The Ultimate Sticky Banana Bread Pudding Cake Recipe

Have you ever looked at the fruit bowl, noticed those once-perfectly-yellow bananas now covered in brown spots, and pondered the delicious possibilities they hold? What if we revealed that those overripe bananas are the key to the most sumptuous, comforting, and downright delightful dessert you’re likely to make this year? It’s time to move beyond standard banana bread; let us introduce you to its spectacular, indulgent relative: the Sticky Banana Bread Pudding Cake.

This recipe is a glorious fusion of everything we cherish in a comforting pudding. It possesses the heart of a moist banana loaf, the sumptuously gooey consistency of a bread pudding, and the rich, buttery caramel sauce reminiscent of a classic sticky toffee pudding. It’s a dessert designed to warm you from the inside out, making it ideal for a crisp evening, a celebratory family meal, or any time you fancy a sweet, soul-soothing treat. We’re certain that after one taste of this warm, caramel-coated cake, you’ll be asking yourself where it has been all this time.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The Ultimate Comfort Food: This is a wonderful trio of classic desserts rolled into one. The homely flavour of banana bread, the gooeyness of bread pudding, and the opulent sauce from a sticky toffee pudding come together to create a truly special experience.
• No More Food Waste: It provides the perfect purpose for those overripe bananas sitting on your counter. The more mature they are, the more sweetness and intense flavour they will impart to your cake!
• Incredibly Moist and Gooey: Owing to the mashed bananas and the delectable sauce that seeps into the sponge, this is one of the most delightfully moist cakes you will ever create. A dry, crumbly cake is simply not a possibility here.
• Simple, Everyday Ingredients: There is no need to search for obscure ingredients. Everything you need is probably already in your cupboards or refrigerator, which makes this an approachable and convenient bake for any day.
• A Real Show-Stopper: Although it’s straightforward to prepare, the finished product is visually stunning. Turning it out of the tin to watch the warm caramel sauce flow down the sides is a moment of pure dessert theatre that is sure to impress your guests.

Ingredients

• ripe bananas
• unsalted butter
• light soft brown sugar
• large free-range eggs
• vanilla extract
• plain flour
• bicarbonate of soda
• dark soft brown sugar
• double cream
• sea salt

To make this recipe as clear as possible, we have organised the ingredients into two sections: one for the cake itself and another for that essential sticky toffee sauce. Here is the list of what you will require.

• For the Topping & Cake:
• 3 very ripe, large bananas, mashed (about 350-400g)
• 1 additional ripe banana, sliced, for the base
• 125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 175g light soft brown sugar
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 225g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 100ml buttermilk
• For the Sticky Toffee Sauce:
• 150g dark soft brown sugar
• 75g unsalted butter
• 150ml double cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• A generous pinch of sea salt

Step-by-Step Instructions for the Perfect Pudding Cake

Creating our Sticky Banana Bread Pudding Cake is a genuinely delightful process. We have outlined the method in three straightforward stages to help you achieve a flawless result with every bake. Follow our guide, and you will soon have a glorious, warm dessert ready to be enjoyed.

Part 1: Preparing Your Tin and the Caramel Base

This initial stage is what forms the beautiful, caramelised surface of your cake—which actually begins at the bottom of the tin! It’s the secret to achieving a perfect banana upside-down cake finish, where the topping becomes a wonderfully integrated sauce.

1. Start by preheating your oven to 180°C (160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4). Generously grease a 20cm (8-inch) round cake tin and line the bottom with a disc of baking parchment.
2. To create the base, melt 50g of the butter with 50g of the light brown sugar in a small pan over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour this caramel into your prepared tin, swirling it to coat the base completely.
3. Neatly arrange the slices from your extra banana in a decorative pattern over the caramel layer. Set this tin aside while you prepare the cake batter.

Part 2: Making the Moist Banana Cake Batter

At the core of this recipe is an exceptionally moist banana bread dessert batter. The most important tip here is to avoid overmixing, which ensures the crumb remains wonderfully tender and light. This batter is a more indulgent and richer take on what you would find in a typical Moist Banana Bread Recipe.

1. In a spacious mixing bowl, cream the remaining 75g of softened butter and 125g of light brown sugar until the mixture becomes pale and airy. We find an electric mixer works best, but you can certainly achieve the same result with a wooden spoon and a bit of effort.
2. Incorporate the eggs one by one, adding a tablespoon of flour with the second egg to help prevent the mixture from splitting. Once smooth, mix in the vanilla extract and the mashed bananas.
3. In another bowl, sift the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, and salt together to combine them.
4. Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the wet banana mixture in three stages, alternating with the buttermilk. Ensure you begin and finish with the flour. Take care not to overwork the batter—fold just until the flour is incorporated. A lumpy batter is perfectly acceptable!
5. Gently spoon the batter over the layer of bananas in your tin, smoothing the top to form an even surface.

