Betty Crocker banana cake made with cake mix is an easy dessert our family loves. Made with no eggs it is one of our favorite cake mix hacks to make it taste bakery style. Instant pudding is just one trick, let’s go over the others too.
We have used a few different flavors to make this treat. From spice cake mix to yellow and banana, they are all great but the latter is the best if you can find it. Same goes for our 4 ingredient banana bread with cake mix recipe. You can easily mix and match, add frosting or leave that off. (affiliate links present)
Banana Cake Mix Hack
This deliciousness starts with a box of dry mix off the shelf, we have a few tips to make it way better y’all. Yellow mix can be booooooring but with the addition of some ripe bananas, cinnamon and Pudding Frosting on top of that you would never know it wasn’t from scratch. 😉
Banana Cake with Banana Frosting
I mean how do you transition a bread into a cake?? It’s all about the frosting right?? Skip those tubs of sugar on the store shelves because this is much better!! Did you know you could frost a cake with instant pudding and heavy cream or Cool Whip mixed together? Sounds great right? Well that takes each slice to a whole new level friends.
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Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix
- PLUS ingredients required on back of the box to make batter; 3 eggs, 1/3 c. vegetable oil, 1 cup water
- banana is best or yellow
- Baking soda
- A pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg if you want that flavor too
- 2 bananas ripe and mashed
Banana Pudding Frosting
- 1 box of banana instant pudding
- + Heavy cream and powdered sugar
- OR with milk and Cool Whip
Banana As Substitute for Oil Ratio
In general if you do not want to use oil at all you can use 3/4 mashed fruit = required amount of oil listed in your recipe. Meaning if you needed 1 cup oil you would want to add 3/4 cup of naners measured after smushed a bit instead. This would be the same with applesauce instead too. Keep in mind that this alternative will yield a more dense and flat outcome.
When we made our first Cake Mix Banana Pudding Cake I did not use the exact ingredients on the back of the box. It came out even more dense because of the added egg with the pudding integrated into the batter itself. Yet again another delicious tweak you can make to your box, see which you prefer side by side. 😉
How to Make Banana Cake with Yellow Cake Mix
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a bowl add the box of dry cake mix with the baking soda plus the add the required ingredients listed on the back of the box to make the batter. Typically;
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup oil
- 1 cup water
- Fold in the cinnamon and mashed fruit
- Pour into a 9 x 13 cake pan lightly sprayed or greased with flour dusted on top to not stick.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean with moist crumbs attached. (you want it moist)
- Set on a cooling rack.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the pudding mix, heavy cream and powdered sugar until fluffy. Spread this (or cream cheese frosting) over the top with more slices of fruit or chopped pecans on there.
Variations
You could fold in something else to add texture and flavor before baking. I would keep it to 1/2 of a cup so it doesn’t get too weighed down but ideas would be mini chocolate chips or crushed walnuts like our Banana and Nuts Cake.
How to save leftover cake so it stays moist
With all types of Cake Mix with Pudding inside you will need to refrigerate it once cooled. Wrap the outside and top with plastic wrap free from air so it doesn’t dry out. Since there is a decent amount of dairy in it, and fresh fruit, it needs to be kept in the fridge or it will spoil and get mushy as well.
If you want to use it instead of vegetable you will want to mash it first. Use 3/4 of mashed bananas as a substitute for the amount of oil required for your recipe. If you want more texture you could slice into chunks and fold in up to 1 medium sized fruit into the batter before baking.
If you don’t have heavy cream for your cake recipe, there are several substitutes that can work just as well, depending on what you have on hand. You can use half and half, Greek yogurt or sour cream instead. The last two are heavier so the end result will be more dense and may not rise as high though.
Well banana flavor is the best of course, Dolly Parton makes one that is quite good and found at Walmart or online. If you cannot find that one then use yellow boxed mix instead.
Banana Cake Made with Cake Mix
Equipment
- 1 9×13 pan
- 1 Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 box cake mix, PLUS ingredients required on back of the box to make batter, banana is best or yellow
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 bananas, ripe and mashed
Banana Pudding Frosting
- 1 c heavy cream
- 1/4 c powdered sugar
- 1 box instant pudding, banana cream, 3.4 oz.
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl add the box of dry cake mix with the baking soda + add the required ingredients listed on the back of the box to make the batter.
- Fold in the cinnamon and mashed bananas, pour this batter into a 9 x 13 baking pan lightly sprayed with non stick spray. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean with moist crumbs attached. (do not over-bake, you want it moist) Set on a cooling rack.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the pudding mix, heavy cream and powdered sugar until fluffy. Spread the frosting over the cake, then top with additional banana slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
