Salted Caramel Coconut Banana Cake

Enjoy Salted Caramel Coconut Banana Cake, a delicious moist layered cake with a creamy, coconut layer and frosting. Perfect for any time of year, this banana cake recipe is beautiful for spring garnished with sliced bananas and your favorite small flowers! Gorgeous for a spring or Easter holiday dessert!

Looking for an elegant cake to bake for a special occasion, or just because? (This post has been updated from 4 years ago when Abby was 17!)

Banana cake recipe

This elegant Salted Caramel Coconut Banana Cake might be the recipe you’re looking for! (Do you have little flowers blooming in your yard right now?) I love it this week for Easter!

Having people over

For many people, there is something intimidating about entertaining. So I like to think of the words, “having people over,” which I’ve tried to incorporate into the way we’ve raised our kids. I like to say, “we’re having so and so over for dinner for Easter,” rather than, “Kids, get ready! We’re entertaining this weekend.”

The word just sounds so scary.
So I’m glad my kids, who are almost all adults now, have learned that having people over can be fun and enjoyable for us, and also a huge blessing to others!

It really is not about us, it’s about the people coming in to our home, and I pray that is a good lesson our kids have learned. Why would it not be?

Best banana cake recipe

This time I asked my daughter, Abby, to help me out and bake her best banana cake recipe. (PS. I had my own baking going in the oven, making one fo the most popular recipes on my blog, Sour Cream Banana Bread – yum!)

First of all, I want to brag a bit about this girl. She’s my baby, yes, but I love her style and creativity when it comes to cooking and helping me in the kitchen!

Salted Caramel Coconut Banana Cake

This time she made this a Salted Caramel Coconut Banana Cake for our little party. So pretty!

You can make the cake ahead of time and freeze (do you ever do that?). Frost the day of the party!

Which I think is elegant and decadent, and perfect for springtime or Easter Sunday guests!

3 Hospitality Tips for Kids

Here are 3 tips I’ve taught our kids about hospitality over the years:

1. Inviting people over is a gift to our guests. You never know the last time they had a dinner invite. People need each other.
2. Things do not have to be perfect to invite others in. Focus on making the food as good as you can, and adding a little ambience, but imperfect is okay and should even be expected.
3. It’s all about them, not about us. As much as reciprocation is nice, it should never be the defining factor of inviting others over. Think about the people who are coming and how you can make their lives better.

When children are young, hosting others is a huge deal and great teaching opportunity for your family. As they get older though, those early experiences will result in hospitality coming naturally to them, in your home and–eventually–their own.

So thank you to my talented, lovely 17-year-old daughter, Abby, for making the Easter cake, and photographing it as well.

Do you talk about the importance of having guests into your home with your kids?

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Get the Recipe:

Salted Caramel Coconut Banana Cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Yield: 8

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Ingredients

 

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• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup oil
• 3 Tbsp. coconut milk
• 1 1/ 2 cups light brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cups self-rising flour
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. coconut extract
• 8 oz. Mascarpone cheese
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 c water
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup  heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 c coconut
• 1 banana, sliced

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Roughly mash the (2) bananas in a large bowl, then beat in the eggs. Stir in the oil and coconut milk. Stir in the 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar into the banana mixture until well combine. Fold in the flour and the extracts.
• Add the cake mixture to the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour until done. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the frosting, beat together the mascarpone cheese with powdered sugar, adding in lemon juice and extracts until smooth and creamy. Spread over the cooled cake.
• Puree the coconut in a food processor or chop with a knife to make it very fine.
• To make the salted caramel topping, in medium sauce pan add water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat after it begins to boil to a simmer, making sure to stir, until sugar becomes golden, about 6 minutes. Immediately add cream to sauce and mix in.
• Stir constantly as "caramel" begins to foam. Bring sauce to 225 degrees and then remove from heat. Add coconut and vanilla.
• Allow to cool to about room temperature before spreading on top of the cake, leaving 1/2 inch around the outside. (It will run down the sides.)
• Garnish the top of the cake with a sliced banana; serve.
• (If the cake is going to be made up ahead of time, soak the sliced banana in lemon juice for a few minutes and drain, before garnishing the cake.)

Author: Sandy / Reluctant Entertainer

Did you make this recipe?Tag @reluctantentertainer on Instagram and hashtag it #reluctantentertainer!

More banana recipes: Banana Walnut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting [RE], Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting [Oh Sweet Basil], Banana Pudding Cake [Spend with Pennies].