A delicious Banana Cake with Nutella Frosting. You’ll love the pairing of moist banana cake with a nutty, creamy frosting in this easy recipe.
Are you as obsessed with Nutella as we are? These Nutella Stuffed Donut Holes are another must-try dessert!
Why Make Nutella Frosting
We simply couldn’t resist pairing this banana cake with the chocolate-hazelnut flavors in Nutella. Along with tasting out-of-this-world, delicious the creamy Nutella makes the frosting so soft and spreadable.
Once you taste this frosting you’ll want to add it on anything and everything. Go nuts! Spread it on graham crackers, on cake and especially on these Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes.
Or just eat it with a spoon. It’s THAT good.
If you have the chance, don’t want to miss out on the perfection that is this banana cake with Nutella frosting. It’s pure banana chocolate paradise.
Ingredient Notes
- Nutella – This is a spread made of hazelnuts and chocolate. It’s readily available at most grocery stores or you can get in online.
- Bananas – Naturally, banana cake calls for bananas. We used three full bananas for this recipe. The riper the bananas the sweeter and moister the cake will be.
- Butter – You will need unsalted butter for both the cake and the frosting. Don’t have unsalted? Use salted butter instead and reduce or omit the added kosher salt in the recipe.
- Vanilla extract – A teaspoon of vanilla extract adds a creamy, fragrant dimension of flavor.
- Milk – This gets beaten with the Nutella, butter and powdered sugar to thin the frosting to a spreadable consistency. We used skim milk but any milk will work.
Tips and Tricks
- Assembly: After frosting the first layer of cake, top it with the second layer. Spread a little frosting on top to form a crumb layer. Then chill the cake for 10 minutes before spreading on the remaining frosting. This method helps the top of the cake look smoother than adding all the frosting at once.
- Cake size: This recipe is for a 2-layer cake baked in 9 inch round pans. You can also make it as a sheet cake in a 9×13 baking pan you like. A sheet cake will take longer to bake than two cake layers.
- Frosting: If you want a thinner frosting, add more milk a tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you like. Our chocolate sour cream frosting is a delicious substitute! Or give our chocolate cream cheese frosting a try on this cake.
- Storing: Banana Cake with Nutella Frosting can be stored at room temperature. Keep it covered and enjoy within 5 days.
Recipe FAQs
When you use an electric mixer, there’s no need to mash the bananas in a separate bowl first. Just toss them right into the bowl and let your mixer do the work! So easy.
I haven’t tested this recipe in cupcake form but I’m sure it would be delicious! Because cupcakes are smaller, you would need to reduce the baking time. The batter should make enough for about 2 dozen cupcakes.
Yes, you can freeze the cake layers after baking. Let them cool, then double wrap in foil or freezer bags. Let thaw, assemble and frost!
I don’t recommend freezing the Nutella frosting or the frosted cake. Nutella changes consistency after freezing and thawing which would alter the taste and texture of the frosted cake.
More Easy Banana Recipes
- Banana Nutella Bread: clearly I love this combo!
- Banana Split Cheesecake: this is seriously good stuff, and it’s no bake too!
- Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Glaze: a delicious start to your day!
- Zucchini Bread
- Banana Cookies
- Banana Bread Recipe
Best Cake Recipes
See all Cake recipes
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
Banana Cake with Nutella Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 medium bananas
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup Nutella chocolate hazelnut spread
- ¼ cup milk
- 4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- For the cake, grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add in egg, vanilla, and bananas (you can mash them first, but I toss them in and it does the work). Add in flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat for a couple minutes until fully blended.
- Pour batter evenly between the two cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pans for about 10 minutes. Flip onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- For the frosting, beat butter for two minutes. Add in nutella, powdered sugar and milk. Beat an additional 3-5 minutes. scraping down the sides of the bowl periodically.
- To assemble the cake, lay one layer of cooled cake on a cake plate. Spoon frosting over middle layer generously. Top with second layer of cake. Spoon and spread frosting over cake to create a thin crumb layer. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes. Using a spatula, continue frosting the cake with the remaining frosting. If desired, reserve some frosting and place in a pastry bag with tip to decorate. ENJOY.
Notes
Nutrition
Bananas, chocolate and hazelnut come together in one sweet, moist cake. This Banana Nutella Cake is perfect for the Nutella addicts in your life!
This is a five star recipe for sure!!
I used 3 medium frozen bananas and other than a couple small changes, I followed recipe. I took the idea of adding chocolate ganache from another recipe similar to this one and put it between the layers and on top of the cake as well. I also only used 2 cups of powdered sugar instead of 4. This recipe was not only very quick and easy to follow, it used ingredients I already had on hand. I am a slow cook/baker, but even I knocked this cake off quite fast!
The only issue I had was that upon trying to decorate it using piping bags, there were little beads of nutella throughout the frosting that didn’t get smoothed out while beating the batter. These got stuck in the tip of the piping tip when I used smaller tips like #2 & #30. This of coarse is not a recipe issue, just want to give readers a heads up. I looked in the two containers of nutella and upon closer inspection, noticed that they both did have a few small beads or lumps throughout.
Thanks so much for sharing this amazing cake recipe Aimee! My husband said he already knows what type of cake he wants for his next birthday! Lol His birthday isn’t for another 9 months.
So glad you enjoyed the cake!!
Can’t wait to make this! I would normally use very over ripe frozen bananas to make this. In your opinion, will thawed ones work here, or would they have too much moisture to make a great cake??
Thanks so much for sharing, I will let you know how mine turns out:
Help! I’m building my baking supplies. Tell me about 9″ cake pans. Brand? Should it be non stick? Spring release? Does the depth mater?
Thank you!!! 🍰❤️
Hi! Do the bananas need to be a certain level of ripeness?
I usually wait until they are yellow (even with some brown on the skin). This adds extra flavor and sweetness!
Hi there, trying this weekend. Does it matter what kind of milk you use? 1% ? I do have buttermilk in the fridge but is that too thick?
Thank you!
I usually have skim milk on hand, so that’s what I use…1% or 2% is also good! Anything thicker and you may need to add a little extra…
Can you use this receipt in a bundt pan?
I want to make this cake because it looks delicious, but is there a liquid in the batter. I would think that either milk or buttermilk would be necessary to allow you to pour it into the pans. Thanks.
The batter is thick, but I promise it works 🙂 The banana adds the moisture needed!
Hi!! I´m from Brazil, and this weekend I made this cake, it was great! The cake was very soft and delicious. Congrats! 😀
So glad to hear you loved the cake!! Greetings in Brazil 🙂
How many cupcakes does this make?
Man, this looks good! I’m thinking about making it for my birthday (yes, I always bake myself a cake). But I’d have to do it the day before my party – think it’d be fine in the refrigerator overnight?
Also, I am a Nutella convert – I started out disliking it then over time somehow grew to like it. Partly a great development, partly dangerous!
I bake my own cakes too 🙂 The cake is fine made a day in advance. I usually keep in in a cake server on my counter 🙂 ENJOY!!
Thanks!!! Excited to try it out!
Help! I’m building my baking supplies. Tell me about 9″ cake pans. Brand? Should it be non stick? Spring release? Does the depth mater?
Thank you!!! 🍰❤️
This cakes looks to die for! I have a feeling I’m going to want nutella buttercream on everything though!!