Banana Hazelnut Cake

Banana Hazelnut Cake

  |  
May 6th, 2015
5 from 1 vote
5 from 1 vote

Banana Hazelnut Cake is the perfect combination of banana, chocolate, and nuts.

Yield: 10

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook: 45 minutes

Tessa's Recipe Rundown...

Taste: Perfectly sweet.  Banana flavor cake with chocolate hazelnut frosting. Texture: Light and fluffy crumb with a smooth as silk frosting. Ease: Fairly easy but does require some time to assemble. Appearance: Beautiful and mouthwatering Pros: Delicious, pretty, great flavor combo and texture. Cons: None! Would I make this again? For sure!

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Banana Hazelnut Cake is the perfect combination of banana, chocolate, and nuts.

Please welcome back Melanie from Garnish and Glaze as she shares this positively gorgeous cake recipe!

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty picky with my bananas.  There is about a two day window of when the bananas have the perfect taste and texture and then they just get too weird to eat plain… so then I use the extras in yummy recipes like banana bread, banana coffee cake, and this amazingly gorgeous Banana Hazelnut cake.Banana Hazelnut Cake is the perfect combination of banana, chocolate, and nuts.

I absolutely love bananas paired with peanut butter, chocolate, or NUTELLA!  Whoever invented Nutella was a genius!  I love that chocolate nutty flavor.  So yummy on desserts or even on breakfast foods like waffles, pancakes, and crepes.Banana Hazelnut Cake is the perfect combination of banana, chocolate, and nuts.

Let’s discuss this little beauty of a cake.  First, the cake is perfectly sweet, bananay, and has a light and fluffy crumb.  Second, the frosting is killer.  It’s a silky smooth, not too sweet, and yummy chocolate/hazelnut flavor.  Third, it’s got crunch and more Nutella drizzled on top if desired (who wouldn’t!?).
Banana Hazelnut Cake is the perfect combination of banana, chocolate, and nuts.

Serve it with some fresh sliced (and perfectly ripe) bananas for a lovely dessert for a dinner party.  I am pretty sure ice cream would pair awesome with it as well.Banana Hazelnut Cake is the perfect combination of banana, chocolate, and nuts.

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5 from 1 vote

How to make
Banana Hazelnut Cake

Yield: 10
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Inactive Time 40 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
Banana Hazelnut Cake is the perfect combination of banana, chocolate, and nuts.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (254 grams)
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch (25 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (98 grams)
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar (266 grams)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup (about 2) mashed bananas
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 3/4 cup chopped hazelnuts (84 grams)

For the Frosting:

  • 1/2 cup flour (63 grams)
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup whipping cream
  • 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter (339 grams)
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (NOT powdered sugar, 300 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/3 cup Nutella or hazelnut spread (98 grams)
  • 1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts (37 grams)

Directions

For the Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F (350° if your pans are dark). Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, starch, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs until smooth and then add the bananas and buttermilk, mixing until fully incorporated. Stir in the flour until just combined. Fold in the hazelnuts. Spread equally into two pans.
  4. Bake for 22-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes on a cooling rack and then remove from pans onto rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting:

  1. In a small sauce pan, whisk together cream and flour. Add milk and heat over medium-high heat whisking constantly. Cook until it turns into a thick sauce like pudding. Remove from heat and pour into a shallow container. Place in fridge or freezer and stir every 5 minutes until it has cooled to at least room temperature.
  2. In the bowl of a standing mixer, use the whisk attachment to beat the butter and sugar for 2 minutes or until fluffy. Add the cooled milk mixture, Nutella, and vanilla and beat for 6-10 minutes until it comes together and is fluffy. If the frosting is too airy, switch to using the paddle attachment and beat on low for 2-4 minutes.

Assembling the Cake:

  1. Place one cake on a cake stand and top with one fourth of the frosting. Place the second cake on top upside-down. Apply a thin layer of frosting on the top and sides of cake to create a crumb layer. Place cake in the fridge for 30-60 minutes and then frost the top and sides. Pipe additional decorations on top. Sprinkle the top of the cake with chopped hazelnuts and press more into the sides.

Recipe Notes

Banana Cake- adapted from Sweet Serendipity; Frosting- inspired by Our Best Bites
Course : Dessert
Cuisine : American
Melanie Dueck
Author: Melanie Dueck

Hi! I'm Melanie, from Garnish and Glaze, momma of one (almost two). I love making delicious food and sharing it with others. Moderation is what I live by so you'll find both healthy and indulgent recipes on my blog (nutrition facts included for all!).

Tessa Arias

About Melanie...

Hi! I'm Melanie, from Garnish and Glaze, momma of one (almost two). I love making delicious food and sharing it with others. Moderation is what I live by so you'll find both healthy and indulgent recipes on my blog (nutrition facts included for all!).

Find Melanie on  

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Recipe Rating




  1. #
    Monique — June 21, 2023 at 8:00 am

    For the cake, Only mix the butter and sugar together? Or together until light and fluffy?

    • #
      Kiersten @ Handle the Heat — June 22, 2023 at 9:19 am

      Hi Monique! Thanks for noting this – this is an older recipes in need of a little update 🙂 We recommend creaming the butter/sugar until light and fluffy (without over-creaming), about 2-3 minutes on your mixer’s medium setting. Check out this post Tessa wrote about perfectly creaming. Enjoy your cake!

  2. #
    Cindy — June 29, 2021 at 9:20 am

    Love this recipe, these flavors and the Ermine frosting (my new fav). The butter is not specifically stated and because it called for salt in the recipe I used unsalted butter in the batter and because there was no salt in the frosting I used salted butter there. Tasted perfect. I doubled and used a (2) 12” pans and baked for 13 min at 350. I did switch all the measurements to grams (which isn’t difficult with google) as I think that guarantees a perfect outcome.
    These flavors are sooo good.

    • #
      Tessa — June 29, 2021 at 11:31 am

      I’m absolutely thrilled you loved your cake, Cindy! I just updated the recipe with metric conversion for future use 🙂

  3. #
    Jagoda — July 18, 2017 at 5:25 am

    Hey! The cake looks amazing! I would love to make one by myslef, but I have one essential question – how many grams has one cup? (Sorry, in my country we don’t use this)

  4. #
    Lily — April 8, 2017 at 10:20 pm

    Delicious recipe. Made it yesterday. My daughter liked it so much!

  5. #
    Jennifer — July 14, 2016 at 11:17 am

    Hi, I have some ripe bananas handy so i want to whip this great looking cake up. Question, can I just use a Nutella Swiss M, or do you suggest I should take the extra time and make the frosting you have in the recipe?

  6. #
    Jaime — June 10, 2016 at 5:11 pm

    Have you tried toasting the hazelnuts first? Would that be better or are the just as great Untoasted?

  7. #
    Jackie — January 31, 2016 at 2:05 pm

    Do you think I could replace a couple of tbsp of flour with cocoa powder? I have a request for a banana chocolate cake.

  8. #
    Marry — December 8, 2015 at 11:41 pm

    It looks stunning! I want this to be my weeding cake, for sure. I’ll do it!

  9. #
    Karen — December 8, 2015 at 10:02 pm

    AS a huge fan of icing I was all “Hello lover!” when I saw this. One day I want to make feta too 🙂

  10. #
    Susan Peterson — November 30, 2015 at 2:07 am

    This is indeed simple yet delicious. Definitely one to try for yourself! I think this will get me through many an afternoon-tea. Thanks for sharing, Melanie!

  11. #
    Fareeha – faskitchen — May 11, 2015 at 7:57 pm

    I feel as if that is slice is calling me to take a bite.. Looks absolutely delicious, and eating it would be bliss I guess

  12. #
    Joan — May 11, 2015 at 12:46 pm

    Melanie, this cake looks divine! Aren’t hazelnuts the best? Especially with chocolate. I’m going to need to find an excuse to make this as soon as possible.
    : )

  13. #
    Rachel @ Baked by Rachel — May 11, 2015 at 9:24 am

    Gorgeous!

  14. #
    Emma M — May 10, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    I made this cake for Mother’s Day and it was a hit! I thought it was so yummy! It was impressive and delish! The only thing I would change is the amount of sugar in the frosting (instead of 1 1/2 c. of sugar I might do 1 c. or 1 1/4 c.). Other than that the recipe is perfect! Your guests will love you for making this! 🙂

  15. #
    Elena Shetty — May 6, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    It looks stunning! I want this to be my weeding cake, for sure. I’ll do it!

  16. #
    Anna @ Sunny Side Ups — May 6, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    Holy cow…I can’t even tell you how in love I am with this cake!! 🙂 It looks absolutely delicious!!

  17. #
    Sarah | Broma Bakery — May 6, 2015 at 6:43 am

    Heck. Yes. What a gorgeous cake! And you’re so right about Nutella- whoever invented it deserves a medal… and a big old scoop of Nutella.

  18. #
    Gaby — May 6, 2015 at 4:42 am

    I totally want a giant slice of this for breakfast right now!!!

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