Italian Hangover Cake | Soft Cake With Caramel Rum Sauce & Bananas

This Italian hangover cake recipe is ridiculously flavorful. It's got layers of boozy caramel, thinly sliced bananas, and a perfectly moist, delicious cake base. And if all of that tastiness isn't enough, this is about as easy as making hangover cake gets. In just about an hour, you'll have the perfect hearty homemade dose of sweet and boozy dessert deliciousness. 

The Best Italian Hangover Cake

Regardless if you're a party animal or not, you'll have every reason to love this Italian hangover cake.

Just in case you've never had an authentic Italian hangover cake, allow me to explain. It's basically a sweet and fluffy cake that's baked with a boozy brown sugar caramel sauce and sliced bananas. Seriously, how good does that sound?

The cake alone is packed with delicious flavor with an undeniably dreamy moist texture. Top it off with the sauce, and it's a dream come true. Honestly, there's a bit of something for everyone in this dessert recipe.

Now, I tend to serve this Italian treat as a dessert for family or friends, but you could easily make this dessert to eat as a hangover cure. Yes, there is a touch of alcohol in the caramel sauce, but the overall sugar and calorie content of the cake itself will definitely have you feeling better in seconds.

At least, it always has me feeling pretty good.

By the way, if you want to eat this dessert with some equally delicious cocktails, you have to make this espresso martin or chocolate mudslide to have with the cake.

Ingredients

So, it might seem like a lot of ingredients at first, but I promise each and every one of these ingredients is totally necessary to make the best Italian hangover cake recipe ever.

Anyway, let's start off with the rum caramel sauce ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• ¼ cup Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp. Rum

And for the tasty cake:

• ¾ cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 tsp. Ground Ginger
• ½ tsp. Salt
• 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup Sugar
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• ¼ cup Greek Yogurt
• 3 Bananas

Pretty common stuff, right?!

And you can use almost all of these ingredients to make this peach cobbler pound cake, another delicious bundt cake recipe you have to try!

Ingredient Substitutions

Now, if you prefer your caramel sauce to be made creamier, you can add a splash of milk once the butter and brown sugar has fully melted, though this isn't required.

As for the cake, when I'm feeling extra festive, you might find me sneaking in 1 tablespoon each of orange juice and Grand Marnier. If you go this route, reduce the greek yogurt by 2 tablespoons.

Again, totally not necessary, but a great option if you want to make a delicious alcohol infused cake.

How To Make Italian Hangover Cake

If you've ever made a pineapple upside-down cake, then this might feel pretty similar.

If you haven't, just hang tight, and I promise this is about to become your next favorite hangover dessert!

Anyway, let's stop wasting time and get to baking already!

Step 1: Prep Work

Start by preheating the oven to 350°F (180ºC) and greasing a bundt pan with baking spray.

If you don't have a bundt pan, you can use a cake pan, but the bundt pan is definitely recommended.

Step 2: Make The Caramel Sauce

So, we're going to make the caramel sauce first. To do that, place the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan and cook until everything is melted.

Then, remove your caramel mixture from the heat, and stir in the rum - mixing slowly to make the caramel sauce.

Next, pour the finished caramel sauce evenly into the base of the prepared pan.

Step 3: Make The Batter

Now, we're going to prepare the dry ingredients.

Begin by combining the flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Then, after we've taken care of that, we can move on to the wet ingredients. So, to get those started, you'll want to place the room temperature butter and sugar in a medium-sized bowl, and beat them together with an electric mixer until fluffy and combined - this will take about 5 minutes.

Then, add the egg, vanilla, and greek yogurt and beat until just combined.

Next, combine the wet and dry ingredients together in batches, carefully mixing until everything is fully incorporated. You'll know you're done mixing when the batter is smooth and no lumps remain.

Step 4: Add Bananas To The Pan and Bake

Now, before adding the batter to the prepared bundt pan, slice the bananas and line them up in the pan, on top of the caramel.

Then, after those look good, you can go ahead and pour the batter over the bananas and bake for 25-30 minutes - or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Step 5: Serve

Once your cake is out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes before carefully turning it over onto a wire rack.

Then, you can slice it into about 8 slices, serve, and enjoy!

How To Store Italian Hangover Cake

Ok, so this recipe for Italian cake will make about 8 slices. But, I like to cut mine nice and thick, so it's typically only 6 slices for me.

Also, if you're serving this for a family dessert, I have to warn you, there won't be any leftovers. But, if you happen to save a slice or two left over, it's delicious the next day as well.

With that said, to store the slices, just pop them in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Then, whenever you want a slice served warm, pop it in the microwave for about 10 seconds.

FAQS About This Italian Hangover Cake

What is Italian hangover cake made of?

It's a combination of classic cake ingredients like flour, sugar, eggs, and butter, elevated by the addition of bananas and the rich caramel sauce.

What is the national cake of Italy?

The panettone bread is actually the national cake of Italy. It has a soft and airy texture with a sweet flavor and is a common dessert served around the holidays.

Can I make this cake without a bundt pan?

Yes, you can use a regular 8-inch or 9-inch springform cake pan instead of a bundt pan.

Wrapping It Up

Well, that's how to make Italian hangover cake. 

This cake offers not only the perfect hangover cure, but it's also just a really tasty dessert recipe to make for any occasion!

Anyway, if you give this recipe a try, be sure to leave a comment and tell me how it went.

More Dessert Recipes

If you enjoyed this cake recipe and want to try out some more delicious desserts, we have a bunch on the blog to try next.

Here are some of our favorites:

• Strawberry crunch cake
• No bake pumpkin pie
• Burnt almond cake
• No bake peanut butter pie
• No bake Oreo pie

Oh, and as always, be sure to check out our Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok pages for more easy dessert recipes just like this one. We post new recipes every day on them.

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