Banana Hazelnut Streusel Cake with Caramel Sauce

This Banana Hazelnut Streusel Cake with Caramel Sauce is a sheet cake full of fantastic flavors. Fragrant banana hazelnut cake is covered with decadent hazelnut streusel. The whole shebang is then drizzled with homemade caramel sauce.

Ok, you can skip that last part but I highly recommend it. If you prefer, stop at the cinnamon-spiked brown sugar hazelnut streusel topping. However, once you’ve come this far, I say just go for it. Furthermore, I have included a recipe for homemade caramel sauce below. However, To save time, you can use store-bought caramel sauce.

I originally spotted a version of this Banana Hazelnut Streusel Cake with Caramel Sauce recipe in a German cooking magazine. Consequently, I tweaked it a bit and am extremely happy with the result.

As with most baking recipes containing bananas, the riper the banana the better the result. I wait until the ones in my kitchen are practically completely black before adding them to recipes.

If hazelnuts are too fancy for your taste or hard to obtain at your local market, use walnuts. Walnuts are also the perfect complement to banana flavor. Additionally, swap out the hazelnuts for almonds, another great companion for baking with bananas.

This Banana Hazelnut Streusel Cake with Caramel Sauce yields a large amount of servings so it’s perfect for a holiday picnic or barbecue.

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Banana Hazelnut Streusel Cake with Caramel Sauce

Course Dessert

Cuisine German

Keyword Banana Cake

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes

Servings 16

Author Lora Wiley-Lennartz

Ingredients

For the Hazelnut Streusel:

• 1+3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup chopped raw hazelnuts
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter melted

For the Banana Cake:

• 2+1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 6 eggs
• 2/3 cup whole milk yogurt
• 1 cup chopped raw hazelnuts

For the Caramel Sauce:

• 1 cup white granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Make the Hazelnut Streusel:

1. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and pinch of salt.
2. Mix in the raw hazelnut pieces.
3. Pour the melted butter into the mixture and use a wooden spoon or your hands to knead the mixture into a streusel.
4. Alternately, you can mix the streusel in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Set aside.

Make the Banana Cake:

1. Grease and flour a rectangular pan (9″ X 13″) and set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Peel the ripe banana, place them in a bowl and mash them into a pulp with a fork.
4. Set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
6. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar, beat in the vanilla extract. Whip for 2-3 minutes until the mixture becomes light in color. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed to make sure all the batter is incorporated properly.
7. Add the eggs one after the other, making sure each egg is fully incorporated into the batter before adding the next.
8. Mix in the yogurt into the batter.
9. Add the mashed bananas and mix thoroughly.
10. Turn the mixer down to its lowest speed and add the flour in thirds combining it completely into the batter.
11. Once the dry ingredients are combined into the batter, turn the mixer up to medium speed and give the batter a few more turns.
12. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold in the raw hazelnut pieces.
13. Transfer the batter to the bowl, smoothing the top over with a rubber spatula to make sure it is level. Add the hazelnut streusel to the top of the cake, making sure it is evenly placed over the top.
14. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
15. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan. When the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan and place on a wire rack.
16. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the rack with the cake on top on the baking sheet.

Make the Caramel Sauce:

1. Place the white granulated sugar in a small saucepan over low heat. Let the sugar melt, stirring constantly.
2. When the sugar has completely melted and turned a light brown color, remove from heat and stir in the tablespoon of butter.

Like this Banana Hazelnut Streusel Cake with Caramel Sauce? Try some of my other streusel cake and tart recipes: