Banana Cake Roll with Caramel Cream Cheese Filling

bananaroll2

Happy Friday! First- do you see the new little flag in the top right corner? If you want to see baby/pregnancy/mama updates- thats where they will be! (Not on the homepage) Check them out if you’re interested in that sort of thing!

Anyway- I hope that you have exciting weekend plans. At the current moment- I am thrilled to be writing this post as  I watch my favorite Thursday night TV line up- Project Runway finale, Parenthood, Scandal. (Do any of you watch these shows?) Anyway- after months away from the “Great White Way” I get to see two Broadway shows this weekend which I couldn’t be more excited for. Also- I plan to tackle at least one thing from my baking to-do list this weekend, hopefully to have something great to share next week!

bananaroll

Speaking of sharing- I am so excited about this cake roll. You’ve heard of pumpkin rolls I assume? This is essentially the same idea but made with a banana cake. I wasn’t sure how it would work out, as I just subbed banana for pumpkin in the classic recipe and changed some of the spices, but let me tell you it was oh so good. My rolling skills may need some work, but I actually loved the super thick layer of cream cheese filling that was perfectly proportionate to the cake. I couldn’t help but add a healthy amount of caramel sauce to the filling as well which made it oh so delicious. Isn’t everything better with caramel (At least I think so.)

A note on pans- this cake rolls calls for a “10×15 Jelly Roll Pan,” I had a quarter as well as a half sheet pan but neither of those dimensions were right (One was 13×18 and one was basically 9×13) I made the choice to use the smaller one- worried that the cake would be too thin/dry if I baked it in the half sheet pan. As a result- it was a thicker cake that didn’t have as many swirls- but let me tell you the texture was perfect. You could choose which pan to use based on this info! :)

PS- Am I the only one who totally sees the Green Bay Packers’ “G” in the shape of my roll? Haha? Go Pack Go! ;)

Banana Cake Roll

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar, to sprinkle on towel
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 2/3 cup mashed banana, from 2 medium-sized bananas

For the Filling:

  • 1 8 oz pacakge of cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 6 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup caramel sauce*
  • Powdered sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

For the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan* ; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. (cooking spray works well for this)
  2. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl.
  3. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick and smooth (about 2-3 minutes.) Mix in vanilla and banana. Gradually add flour mixture- making sure not to over-mix. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
  4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes (more or less depending on size of pan,) or until top of cake springs back when touched.
  5. While cake is baking- prepare a clean kitchen towel covered very generously with powdered sugar. Immediately after taking cake out of the oven, loosen and carefully turn the cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off wax paper. Right away- roll the cake and towel up together and allow to cool. (This sets the "rolled" shape from the get go- which makes it much easier when you actually fill it.

For the Filling:

  1. Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar, beating until smooth. Add the caramel sauce (if using) and continue to beat until creamy. Add a touch more powdered sugar if filling needs to be a bit more stiff.
  2. Carefully unroll the cake. Evenly spread cream cheese filling over the whole surface. Reroll the cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour (or even better, freeze it for a bit- it will slice much more easily.)
  3. Serve cold sprinkled with powdered sugar (if desired.)
  4. COOKING TIP:
  5. Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Notes

*I like to add caramel sauce to frosting to add another note of flavor. If you don't have any on hand- you can skip it no problem. *See note in post above on pan size. I used a quarter sheet pan for this and it also worked fine. *Recipe adapted from: Libby's

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 10 Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Did you make this recipe?

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29 Comments

  1. Caramel cream cheese filling? I’m dying – this looks absolutely sensational! Great share, I”m so glad I found your blog.

  2. I absolutely love this! I haven’t made a rolled cake in ages. I may have to remedy that this holiday season.

    It was so good to see you yesterday! You look great!

  3. Oh man, I don’t watch any of those shows, but I NEED to get into them – they’re all my friends talk about! Also, great cake roll – it looks awesome :)

  4. What a beautiful cake! And now I’m super excited to check out your baby updates! We just had our first baby this June. Best adventure!

    1. Congrats to you on your first babe! I’m getting so excited :)

  5. I totally noticed the G sign! How cute! If you dye the banana cake green and tint the frosting yellow, it would be perfect for a football party! That is, assuming it comes out the same way lol

  6. I’ve never made a roll cake before, but that is some seriously delicious looking inspiration!! I’m definitely going to have to try it soon, yours looks amazing!!

  7. Actually I’ve never really liked cake rolls but I think this is just because I haven’t found the perfect recipe, yet! I’ll be trying yours out and let you know!

    xo, Elisa

  8. I am loving Scandal this season – Mellie is pure evil, but she’s hilarious! What a fun idea to switch up the typical pumpkin roll cake, and I wholeheartedly approve of your filling. Cream cheese plus caramel = total yum :)

  9. Which two plays did you see?!? I haven’t seen anything on broadway in forever..which is kind of tragic.

    I kind of love that you thought outside the pumpkin norm with this roll cake! Banana and caramel definitely sound like a match made in heaven!

  10. This banana cake roll is incredible!! Like something straight out of my dreams :)

  11. Am so excited to try this recipe!
    I was just wondering why doesn’t this recipe have any butter/ veg oil in it?

    1. You know- it seems weird to not have any fat but it totally works! It’s a sponge cake (which often times don’t have butter or oil) The eggs and the moisture from the banana makes the texture just perfect :)

      1. Thank you for your reply :-D
        I baked it yesterday it turned out perfect <3

  12. Cindy Durnan says:

    just took this out of the oven and it is now rolled and cooling…smells great…

  13. Always love your recipes. I think I will add some walnuts to the cake n sprinkle some ground w-nuts on top with sugar. Yummy. Trying this for hubbies bday.

  14. This looked amazing but mine did not turn out well at all! I checked on it at 9 minutes and the edges and bottom were crisp but the middle wasn’t cooked enough. I also saw a lot of air bubbles. Banana recipes are tricky!

  15. I like the sound of this, but in Croatia we don’t have caramel sauce in the stores, so I’m thinking of caramelising bananas and flambeing them with rum and puting it on the roll as decoration. And my advice would also be to beat the eggwhites and fold them in the mixture so the sponge rises a bit, it’s softer that way.

  16. Lisa Benge says:

    I can’t wait to try this I love banana’s

  17. I have made this 3 times already and everyone loves it.

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