This Banana Split Ice Cream Cake is such a fun way to celebrate summer! My sister-in-law, Erin, who is a big part of the LLK team here, brought this cake to one of our family get-togethers and we all loved it. Inspired by a classic banana split ice cream sundae, this cake has a buttery graham cracker crust, strawberry and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and frozen bananas. The flavors are so, so good together, and it’s a fun way to feed a crowd.
This Banana Split Ice Cream Cake is quite easy to make, but the key is to make sure each layer is firmly frozen before adding the next. You also want to make sure it has a good 4-6 hours in the freezer once it’s completed so that it holds its shape when sliced. Its always challenging to do food photography anytime ice cream is involved… you can see my cake was already getting a little drippy!
Another tip is to make sure you slice the bananas thinly so that when they are frozen, you can still slice through the cake, and they aren’t too difficult to eat with a fork or spoon. To decorate the top of the cake once it is inverted onto a serving tray, spoon the hot fudge sauce into a zip top bag and cut a tiny piece off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Then you can pipe the hot fudge easily this way into a criss-cross pattern. Add whipped cream and a few cherries, fresh banana slices, or chopped peanuts.
It’s always nice to have desserts for summertime get-togethers that don’t heat up the oven and can be made days ahead of time. You can also double this recipe, and make it in a 9 by 13 inch baking sheet. If you do this, reverse the order of the layers since you won’t need to invert the cake onto a serving tray.
Happy summer, friends!
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #lovelylittlekitchen
Can't get enough?
Subscribe and I'll send all my recipes right to your inbox! You can also keep up to date by following me on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Print
Banana Split Ice Cream Cake
- Prep Time: 12 hours
- Total Time: 12 hours
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Banana Split Ice Cream Cake has a buttery graham cracker crust, strawberry and vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and frozen bananas.
Ingredients
- 24 ounces vanilla ice cream
- 2 bananas, sliced thinly, divided
- 1 cup hot fudge sauce, divided
- 48 ounces strawberry ice cream
- 8 whole graham crackers (1 sleeve)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- Additional toppings: whipped cream, cherries, sliced bananas, crushed peanuts
Instructions
- Line a large loaf pan (10.5 by 5 by 3 inches) with plastic wrap, leaving excess hanging over each side.
- Scoop vanilla ice cream into the pan, allow it to soften, and smooth it into an even layer. Freeze until firm.
- Place a layer of thinly sliced bananas on top of the vanilla ice cream layer. Spread 1/2 cup hot fudge sauce over the bananas into an even layer. Freeze until firm.
- Scoop strawberry ice cream over the hot fudge layer, allow to soften and smooth into an even layer. Freeze until firm.
- Place thinly sliced bananas over the strawberry ice cream layer. Freeze until firm.
- In the meantime, pulse graham crackers, sugar and butter in a food processor (or crush by hand). Spoon the graham cracker mixture over the bananas and press firmly into an even layer. Cover with the plastic wrap, and freeze at least 4-6 hours or overnight.
- Before serving, invert the pan onto a serving tray, and remove the plastic wrap. Add remaining 1/2 cup hot fudge sauce to a plastic zip top bag, and cut a tiny bit off one of the bottom corners of the bag. Pipe the hot fudge over the ice cream cake. Decorate with whipped cream and cherries if desired. Slice and serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 801
- Sugar: 45g
- Sodium: 416mg
- Fat: 34g
- Saturated Fat: 20g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7.4g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 116g
- Fiber: 4.5g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 102mg
Leave a Reply