This Banana Split Cake has a graham cracker crust, sweetened cream cheese layers, sliced bananas, crushed pineapple, whipped cream, and luscious maraschino cherries on top.
INGREDIENTS:
Crust:
½ cup graham cracker crumbs 2 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar 1 cup melted butter
Filling:
16 oz. room temperature cream cheese
½ cup sugar, granulated
1 teaspoon extract de vanille
16 oz. thawed whipped topping
4 peeled and sliced bananas
2 cans crushed pineapple, 20 oz., fully drained
2 cups pecans or peanuts, chopped
16 oz. drained maraschino cherries
To cover bananas, use fresh lemon juice or fruit.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Crust:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar. Stir until the butter is evenly distributed among the crumbs.
In a 9×13-inch baking pan, press the crust mixture firmly and evenly. While working on the filling, place in the refrigerator or freezer to harden up.
Filling:
In a large mixing bowl, place the cream cheese. Mix on medium speed with a hand mixer until smooth.
Combine the granulated sugar and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl. Mix until all of the ingredients are combined.
On top of the graham cracker crust, evenly spread the cream cheese layer.
Place the bananas on top of the cream cheese mixture in a single layer.
On top of the bananas, equally spread the crushed pineapple that has been drained.
Using dollops of whipped topping, cover the crushed pineapple with whipped topping. Using a spatula, spread the whipped topping evenly and to the pan’s edges.
Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of the maraschino cherries that have been drained.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
NOTES:
After the bananas have been cut, drizzle them with fresh lemon juice or fruit before putting them in the cake. This will prevent them from browning too rapidly.
I like to press my spatula against the crushed pineapple while it’s in the fine mesh strainer to squeeze out any extra liquid. When the banana split cake is sliced, the fluid will make it mushy and break apart. To extract the juice from the smashed pineapple, press it while it’s covered in a couple of layers of cheesecloth.
Whipped Topping Substitution: 1 cup whipped cream and 2 teaspoons powdered sugar can be used in place of the whipped topping. Hand-mix on medium speed until hard peaks emerge.
