Banana Sheet Cake with a Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese Frosting

Thanksgiving is in 3 days, and I can’t wait!

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving are the desserts; pumpkin pie, pumpkin chocoflan, and pumpkin cheesecake, it’s the only day of the year when I want to binge on all things pumpkin. This year, I’m doing things a little different, I’m bringing this banana sheet cake with a dulce de leche cream cheese frosting to the table!

I had bought a bunch of cans of dulce de leche (you can find it at some Target locations, but all Walmart locations should carry it) and a big bag of pecans to use for another post, and was left with a ton of leftovers, so I figured, why not use incorporate them in something else? I had been wanting to do a sheet cake for a while, so after some brainstorming, and a few ripe bananas later, this baby came to fruition. It’s like banana bread, but waaay better. It’s a really moist banana sheet cake, with a dulce de leche cream cheese frosting, topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon candied pecans. The candied pecans are totally optional, you can swap them out for regular pecans, but I did find that they added a really nice crunch to the cake.

I’ve got one more dessert recipe coming up on Wednesday, but if you’d like to add this cake to your Thanksgiving line up, Id suggest throwing a few bananas in a brown paper bag to start the ripening process!

¡Nos vemos pronto!

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5 from 2 votes

Banana Sheet Cake with a Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 1 9x13 Sheet Cake

Course Dessert

Cuisine Dessert

Calories 0kcal

Author Esteban Castillo

Ingredients

• For the Cake:
• 3 large ripe bananas about 1 and 1/2 cups mashed
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 
  
• For the Buttercream:
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 3/4 cups dulce de leche
• 2 3/4 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 
  
• For the Candied Pecans
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups pecans
• 
  
• For Garnish
• Ground Cinnamon

Instructions

• For the Cake:
• Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease and line a 9x13” baking pan with a parchment sling so the two longer sides have a piece hanging over the pan to help with lifting later.
• In a small bowl, mash the bananas using a fork, or potato masher, then set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
• Beat the butter with the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy and paler in color, this should take about 2 minutes. Add the mashed bananas, then the vegetable oil, and vanilla. Then add the eggs, one at a time, making sure that ones mixed in before adding the next. After the eggs have been mixed in, add one third of the dry ingredients, mix on low to incorporate, then ⅓ of the buttermilk, followed by another third of the dry mixture, another third of the buttermilk and then finally the last amount of each.
• Mix just until combined then use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything’s mixed in, then add the batter to the prepared pan, smooth it out, and bake for 36-38 minutes, until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Let the cake cool completely then make the buttercream.
• For the Buttercream:
• In the bowl of a stand up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the butter with the cream cheese and dulce de leche for a full minute at medium speed. Turn the speed down to low and add the powdered sugar ½ cup at a time so you don’t end up in a powdered sugar cloud.
• After you have all the powdered sugar mixed in, add the cinnamon and salt then turn the speed to medium high for a full minute to make the buttercream nice and fluffy. Spread the buttercream evenly over the cake then let the cake sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
• While the cake sits in the fridge for an hour, make the candied pecans.
• In a medium saucepan on low heat, add the sugar and cinnamon, then pour in the water and vanilla. Use a rubber spatula to stir this mixture until the sugar has completely dissolved then turn up your flame to medium-low. Once the mixture begins to simmer, add in the pecans. Use your rubber spatula to continuously stir your pecans around, until all of the water has evaporated and the sugar has clung to the pecans, it should take about 12-15 minutes, then empty the pecans onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to cool.
• Once the cake has sat in the fridge for at least an hour, you can sprinkle the candied pecans on top of the cake, or you can do what I did and slice the cake first, then just add a few pecans and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the middle of each slice for neater presentation.