Banana Bread Tres Leches Cake.
You might want to cover your ears for this one.
Because since taking a bite, I haven’t stopped shouting every expletive under the sun. Earmuffs!
Gah. This cake. It’s… that good. I just can’t.
I am a total basketcase over it.
That would be some fluffy whipped egg whites folded into batter up there. I was so freaking excited because I actually beat them BY HAND. I think my forearm still hurts. I don’t know why I did it but I thought hey… this might be fun. I’ve never done it the old-fashioned way and well, since I’m incredibly lazy and stuck inside this entitled generation, I should do something that requires work. So I did. And then? Well then I DUMPED THE EGG WHITES DOWN THE DRAIN. Yeah. By accident of course. That was awesome. Not. Actually, first I dumped the tail end of a can of beer in the bowl. THEN… into the sink.
So I ended up using an electric mixer anyway. What a crock.
Now, tres leches. I love love love. Um wait, something I don’t love? That “leches” continues to get auto-corrected to “leeches.” Uhhhh no. Never ever. I would not like to eat a cake of three leeches.
I am nuts over this one though. So much that I made it into cupcakes last year too. For someone who would never choose cake (unless it has the word cheese in front of it) as her drug of choice, you won’t find me turning down a slice of tres leches anytime soon. It’s just so gooey and delicious.
And, since I just can’t let anything in this world BE, I had to try this whole banana twist. I was wary, considering that banana bread is already somewhat gooey and soft (you can see I’m trying hard not to use the m word that ends in “oist”) to begin with. And then with that whole pouring three milks on top… yeah.
My inner skeptic was antsy.
Then… my inner skeptic was thrilled.
Banana Bread Tres Leches Cake
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup 1 stick brown butter, cooled
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, separated
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)
- 2/3 cup whole, 2%, soy or almond milk
- 1/2 cup light coconut milk
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1 1/2 cups cold heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
caramelized bananas
- 3 firm, not too ripe bananas, sliced
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking dish (I used an 8×11 dish) with nonstick spray. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In another smaller bowl or using your electric mixer or hand-mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine egg yolks and sugars. Beat on medium speed until creamy and combined, then add in vanilla extract and bananas. With the mixer on low speed, add in cooled butter and mix until combined. Add in half of the dry ingredients, then add the 2/3 cups of milk. Finish by adding the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer base and using a large spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour batter in the greased dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cake is set in the center and slightly golden. [a 9×9 pan may require a little longer bake time;a 9×13 may require a little less – I would start with 20 minutes.] Remove and let cake cool slightly. You can either leave the cake in the dish to cool, or gently turn it over on a rimmed platter. Let it cool completely, then poke a ton of holes in the top with a fork.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together coconut milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk. Pour the milk mixture over the cake, letting it seep into the fork holes. Let set for about 45 minutes.
- To make the frosting, add the cold whipping cream to the bowl of your electric mixer and beat until stiff peaks form, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar and beat on medium speed to combine. Spread whipped cream evenly over the top of the cake.
- To make the caramelized bananas, heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add butter and one sizzling, toss in bananas, salt, cinnamon and sugar, tossing well to coat. Cook for 4-5 minutes, tossing occasionally, until bananas are golden brown. Remove and let cool slightly. Serve cake with bananas on top or as a garnish. Note: you do want to store this cake in the fridge, but it can get slightly dense because of the bananas. I recommend letting it sit out for 30-60 minutes before serving!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Oh and PS: apparently that’s what happens when you put hot caramelized bananas on fresh whipped cream. Stuff melts.
153 Comments on “Banana Bread Tres Leches Cake.”
You’re a genius. This sounds too amazing. It’s definatley going in my top 10 fattening-foods- to-make list, right next to the carrot cake cheesecake recipe I recently found.
Jessica,
I am making this for my girlfriends on Thursday. I am going to prepare the cake on Wednesday afternoon/night. Should I wake to put the bananas on top until I serve it on thursday or can I put it in the fridge on top of the cake on wednesday night? I will take your suggestion and have the cake sit out for 30-60 minutes before I serve it on thursday…thanks ;)
definitely wait for the bananas! if possible, make them right before serving. otherwise they will probably get mushy!
glad I asked you! I will make the cake the night before and the bananas right before I serve it! thanks for the tip Jessica! I will let you know how it turns out! hope you had a nice weekend :)
This looks delicious ~ I am going to try it ~ Thanks for sharing this ~
Just going over your blog and my tongue is hungry with all these goodies ~
I am so excited!! I just pulled the cake part out of the oven, the “tres leches” juice is waiting in the fridge (we added about a quarter cup of that cream of coconut that people use for pina coladas to make it crazy coconutty orgasmic, but as I am reading the caramelized banana part, I realized there’s a tiny typo and I want to make sure I do this PERfectly!!
