipe! This easy banana pudding cake is one of our favorites, and it's not hard to see why. Packed with so much flavor in every bite, this is a perfect cake for any occasion.

We love banana cakes like this Sour Cream Banana Pound Cake, but sometimes boxed cake mixes are ideal time savers! We use boxed cake mixes in a lot of our favorite cake recipes like Tres Leches Layered Cake and our Easy Rainbow Unicorn Cake Recipe.

🛒 Ingredients

Bananas - Use ripe bananas for sweetness. Slice additional bananas for garnish just before serving. If you still have bananas leftover, make sure to check out our Eggless Banana Bread and Peanut Butter Banana Mug Cake.

Banana instant pudding mix - Dry mix goes into the cake batter; a second box is prepared for the filling.

Heavy whipping cream - Helps create a fluffy whipped cream frosting.

Cream cheese - Adds thickness and a tangy balance to the sweet cake.

Nilla wafers (optional) - Great for decorating the outside and topping the cake.

See the recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions.

🥄 Instructions for Southern Banana Pudding Cake

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 2: Cut some parchment paper into circles that can fit at the bottom of your 8 inch cake pans. Spray cake pans with non-stick cooking spray and lay the parchment circles inside. Spray again with cooking spray and set aside.

Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, blend the bananas with an electric mixer until creamy (Image 1).

Step 4: Add in the cake mix, eggs, oil, dry pudding mix, and vanilla (Images 2&3).

Step 5: Stir until well mixed (Image 4). Do not overmix.

Step 6: Divide the batter between your prepared cake pans (Image 5).

Step 7: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted into the center and come out clean (Image 6).

Step 8: Once the cakes have finished baking allow them to cool in the cake pans for about 10 minutes before flipping over onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.

Step 9: Allow them to cool on the racks upside down and make sure to remove any parchment paper from the bottom of the cake.

Step 10: Once the cakes are completely cooled, flip them over onto a cutting board and level the tops with a large bread knife.

Prepare the frosting

Step 11: In a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese and powdered sugar (Image 7).

Step 12: Cream together until just combined (Image 8). Do not overmix.

Step 13: In another large mixing bowl, add cold heavy cream and vanilla (Image 9).

Step 14: Beat until stiff peaks form (Image 10).

Step 15: Add the cream cheese mixture to the whipped cream (Image 11).

Step 16: Beat again until combined (Image 12). Do not overmix.

Prepare Filling

Step 17: Make one box of banana instant pudding according to the package directions.

Assembly

Step 18: Place one topless cake layer, on a cake board or large plate in front of you and leave the other off to the side.

Step 19: Place some frosting into a pastry bag or Ziploc baggie with a corner snipped off. Make a circle around the rim of the top of the cake.

Step 20: Spoon in your cold and chilled pudding. Spread it around so that it fills the circle and is pretty even-looking.

Step 21: Stack the two cakes on top of each other by placing one on top of the pudding topped one (Image 15).

Try to get them to stand as straight as you can. If needed, place everything into the fridge to chill for one hour so it holds up better. You can also freeze the cake at this point and chill the frosting until ready to use.

Step 22: When the cakes are stacked and sturdy, pipe the white frosting around the outside where the middles are and go around the cake with a flat leveler or surface (a clean wooden ruler works okay in a pinch) (Image 16).

Angle it slightly so you're pressing into the cake while removing excess frosting. This should fill in any gaps so the cake is level on the sides.

A first layer of frosting would be called a "crumb layer," and it is meant to be thin and to hold any loose crumbs in place. Let it chill at this point before adding another thicker layer of frosting if desired.

Step 23: Frost the entire cake with a nice thick layer of white frosting so that it is about ¼ inch thick and you can't see the cake poking through (Image 17).

Go over it again with your flat leveler as much as needed to get it to look as desired. Don't forget to level out the top.

Step 24: Press broken cookie crumbs around the outside of the cake to cover the sides (Image 18).

Step 25: Top the cake with sliced bananas and whole Nilla wafer cookies just before serving.

I added some leftover salted caramel from my Salted Caramel Banana Pancakes as an additional garnish.

Slice, serve, and enjoy!

🥗 Side Dishes or Pairing Ideas

This Southern Banana Pudding Cake pairs wonderfully with fresh berries, which help balance the rich banana flavor. A scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream also complements the cake nicely. If serving at a gathering, offer iced tea, coffee, or a light fruit salad to round out the dessert table.

❓ Southern Banana Pudding Cake FAQs

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🐝 If you tried this Southern Banana Pudding Cake, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your buzz in the 💬 comments below. I'd truly appreciate it!