Peanut Butter Banana Bacon Cake

Peanut butter banana bacon cake is a rich and decadent dessert that combines banana cake layers with sweet banana filling and smooth peanut butter frosting. It is garnished with candied bacon pieces for a sweet and salty crunchy finish!

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Today, January 8th, is Elvis Presley’s birthday. The famous “Elvis sandwich” consists of peanut butter, banana slices, and bacon. It’s an interesting and unique combination. It may sound a bit strange, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. The fusion of creamy peanut butter, caramelized sweet bananas and smokey bacon is absolutely delicious! All together it creates a sweet and salty paradise.

The flavor profile works so well with each other as a sandwich. Thus, it is only fitting to translate those flavors into a special birthday cake!

Cake Components

• Banana Cake
• Caramelized Banana Filling
• Peanut Butter Frosting
• Candied Bacon Pieces

Banana cake is similar to traditional banana bread in flavor and ingredients. However, the cake differs in texture. Banana cake is not as dense or sweet as banana bread. There are many variations of this banana cake including tahini chocolate banana cake and banana peanut butter jelly cake.

The banana filling is made with brown butter, mashed bananas, and brown sugar. The riper the banana, the more flavorful the filling. Adding a pinch of salt after cooking really helps to further enhance the flavors.

Peanut butter frosting is your standard American buttercream. Beat together softened butter and smooth peanut butter (the homogenous, no-stir variety like Jif or Skippy works best) with confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Thin out the frosting consistency to your liking with heavy cream or milk.

Candied bacon only requires two ingredients: bacon and sugar! I like to use a combination of brown sugar and white granulated sugar. You can use either or both. Coat the bacon in sugar and bake until crisp. That’s it! The most difficult part is waiting for the bacon to cool. Allow the candied bacon to cool and harden before digging in.

Assembly

Mis en place is important! Have all your peanut butter banana bacon cake components ready before starting assembly.

1. Slice each banana cake into two equal layers. You will end up with four layers of cake.
2. Place one cake layer on cake board or serving plate. Spread a thin layer of peanut butter frosting. Follow with a thin layer of banana filling.
3. Top with another cake layer. Repeat adding peanut butter frosting and banana filling. Continue to repeat until fourth cake layer is on top.
4. Coat the top and sides of the cake with remaining peanut butter frosting. Garnish assembled cake with chopped candied bacon!

Cake Serving and Storage

Cold cake directly out of the fridge is the easiest to slice into clean portions. Use a sharp knife to slice cake. Wipe knife clean after each slice. Let cake slices sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes to let cake and frosting soften before serving.

A 6-inch round layer cake easily serve 10-12 wedge slices.

Store uncut assembled cake in the fridge for up to two days before slicing. Once sliced open, cover exposed sliced cake with plastic wrap, wax paper, or parchment paper to prevent cake from drying out.

More Banana Cake Recipes

• Banana Cream Cake
• Banana Bundt Cake
• Caramel Coffee Banana Cake
• Walnut Banana Rum Cake

5 from 1 vote

Peanut Butter Banana Bacon Cake

By Maryanne Cabrera

A rich and decadent celebration cake that combines sweet banana cake with peanut butter frosting and candied bacon. It's the perfect cake for those that love bold flavors!

Yield: 6-inch cake

Servings: 12

Prep Time: 25 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr

Assembly Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

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Ingredients

Banana Cake

• ▢ 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, (195 g)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ▢ ¼ cup unsalted butter, (57 g), room temp, softened
• ▢ ½ cup granulated sugar, (100 g)
• ▢ ½ cup dark brown sugar, (100 g), packed
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 2 medium sized ripe bananas, (about ⅔ cup) , mashed
• ▢ ⅓ cup whole milk, (76 g) room temp

Banana Filling

• ▢ 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, browned
• ▢ 1 ripe banana, mashed
• ▢ 1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
• ▢ pinch of salt

Peanut Butter Frosting

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, (113 g), room temp, softened
• ▢ ¼ cup smooth peanut butter, (70 g)
• ▢ 2 cups confectioners' sugar, (227 g)
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• ▢ 3 Tablespoons heavy cream, , or more depending on desired consistency

Candied Bacon

• ▢ 3 strips bacon
• ▢ dark brown sugar
• ▢ granulated sugar

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Instructions 

Banana Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two 6” cake pans with parchment and lightly grease the sides.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter, honey, sugar, and brown sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the mashed bananas.
• Alternate adding the flour mixture and whole milk. Start with the flour and end with the flour. Mix until just combined.
• Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes clean. Let cool in pan for a couple minutes before unmolding and transferring to cooling rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing layers.

Banana Filling

• In a small pan, melt the butter oven medium heat.  Brown the butter until it produces nutty aroma.  Let cool slightly.
• In another pan over medium heat, combine mashed bananas and brown sugar. Heat mixture until sugar has dissolved and banana mixture has cooked down.
  
• Add melted brown butter to banana mixture. Cook until fragrant. Remove from heat and add salt to taste. Allow mixture to cool before using.
  

Peanut Butter Frosting

• Cream together softened butter and smooth peanut butter.  Slowly add sifted confectioner’s sugar.  Add vanilla paste and continue to mix.  Add tablespoons of cream until you reach your desired consistency.

  *note: I used 5 tablespoons of cream

Candied Bacon

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Prepare a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Lay strips of bacon onto baking sheet. Sprinkle with brown sugar and sugar. Flip bacon and coat other side with brown sugar and sugar. Let side for a couple minutes until sugars slightly dissolve into bacon.
• Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and flip bacon strips. If desired, sprinkle more sugar. Return to oven and bake for another 15 minutes until bacon is crisp and caramelized.
  
• Remove bacon from baking sheet and transfer to cooling rack. Once at room temperature, break up the bacon into small pieces.
  

Assembly

• Split each banana cake into two equal layers.  End up with four equal layers.
• Place one layer of cake on cake board. If desired, lightly soak cake layer with a rum or whiskey. With an offset spatula slather on a thin layer of peanut butter frosting, followed by a thin layer of banana filling. Add another layer of cake and repeat adding frosting and banana filling. Continue to repeat until last layer of cake is on top.
• Coat the top and sides of the cake with remaining peanut butter frosting. Garnish top of the cake with candied bacon.

Nutrition

Calories: 435kcal, Carbohydrates: 59g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 11g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 75mg, Sodium: 347mg, Potassium: 207mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 43g, Vitamin A: 545IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 55mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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