Triple Chocolate Banana Cake – chocolate, chocolate chip banana cake layers with banana cream filling and chocolate buttercream.

Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Monday and happy belated Mother’s Day, my friends! I hope you all had an amazing day celebrating moms in some way. We had a quiet day around here, but I loved it. I was able to bake and cook without cleaning up, and I basically ate a full half batch of the orange rolls I made. Doesn’t get much better than that, if you ask me!
Triple Chocolate Banana Cake
Today I’m sharing my new Triple Chocolate Banana Cake recipe. I came up with this one last week during one of my early morning planning sessions. Honestly, my best work and my best thinking is done between 5am to 7am. This is proof!

After doing several fruit-filled cakes and then a coconut cake, I was craving chocolate. As I was thinking about this craving the other day, and how to satisfy it, I instantly thought about chocolate banana bread. My friend, Maria, from Two Peas and Their Pod, makes an incredible chocolate banana bread. I made it a few months ago with the kids and it’s divine. As I drooled over Maria’s bread, I decided it was time to put those flavor in a cake together.

Chocolate Banana Cake Layers
These cake layers are full of flavor and moisture. My goal was to create a cake that tastes like chocolate but isn’t too chocolatey that you don’t taste the bananas. Balance is everything!
In this cake, you’ll be using a half cup of dark cocoa powder (I like this one) and one and a half cups of mashed bananas. I also added a half cup of mini chocolate chips for a little texture.
NOTE: when adding chocolate chips to cake batter, make sure to toss them in a little bit of flour. This helps prevent the chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake while the layers bake.

Banana Cream Filling
To balance the chocolate banana cake and chocolate buttercream, I’ve added one of my favorite fillings: my copycat Magnolia Bakery banana cream filling that I use in my Banana Cream Cake. This creamy filling is to-die-for. In fact, I love it so much that I created the recipe to actually give you a little more than you need in the cake. Totally intentional! Save a little for yourself and throw some Nilla Wafers and freshly sliced bananas in it for a yummy treat!
NOTE: If you’re making this cake ahead of time and plan to freeze it, DO NOT add the fresh bananas. They will brown. You can either leave them out completely or add a few sliced bananas with each slice of cake.
Chocolate Buttercream
This chocolate buttercream is a classic in my book. I honestly think you can pretty much pair it with pretty much any cake flavor.
NOTE: if the buttercream is overly soft after you add the ingredients (which includes the melted chocolate), just cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for an hour or so. Remember to re-beat it before using.
Can I make this recipe into cupcakes? If so how long should I bake and how many will a 3 layer cake give me?
Yes you can! 18-20 minutes but keep an eye on them! Itll make about 2 dozen.
Hi Courtney, how can I make layer cake if my oven only fits one or two 6 inch cake pans?
Should I bake one pan first and bake the others after the first one? Will it affect the batter if it sits on the counter waiting for the first cake to be baked? Or can I put one pan in middle rack and one pan in bottom rack? I’d like to hear your suggestions.
Thanks!
Just put two pans in at a time. The batter for the other two can sit on the counter if they are going in right after!
On instant banana pudding how do u measure 1.5 oz? Small box is 3.4oZ? Making this now an not sure if u used whole box or how to measure in oz
Hi, is there a UK equivalent to instant banana pudding? Thank you
I’m so sorry I don’t know.
Did you add the chocolate chips to the batter? Lol I got all the way to then end of the recipe, still had the chips so I used them to decorate. I think on your insta you mentioned throwing them in the batter now that I think about it. I just didn’t see it in the directions.
Sorry! I will fix that. Yes dust the chocolate chips with flour so they don’t sink and stir them into your batter at the very end before you pour into your pans!
Hi Courtney, it’s hard to find instant banana pudding (annoying) where I’m from, can I use the “cook & serve” pudding? Thank you!
Sonia
It should work!
Hi! If I half this recipe, how many cake layers will I get if I use 6” pans? 2? 3? Thanks!
2
Hi Courtney, Can I use 2 9” pans instead of 3 8”? Thank you…
Yes!
Hi Courtney!
I will be making this cake recipe for my birthday. I just wanted to confirm if for this cake specifically we preheat the oven to 325 degrees and bake it at that? Not 350 degrees like most cakes?
Thank you!
Yes!
I can’t find instant banana pudding anywhere. My cook & serve pudding package is 135g and calls for 3 cups milk to prepare. Should I use half the package with the sweetened condensed milk and enough milk to make 1.5 cups?
Yes