Dulce de Leche Banana Cake ~ No fancy finish, no bright colors, in fact this lacks all the visual dramatics I’m use to carving into a cake. But don’t underestimate its humble appearance, cut into the crumb and you’ll find a bite that is deliciously moist and proportionally flavored between the bananas and the dulce de leche.
It’s Sunday morning and I’ve been so good with my workout lately, so what do I do? Coffee. Plate. Knife. Two huge slices of the Dulce de Leche Banana Cake later, I’m hitting the stairs and running 16 stadium-like sets to balance out my lack of moderation.
Am I sorry? Nope.
At least I’m not for now, although I may be tomorrow when I’m walking like Tin Man because my legs are so sore and stiff.
But somehow, I doubt sore legs are going to stop me from having a few more slices tomorrow. 
A few notes:
- You can use store-bought or homemade dulce de leche. For a step-by-step picture tutorial and recipe to making homemade dulce de leche, click here.
- The cake can be made up to two days in advance and kept tightly wrapped in the refrigerator.
- To finish the icing the cake like the picture, use an angled offset spatula like Ateco’s icing spatula #1383. Starting from the edge of the cake, using the spatula, draw an arch towards center of the cake all the way around.
Dulce de Leche Banana Cake
Makes one, 9-inch cake
Preparation: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter cake pan and then lightly dust with flour. Place parchment round on bottom of pan.
Ingredients:
Cake:
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup mashed bananas (about 1 ½ large bananas)
- ¾ cup dulce de leche
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8oz cream cheese, cold
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups of powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions:
Cake:
- Place sour cream in a bowl and add baking soda; set aside.
- Mix butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add eggs in one at time and beat until combined. Add vanilla and beat until combined.
- Mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Mix bananas, dulce de leche and sour cream mixture. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with banana mixture. Mix after each addition until just combined.
- Pour mixture into prepared cake pan and bake at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes or until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake for 5 minutes in cake pan. Remove cake and continue to cool cake completely on a wire rack
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Mix cream cheese and butter until combined. Add vanilla and mix until combined.
- Gradually add sifted powdered sugar and mix until fully combined.
Assembly:
- Frost cooled Dulce de Leche Banana Cake to preference.
Welcome to my cozy corner where baking meets random thoughts and musings. I’m a self-taught baker sharing all things sweet (and some savory—okay, and cocktails) with a whisk in one hand and a camera in the other. 
This does look fancy and so good!
I adore dulce de leche and banana goes very well with it. Lovely cake!
That looks so terrific! Banana and caramel make such a winning combination!
If it has Dulce de Leche I’m in :)) but I might have sore legs as well tomorrow :)))
Humble appearance? Maybe, but I definitely believe this will make anyone’s taste buds dance for joy.
Looks delish Naomi! And a great combination of flavors!
I’d do crazy things for dulce de leche too, lol. It’s worth it!
I can’t wait to try this.
Your photography is just beautiful. I love coming to your blog it’s always such a feast for the eyes.
I need to make a cake for tomorrow…and I think I have just found it! I love the finish to the top of this cake. Beautiful work.
Everyone needs a daily slice of cake in their life. Why else would we workout, right?!?
That banana cake looks delish!
ladies… I made this last nite for our weekly bachelorette viewing party & it was a huge hit! so moist & yummy! resembles a carrot cake in texture & the cream cheese frosting was a perfect compliment to the cake! thumbs up from all who tried it!
when I got home I threw the rest in the fridge so it wouldn’t spoil w/ the bananas. i JUST took it out for a little afternoon sinning, I mean snacking & have to say its even better the 2nd day! the flavors have worked a little more magic together while hangin out overnite in the fridge! the bananas have mellowed a wee bit & the smooth creaminess of the dulce de leche has really come out!
this cake is yummy fresh out of the oven but perfection the next day after a little chill time in the refridge
i WILL be making this again & hands down recommend you all try it!
thanks naomi for sharing this w/ us!
xo
Naomi replied: — June 7th, 2011 @ 11:18 pm
Bradee-You are welcome! And thanks letting me know how you liked!
I’m going to try this instead of banana bread next time I have some ripe bananas. Can I use margarine instead of butter?
Naomi replied: — June 7th, 2011 @ 11:19 pm
Hi Sara-I’m sure you can use margarine. I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know what it would do to the flavor and texture. If and when you do try it with margarine, come back and let us know. Thanks. Naomi
I have 2 over-ripe bananas on my counter, and a day off on Thursday. This is fate.
Is that one cake pan or two? It is hard to tell from the picture. If it is just one then that is a lot of frosting for just one layer and I could cut it in half.
Naomi replied: — June 9th, 2011 @ 1:56 am
Hi Pamela,
That’s one cake pan. You can either cut the cake in half and add a second layer of frosting, or yes, you can just as easily cut the frosting recipe in half.
Naomi
How did you frost this? It is beautiful!!
Naomi replied: — June 9th, 2011 @ 1:57 am
Hi Emmabeth,
Thanks for the kind compliment
. To frost it see the last bullet point in the few notes. I go over how to create that pattern and the the icing spatula that will make it easier to achieve.
Naomi
I don’t think this is so humble. It’s as pretty as any of your other cakes. I doubt I can pull that cake swirl off.
That is just amazing! I love dulce de leche in just about anything (Brazilians love it, actually) and in a banana cake it must be heavenly. Beautiful!
So, pretty ALMOST to pretty to eat, almost!
I almost missed this deliciousness. 
~ingrid
Hi! Do you think this same recipe can work for cupcakes also?
Naomi replied: — April 11th, 2013 @ 9:37 am
Claudia- I can’t guarantee it work, since I have haven’t tried it myself, but give it go. I would start by filling the wells 2/3 of the way up and start checking for doness at 12 minutes.
hello…i just saw ur blog n its fantastic…n i would love to make this recipe…but am confused abt a few things…can u pls help me…
i have googled n saw that
1 cup sugar is 200 gms/8 oz and
1 cup flour is abt 140 gms/5 oz…
can u pls tell me do u use this measurements for all ur recipes…plssssssssss help…thank u…
Made this last night. Made extra cupcakes as well because I was nervous about the outcome, and I’m not a baker really. It came out wonderful. Great tasting banana cake. Couldn’t taste any dulce de leche flavors though. Unfortunately, the cake wasn’t so good the second day. I had tightly wrapped and refrigerated it overnight before using it for my husband’s birthday the next day. It had become quite hard. Not so happy about that.
Where can I find dulce de leche