On my most recent trip to Hawaii, our resort was located right next to a Cheesecake Factory. It’s not why I booked the resort but when I noticed online I knew it was fate. I don’t know how you guys roll but as soon as I book a hotel I immediately search the perimeter for restaurants. Thank you Google maps!
My husband and I ate at Cheesecake twice while we were there and when it came to their monster dessert menu, my eyes went right to the fresh banana cream cheesecake. Now that I’m home I wanted to recreate this amazing cake since it will be awhile before we cross the border again. If you’re going from Canada to the US, the exchange hurts your feelings and bank account. It’s still painful to look at the ol’ mastercard!
To make the banana cream cheesecake I made a banana flavored filling over a vanilla crust and topped it with the easiest banana cream, fresh sliced bananas and banana flavored whipped cream. It seems like a lot of banana but is surprisingly not overpowering.
I figured since I was going through all the work of the cheesecake I’d skip the homemade Bavarian cream. Instead, I found a cooked banana pudding mix and substituted heavy cream for some of the milk. The result is a thick, super easy banana cream topping!
I made my cheesecake in an 8 inch pan. No need to break out the spring form pan for this one.
- 3 cups Nilla wafers
- 4- 6 tbsp. melted butter
- 2 - 8oz blocks of cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp. sour cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp banana extract
- ½ box banana cream pudding mix
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 tbsp. powdered sugar
- ⅛ tsp banana extract
- Banana slices for serving.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8 inch pan with foil, spray lightly with cooking spray.
- Crush three cups of nilla wafers using a food processor or blender. Place the crumbs in a bowl and pour over the melted butter until the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Press the crumbs into the bottom of the baking pan and bake for 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Scraping the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, sour cream and both extracts. Mix until combined.
- Pour the filling over the crust and bake for 40 minutes.
- To make the topping simply combine half the box of pudding mix, milk and cream. Heat to a boil stirring constantly and then cool in the fridge. I pressed mine with a sheet of saran wrap to avoid any skin forming.
- The whipped cream can be prepared just before serving by combining the ingredients and beating until stiff peaks form.
- Refrigerate the cheesecake overnight then assemble by topping the entire cheesecake with the banana cream. Slice the cake into squares and serve with whipped cream and sliced bananas.
