Banana Pecan Bundt Cake (A Doctored Cake Mix)

This ultra moist Banana Pecan Bundt Cake with Caramel Glaze has the perfect combination of flavors- and it all starts with a cake mix!

We just love banana cake recipes and have several favorites on our site- but this one will be hard to top! It is soft, decadent, and has wonderful banana flavor.

For this recipe, we are transforming a simple box of yellow cake mix into an amazing banana pecan cake that nobody would ever guess wasn't from scratch. (Our Banana Nut Cake is the scratch version of today's recipe!)

We've topped it off with a decadent yet simple homemade caramel glaze that elevates this delicious banana cake to the next level. You will love it!

How to Make Banana Bundt Cake

We just love bundt cake recipes, and this delicious and easy banana bundt cake is no exception. Although it is technically a cake mix recipe, the additional add ins make it taste like a scratch banana cake.

You can find the full, printable cake recipe further down in this post. Here is a quick rundown of our steps!

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, grease and flour a 10-12 cup bundt pan. If you are using a smaller size of bundt pan, make sure that you don't fill the batter more than ⅔ full. If using a larger pan, you may need to lessen the baking time by a few minutes.
2. Dry Ingredients: In the mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients:  yellow cake mix, flour, light brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.   Whisk to blend.  
3. Wet Ingredients: Add the eggs, oil, mashed bananas, milk and vanilla.  Mix on low speed to blend increasing to medium speed for 1 minute.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix for another minute.
4. Pecans: Stir in the chopped pecans. We love this combination but if you are not a fan, it's fine to leave them out!
5. The batter will be very runny but don't worry, the cake will be light and moist.
6. Fill the Pan: Pour the batter in the bundt pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden skewer/toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. *Bake times may vary- check on the cake as it nears the 45 minute mark and adjust bake times if needed.
7. Turn it Out: Cool the cake (still in the bundt pan) on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then, flip the cake out onto a cake plate or pedestal.

How to Make Caramel Glaze

There's just something special about homemade caramel glaze- you really can taste the difference! This easy caramel glaze recipe has become our favorite over the years.

It it quick to make, rich, and silky smooth- there's not a bit of grittiness thanks to the light corn syrup in the recipe! You can find the full recipe further down in this post, but here are our steps!

1. Using a medium sized sauce pan (deep enough to prevent boil over) melt the butter over medium heat.  
2. Add the light brown sugar, heavy cream, salt, vanilla extract, and light corn syrup.
3. Stir to  blend, try to keep mixture off the sides of the pan. Once the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to low.
4. Cover the pot and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes, check the pot making sure it will not boil over.
5. Keep in mind that the caramel thickens as it cools.
6. Makes one cup of caramel.  I did not need the entire cup of caramel for our glaze-- but the leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 2 weeks. (It tastes so good it won't last that long!) ;0)

Adding the Caramel Glaze

When the caramel glaze has cooled to the desired consistency, load it into a piping bag with the tip snipped away (or ziplock bag with a corner snipped away) and apply to the cooled banana bundt cake.

This will give you more control and I find it easier. However, if you would rather you can spoon it over your cake as well!

So pretty, simple, and delicious! (By the way, for more caramel deliciousness, check out our favorite caramel cake recipes!)

Can Banana Bundt Cake be Frozen?

Yes, just as with most of our cake recipes, including our scratch Banana Pound Cake, Butter Pecan Pound Cake, and Lemon Pound Cake, this cake freezes beautifully. In fact, as long as they are tightly wrapped, all of our cakes can be frozen with great results!

Once thawed, they will taste as fresh as the day that they were frozen.

After cooling the cake in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, flip the pan onto a foil-wrapped cake cardboard and allow the cake to cool a bit more before wrapping with plastic wrap and then tightly with foil.

I like to wrap my cakes while they are still a bit warm if I am baking in advance. You can freeze the banana cake anywhere from a few hours to a few months and they will taste the exact same!

Defrosting the Cake

Because of their large size, we like to begin thawing them the day before serving. To do this, move the frozen, wrapped cake to the refrigerator the day before.

The next morning, move to the kitchen counter, loosen the wrapping, and continue to bring to room temperature. Glaze as usual and store in an airtight container or under a cake dome.

More Banana Cakes to Share!

If you love banana cake recipes like we do, you are going to want to try these other delicious banana cakes as well! We have scratch recipes as well as doctored mixes and so many delicious flavor combinations.

Some of our favorites are our Hummingbird Cake Recipe, Banana Split Cake, Banana Pudding Cake, and Banana Chocolate Chip Cake.

We also have a great recipe for homemade banana cupcakes. Here are a few more favorites!:

Thanks so much for stopping by today! We hope that you will check out our huge collection of favorite Cake Recipes! That includes cake recipes from scratch as well as favorite cake mix recipes (linked below).

More Doctored Cake Mix Recipes to Try

When it comes to working with doctored cake mix recipes, the options are endless. These cakes are so moist and flavorful, and have all of the flavor and texture of scratch recipes.

Here are some of our most popular: Marble Cake Mix Recipe, Easy Strawberry Cake from mix, Italian Cream Bundt Cake and Easy German Chocolate Cake