Part 3: Baking and Creating the Luscious Sticky Sauce

As the cake bakes and fills your home with a divine aroma, we’ll quickly prepare the simple yet decadent toffee sauce. This is the element that truly transforms the dessert into a sublime banana toffee pudding.

1. Place the cake in your preheated oven and bake for 40–50 minutes. You can check for doneness by inserting a skewer into the middle; it should emerge clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
2. When the cake has about 10 minutes left, you can make the sauce. In a small saucepan, combine all the sauce ingredients: the dark brown sugar, butter, double cream, vanilla, and salt.
3. Warm the mixture gently, stirring all the time, until the sugar is fully dissolved and the butter is melted. Turn up the heat a little and allow the sauce to simmer for 2–3 minutes, stirring now and then, until it has thickened slightly. Watch it closely to ensure it doesn’t stick.
4. When the cake is baked, take it out of the oven and allow it to cool in its tin for 5 minutes. This step is vital—turning it out too early may cause it to break.
5. Gently run a knife around the inside edge of the tin to release the cake. Put a serving plate on top of the tin, and in one swift, confident motion, turn it upside down. Carefully lift the tin off to unveil the caramelised banana topping.
6. Pour about half of the warm toffee sauce over the cake, letting it cascade beautifully down the sides. We suggest serving the rest of the sauce in a small jug for everyone to help themselves.

Tips and Tricks for Dessert Perfection

To help you make your pudding cake absolutely perfect, we have compiled a few of our most useful tips. For a tasty variation, consider adding chopped nuts to the batter, much like in this lovely Banana Loaf with Walnuts, to introduce a delightful crunch.

• Use Very, Very Ripe Bananas: The more black spots, the better! Overripe bananas offer far more sweetness and a deeper flavour, both of which are crucial for this recipe. For more advice on this subject, the BBC Good Food guide on using bananas is an excellent resource.
• Don’t Overmix the Batter: When you overwork a batter, you develop the gluten in the flour, which can result in a dense and tough cake. Gently mix just until the ingredients are combined to achieve a soft, tender texture.
• Measure Your Flour Correctly: For the most accurate results, we always suggest using a digital kitchen scale. If you don’t own one, you can use the “spoon and level” technique: spoon flour into your measuring cup and then level the top with the back of a knife.
• Trust the Cooling Time: Allowing the cake to stand for 5 minutes before you invert it is a critical step. This gives the cake a chance to firm up slightly and lets the caramel cool just enough so that it doesn’t spill out, helping it release cleanly from the tin.

How to Serve and Store Your Cake

This magnificent dessert is at its most delicious when served warm from the oven. It is, in our opinion, the ultimate warm banana pudding recipe. We adore serving a hearty slice with a scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream, a generous spoonful of clotted cream, or a stream of warm, creamy custard. The interplay between the warm, gooey cake and a cool, creamy topping is simply heavenly.

On the off chance you have any leftovers, you can keep the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days, or in the refrigerator for up to four days. To reheat, just place a slice in the microwave for 20–30 seconds until it’s warmed through. The sauce can also be gently reheated in a pan or in the microwave.

FAQ

Your New Favourite Dessert Awaits

So, there we have it—a dessert that truly ticks every box. This Sticky Banana Bread Pudding Cake is so much more than a set of instructions; it is a complete sensory experience. It’s the delightful aroma that fills your kitchen as it bakes, the gratifying moment you turn it out of the tin, and the sheer pleasure of that first warm, gooey bite. It’s like a hug in a dessert bowl, turning everyday ingredients into something truly remarkable. The texture has all the comfort of a bread pudding with bananas, yet with the rich crumb of a cake and the indulgent sweetness of a banana caramel cake.

The next time you spot those browning bananas, we hope you feel a little thrill of anticipation. Don your apron, switch on the oven, and prepare to bake a dessert that will have everyone begging for the recipe. We are so excited for you to give it a try! Please let us know how you get on in the comments section below—we always love to hear from you.

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Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 50 mins
Serves: 8

Ingredients

• For the Cake & Topping:
• 3 very ripe large bananas, mashed
• 1 additional ripe banana, sliced
• 125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 175g light soft brown sugar
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100ml buttermilk
• For the Sticky Toffee Sauce:
• 150g dark soft brown sugar
• 75g unsalted butter
• 150ml double cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• A generous pinch of sea salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C Fan). Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin. Melt 50g butter and 50g light brown sugar for the caramel base; pour into the tin. Arrange sliced banana on top.
2. Cream remaining 75g butter and 125g sugar. Beat in eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, and mashed bananas. Fold in sifted dry ingredients (flour, bicarb, salt), alternating with buttermilk. Spoon batter into the tin.
3. Bake for 40-50 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. To make the sauce, gently heat the dark brown sugar, butter, double cream, 1/2 tsp vanilla, and salt in a pan until dissolved, then simmer for 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened.
4. Let the cake cool in the tin for 5 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Pour half the warm sauce over the cake and serve the rest on the side.