Here’s what is written: “Add butter and one sizzling, toss in bananas, salt, cinnamon and sugar, tossing well to coat.” [doesn’t say one sizzling what] any hints?
thanks and your blog is one of my total faves. I have no idea how I found you but I am so glad. It’s funny being a blogger (I had an organizing blog way back in the old days of aught five), your readers feel like they know you or they are your friend. That’s good!
thanks for doing what you do.
warmly,
Jessica
I’m not sure whether I love you or hate you for this one, friend… now I can’t think about anything else! Looks sooooo good.
i’m in love with you. Banana Bread and Tres Leches are my TWO FAVORITE foods. And you have combined them. I cannot wait to try this.
this looks great!
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Jessica,
hi, again! I just made this cake. I am planning on serving it my girlfriends tomorrow night (thursday). I did everything except for the bananas. the cake (with frosting on top) is in the fridge now. Do you think the frosting will be okay? It wont get too soggy, will it? My plan tomorrownight is to get it out 30 min before I plan to serve it and then make the bananas during that time and then top the cake with the bananas and serve. is that good you think? just worried about the icing getting soggy and the bananas melting the icing! haha! all I can say is that everything smells delicious!!!!! I added a little bit of vanilla paste to the icing too…and maybe stole a few licks after I was done icing haha.
as long as it is in the fridge the entire time, the frosting should stay great! let me know how it turns out.
oh and regardless – if the bananas are a little warm they will still melt the frosting down, there is no way around it. let them cool as much as possible! :)
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well, it came out amazing!! thanks so much for the recipe and for answering all my annoying questions! haha the cake was absolutely amazing… everyone loved it. for anyone who is contemplating making this recipe…DO IT. everyone will love you for it. I wrote a post on my blog about it here: http://www.sistersrunningthekitchen.com/2013/02/banana-bread-tres-leche-cake-w-caramelized-bananas/
thanks again jessica and have a great weekend :)
I might want to cover my eyes too, but too late for that! These pictures are already stuck in my head! I mean, how dense and moist is it legal to be? ;)
Looks amazing! I’m hoping to make this today for a SB party. Can the batter be baked as cupcakes as well? Bake at a different temp?
I really want to make this recipe but is there anything I can substitute the coconut milk for. Thanks.
Gaaahhhhh Tres Leches is one of my favorites everrrr!!!!! Omgness, this looks so delicious it looks too beautiful to eat! Wait actually, I’d still eat it while mourning over it.
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The cake tastes great, but it’s a little tooooo heavy for our liking… really. We’re not really into American style overloaded pastries, but it was a try. We’re giving it away to our French neighbours— they like all that haha. Thank you for the experience, though :)
Love from Spain!
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Very disappointed in this cake. It would be better if the cake was light instead of heavy and dense.
It’s a shame you were disappointed in the cake Suzanne, especially after taking the time to make it – however I do specifically mention in the recipe that this is a dense cake. Banana bread itself is dense, so the only way to achieve a fluffy tres leches banana cake would be to exclude the actual bananas and just use banana extract.
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Jessica, this was delicious!! The hit of my Cinco de Mayo party. Thank you for the great recipe!
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I could stay for hours on your website searching for recipes. They are all absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes ! Xx
Whats upward, I’ve already been using a hard time trying to show up for that keywords “current version wordpress plugin search engines update”… will you say yes to my remark!!
You should marry me. I wasn’t gay until I read your website. LOL!
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we love our tres leches here in costa rica and i’d love to try this fun spin on it. definitely have plenty of bananas around to make it soon. thanks for sharing!
This is just wrong. Shame on you. :) Can’t wait to try it!
Can I add any booze to this by any chance? Idk, something like bourbon or whiskey?
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i THOUGHT i was a genius tonight, when my dad and i made banana bread, and he said ” its a little too try” and i said “LETS MAKE TRES LECHES BANANA BREAD”. apparently its already an existing recipe, and it LOOKS DELICIOUS. my dad and i are serious foodies, and we are always looking for the best recipes. we will definitely be making this soon. thank you so much!
oh no,,, i forgot the butter! cake is already out of the oven, how bad is it going to be?
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This recipe sounds delicious and I’m going to make it for this weekend. I often put overripe bananas in the freezer and then pull them out when I want to make banana bread or banana cupcakes. Do you think I could use them for this recipe?
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Turned out pretty good but rather heavy because of the bananas. I prefer a more traditional tres leches cake. It was a great way to use up all my overripe bananas though. I cut the sugars in half since the bananas already add so much sweetness.
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How many days before serving can you make just the cake? Can I make the cake one day, do the milk & frosting the next, and then serve the day after?