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 yourself the perfect hearty homemade dose of sweet boozy dessert deliciousness. 

My Take On 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. Gah, it's so, so good.

The cake alone is packed with delicious flavor and it has the most wonderful light and airy texture. Then, when you top it off with the sauce it's a dream come true.

What's just as good as how it tastes though is how easy it is to make. Just a handful of steps are all you have to follow to put it together.

Now, I tend to serve this cake as a dessert for family or friends, but it also doubles 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. Plus, a little booze the day after drinking is supposed to make you feel better - atleast that's what my Italian relatives have always told me.

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. Again, sometimes the best hangover cure is more alcohol lol.

Ingredients

One of my favorite things about this hangover cake recipe is that it's made almost entirely with kitchen and pantry staples. There's a good chance you'll have most - if not all - of these ingredients at home right now.

Anyway, here's what you'll need for the rum caramel sauce:

• 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?!

By the way, if you end up with some extras of these ingredients you can put them to good use and make this peach cobbler pound cake recipe with most of them! It's another delicious bundt cake recipe!

Ingredient Substitutions

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

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. A lot of the same steps you'd follow to make that cake you'll be following to make this one.

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 set over medium heat and cook them together - stirring occasionally - until they're both melted and combined.

Then, when that happens, you can remove the caramel mixture from the heat, and stir in the rum. Finally, when you've got the caramel sauce all put together you can pour it evenly into the base of the prepared pan.

Step 3: Make The Batter

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

Now 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. Once that's looking good you can add the egg, vanilla, and Greek yogurt and mix those until just combined.

Next, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients in small 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 the cake for 25-30 minutes - or until a toothpick comes out clean from it.

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. Enjoy.

How To Store Italian Hangover Cake

This recipe for Italian Hancake will make about 8 normal-sized slices. However, 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, that there probably won't be any leftovers. Atleast that's almost always the case at my house.

However, if you happen to save a slice or two, they're delicious the next day as well. To store the extras just put them in an airtight container and keep them in the fridge. Stored like this it'll stay good for 4-5 days. 

Then, whenever you want a slice, just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds and it'll be as good as new.

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 a rich rum caramel sauce.

Does this cake cure a hangover?

It depends. If you eat enough of this cake it certainly will help curb a hangover. However, how effective eating this cake will be in curing your hangover woes will depend on how severe your hangover is.

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.

My Final Thoughts

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 Of My Favorite Dessert Recipes

If you enjoyed this cake and are looking for more recipes to satisfy your sweet tooth, we've got you covered.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Strawberry crunch cake
• No bake pumpkin pie
• Burnt almond cake
• No bake peanut butter pie
• No bake Oreo pie
• Banana cake with cream cheese frosting

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.