Banana Cake with Caramel Filling

Ingredients

For the Cake:
• 1 yellow cake mix
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup brown bananas, smashed
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
For the Caramel:
• 15 caramels, unwrapped
• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream, if needed for consistency

Instructions

Make the Cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line two 6” round cake pans with parchment paper and butter and flour them (or use floured cooking spray). You will have some batter left over. You can also use two 8” pans or two 9” pans for thinner layers.
2. Mix cake mix, water, oil, eggs, and baking soda in a large bowl on low for 1 minute. Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Reduce mixer back to low (or “stir” for a stand mixer) and mix in bananas.
3. Fill prepared pans 2/3 full. (If you are using 6” pans you will have some batter left over. Make cupcakes!)
4. Bake for about 35-38 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for at least 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
Make the Caramel:
5. While the cake is in the oven, add the caramels and heavy whipping cream to a microwave safe bowl. Heat on HIGH in 30 second increments, stirring between each to help melt caramel. (It took mine about 1 1/2 minutes.)
6. Once caramel is completely melted, place in the refrigerator to cool completely.
7. Note: this makes enough caramel filling for a 6” layer cake. Double recipe for a larger cake.
8. When getting ready to frosting the cake, remove cooled caramel from the refrigerator. It will be stiff. Beat with a hand mixer until the caramel becomes more creamy, only a few minutes. Now it is like a thin frosting you can fill your cake with.
Make the Frosting:
9. Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Slowly beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing until frosting has formed. Mix in vanilla. If needed for consistency, add heavy cream, 1 tablespoon at a time.
10. To assemble your cake, place some frosting in a pastry bag fitted with your choice of tip (I used a 1M). If needed, trim the top of your cake layers to make them level. Place one layer on cake plate. Pipe a rim around the edge with cream cheese frosting, creating a barrier for the caramel filling. Evenly spread caramel on the bottom later. Place top cake layer on the caramel. Frost the cake as desired. (I frosting the entire cake with a thin “crumb coat” of frosting and then piped rosettes on the sides with my 1M tip. I didn’t have enough frosting to do rosettes on the top, so I made it smooth and added sprinkles.)
11. Note: to decorate the entire cake with rosettes or similar, or for a larger cake, double the frosting.