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–+ servings

Chocolate Nutella Banana cake

This chocolate Nutella banana cake has layers of fluffy banana cake that have bits of Nilla wafers in the batter, a whipped Nutella frosting, and a dark chocolate ganache.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Assembly Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings 12 servings

Equipment

Ingredients
 

Banana Cake

  • 3 cups (375 grams) all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter melted
  • 1 ½ cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs room temperature
  • 2 large (300 grams) bananas mashed
  • 1 cup (240 grams) whole milk room temperature
  • 2 cups (140 grams) Nilla wafers roughly chopped, mini or regular size work

Dark Chocolate Ganache

  • ½ cup (120 grams) heavy whipping cream
  • 4 oz dark chocolate chopped

Nutella Frosting

  • 1 ½ cups (339 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 cup (300 grams) Nutella
  • 3-4 cups (360-480 grams) powdered sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk/heavy cream room temperature, if needed

Topping

  • Nutella
  • chopped hazelnuts
  • mini chocolate chips
  • crushed Nilla wafers

Instructions

Banana Cake

  • Preheat oven to 325F and line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
  • Melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  • Once the butter has cooled for 5 minutes, add the granulated sugar and vanilla to the butter and whisk to combine.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well in between each addition. Add the mashed bananas and whisk to combine.
  • Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until almost fully mixed in. Add half of the milk and whisk until almost combined. Repeat this with the other halves of the dry ingredients and the milk.
  • Add the chopped Nilla wafers and fold to combine.
  • Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes - the top of the cake will be golden and the edges will begin to peel away from the sides of the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely in the pan at room temperature. Once cool, put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes prior to assembly.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

  • Chop your chocolate finely and set aside.
  • Warm the heavy cream over the stove on medium heat until gently simmering and bubbles form at the edges of the pan. Pour the warmed heavy cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 3-4 minutes. The warmed heavy cream will melt the chocolate.
  • Gently stir the cream and chocolate together until completely combined and smooth.
  • Set aside at room temperature, stirring every 10 minutes or so, so the ganache stays a consistent texture. It will thicken as it cools.

Nutella Frosting

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl if using a handheld mixer, beat the butter by itself on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until creamy.
  • Add the Nutella and beat for 1-2 minutes on medium-high speed, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
  • Add one cup of the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until combined - starting at low speed so the sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl, then bumping it up to high speed. Continue to add one cup of powdered sugar add a time and repeat. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
  • If needed, add the milk then mix until combined. Once everything is combined, beat on medium speed for 2 minutes until fluffy. You may need to add more powdered sugar (to thicken) or more milk (to thin) depending on desired consistency.

Assembly

  • All components of the cake should be cold prior to assembly - it makes it much easier. Put the ganache and the frosting in their own piping bags.
  • Use a serrated knife or cake leveler to cut the cake. You will end up with 4 cake layers measuring 9x6.5 inches. 
  • Begin by leveling off the top of the 9x13 inch cake if a dome formed. Then, slice the cake down the center (hamburger style) so you now have two cakes measuring 9x6.5 inches. 
  • Next, carefully slice each cake in half again, but this time you are separating the top from the bottom, so cut horizontally. Now you should have all four cake layers.
  • Take one cake layer and pipe some of the Nutella frosting on top. Spread into an even layer. 
  • Top with another cake layer, then pipe a rectangle of Nutella frosting around the top edges of the cake. Fill that rectangle with all of the ganache and spread into an even layer.
  • Place the third cake layer on top and frost with more Nutella frosting. Place the final cake layer on top. At this point, I like to put the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes so the cake layers and filling have time to firm up and set. This will make it easier to frost the rest of the cake - if the filling is warm, the cake layers may be unstable and slide all over the place.
  • After the 30 minutes, make a crumb coat. Remove the cake from the fridge and frost the top and sides with a thin layer of frosting. Place it back in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will lock in the crumbs so they don’t get mixed in with the frosting while you are decorating.
  • Use the remaining frosting to frost the cake completely. 

Decorate

  • Use a piping bag with a small circle tip to pipe Nutella on top of the cake. Top with chopped hazelnuts, mini chocolate chips, crushed Nilla wafers, etc. Enjoy!
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