Banana Flip Cake

You’ll flip for this tender banana flip cake with cream filling. For some, this recipe might ring up nostalgia because it’s named after and inspired by an individually packaged banana snack cake that was a lunchbox treat for those who grew up in the ’60s and ’70s. You don’t need to have tried the original inspiration, however, to appreciate a soft square banana cake filled with sweet cream.

What are banana flip cakes?

The original banana flip cakes, sometimes labeled banana dreams, were individually packaged banana-flavored snack cakes. They were shaped like a semicircle, a folded round of moist cake filled with fluffy banana cream filling. Commercial bakeries including Hostess, Dolly Madison and Nickles Bakery each produced their own version of the banana flip, but all the cakes were permanently discontinued in the early 2000s.

Banana Flip Cake Ingredients

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

• Yellow cake mix: Using boxed cake mix is our easy shortcut to make the cake layers for a banana flip cake. We like the color that yellow cake mix contributes. But a white cake mix works, too, and you can add a drop of yellow food coloring to the batter for that banana hue.
• Instant pudding mix: Instant banana pudding mix is the main source of banana flavor in the cake. You can substitute vanilla, but know that your resulting cake won’t have that banana essence unless you also add a bit of banana flavor extract.
• Milk: Milk is the primary liquid in both the cake and the filling. We call for 2%, but any type of dairy or nondairy milk alternative should work fine.
• Eggs: Eggs help bind and build structure in the cake batter. Note that it’s best to use room-temperature eggs when baking.
• All-purpose flour: A little flour, cooked with milk until hydrated and sticky, is an important element to the cake’s cream filling. The gluten in the cooked flour helps hold the fat and sugar in suspension for the fluffy filling.
• Butter and shortening: Two types of fat whip together to make the creamy cake filling. The butter provides flavor while the shortening, which has less moisture than butter, is solid at room temperature and helps keep the butter stable.
• Sugar: A little sugar sweetens the cream filling.
• Vanilla: The cream filling is flavored with vanilla extract. If you want to give banana flip cakes even more banana flavor, you can use banana flavor extract instead.
• Confectioners’ sugar: A light dusting of confectioners’ sugar is the finishing touch these snack cakes need as a handheld treat.
• Whipped topping and sliced bananas (optional): If you want to dress up these cake slices a little, we recommend adding a few fresh banana slices and a dollop of whipped topping or cream. They’re nice touches but totally optional!

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the cake pans

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

Line two greased 15x10x1-inch baking pans with waxed paper and grease the paper. Set aside.

Step 2: Make the cake batter

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, milk and eggs. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds; then beat on medium for two minutes.

Step 3: Bake the banana cake layers

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

Spread the batter into the prepared pans. Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool for five minutes before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely. Gently peel off the waxed paper.

Step 4: Cook the flour for the filling

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, whisk the flour and milk until smooth. Bring it to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and cool to room temperature.

Step 5: Mix the filling

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer, cream the butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy, five to seven minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Add the flour and milk mixture; beat on high until fluffy, 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 6: Assemble the banana flip cake

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

Place one cake on a large cutting board; spread the top with frosting. Top with the remaining cake and sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Cut into squares. If desired, top with whipped topping and sliced bananas.

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

Banana Flip Cake Variations

• Add coconut: Replace the vanilla extract in the cream filling with coconut extract, and sprinkle the top of the cake with toasted coconut shreds for a duo of heady tropical flavors.
• Try it with chocolate: Chill the cakes and then drizzle them with homemade chocolate magic shell.
• Swap in a different cake mix: Use a chocolate cake mix or a strawberry cake mix with instant banana pudding mix to make a cake that has a chocolate-banana flavor or a strawberry-banana flavor.

How to Store Banana Flip Cake

Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days. Serve cool or allow slices to come up to room temperature before serving them.

Can you freeze banana flip cake?

Yes, you can freeze a banana flip cake either whole or in individual slices, well wrapped, for up to three months. Remove the cake from the freezer and allow it to come to room temperature slowly before eating. If you try to speed the defrosting in the microwave or oven, you’ll melt the filling.

Banana Flip Cake Tips

Jena Carlin for Taste Recipes

Why do you add pudding to the cake mix? 

Adding a box of instant pudding mix to a boxed cake mix is a tried and true way of helping the resulting cake come out more moist and more like a cake made from scratch. We love using this technique to make all kinds of impressive cakes!

Can I bake banana flip cakes in another pan?

We call for baking these banana cakes in two thin layers in 15x10x1-inch baking pans, also called jelly-roll pans. Doing so yields a two-layer cake that still has a low profile and works as a handheld treat. You can also bake this cake in two round cake pans or two 13×9-inch baking dishes and then layer them, though the layers from either will be thicker than pictured.