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This Bananas Foster Cheesecake recipe is made with a thick and creamy banana brown sugar filling, cinnamon cookie crumb crust and bananas foster topping! It’s a wonderful combination of bananas, cinnamon, brown sugar and rum that makes the most AMAZING cheesecake!
So I’m a little delayed in sharing this Bananas Foster Cheesecake with you. I actually wanted to share it back in October, but had so many fun pumpkin things I wanted to share before it was too late that it ended up being pushed back until now. After all, banana is great any time of year!
The reason for wanting to have shared it earlier though is that I made it to celebrate the 2 year anniversary of the release of my cookbook, Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes! It’s hard to believe it’s been just two years since it’s release, as life has been one crazy thing after another since then. In fact, when I made the decision to write my cookbook, the hubs and I did it knowing that it would push back when we decided to try IVF and move forward with starting our family. We decided cookbook first, IVF second. It’s crazy to look back and realize that now here we are – the cookbook and twins! Like I said, a lot has happened! 🙂
But before my twin babies, this cookbook was definitely a baby of mine. It kept me up nights, had me up early and was a labor of love. And the first time I saw it in person was a great day and feeling. Even two years later, the recipes in it are some of my favorites. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you really should. And with the holidays coming up, it’d make a great gift for the bakers in your life!
How to Make Bananas Foster Cheesecake
So to make this Bananas Foster Cheesecake, you’ll actually start with the crust. I made a slight change in the crust this time around and added some cinnamon. It’s now made with a combination of both brown sugar and cinnamon and I love the little addition. It just take the crust up a notch!
The filling is made next and is full of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, a bit of rum and plenty of mashed bananas! So many amazing flavors, yet none of them overpower any of the others too much. You taste them all and they are decadent.
The cheesecake is baked in a water bath, as I do with all of my cheesecakes. It’s the best way to ensure a creamy cheesecake that doesn’t crack, fall in the center, brown too much on the edges or dry out. Definitely the way to go, even though it adds a few more steps and a little baking time.
After the cheesecake bakes, it should be refrigerated until cold and firm, then you’ll want to add the topping.
How to Make Bananas Foster
The topping of this Bananas Foster Cheesecake is exactly what you want it to be – bananas foster. One of my very favorite things and it’s so easy to make.
You’ll combine butter, brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and some heavy cream in a pan over the stove until the sugar has melted. Then you’ll add the rum and that’s when the magic happens. I definitely recommend a dark rum. You want to be careful for this next step when you light the rum. It makes a nice flame, so you’ll swirl the rum around the pan a bit and let it burn off.
Next, add the bananas and let things cook for another minute or two to thicken up and you’re done! Easy, delicious bananas foster and it goes right on top of your cheesecake!
The Best Bananas Foster Cheesecake
This cheesecake is seriously amazing. Thick, creamy and FULL of flavor! One of my favorites from the cookbook and a recipe my dad goes a little nutty over every time I make it. If you’ve never tried a little rum in your baking before, this is definitely the time and the recipe. The dark rum has a little spice of it’s own that only adds to the flavor of the cinnamon and bananas and will have you taking just one more bite until you realize that you’ve taken all the bites and there are none left. All the flavors together just melt in your mouth and you can’t get enough.
I hope you give the cheesecake a try and love it as much as we do! And if you do, be sure to check out my cookbook – Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes as well because there are more cheesecakes, cakes, cupcakes, ice cream cakes and more just waiting for you! 🙂
See a few other recipes from my cookbook – Simply Beautiful Homemade Cakes.
More Great Banana Recipes:
Bananas Foster Layer Cake
Banana Cream Cheesecake
Mini Banana Pudding Cheesecakes
Banana Cream Layer Cake
Bananas Foster Pancakes
Bananas Foster Ice Cream
Bananas Foster Cheesecake
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 2 hours, plus cooling
- Total Time: 4 hours, plus cooling
- Yield: 12-16 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Bananas Foster Cheesecake is made with a thick and creamy banana brown sugar filling, cinnamon cookie crumb crust and bananas foster topping!
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 1/4 cups (302g) vanilla wafer crumbs
- 1/2 cup (112g) salted butter, melted
- 5 tbsp (45g) light brown sugar, loosely packed
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Cheesecake filling
- 24 ounces (678g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup (144g) brown sugar, loosely packed
- 3 tbsp (24g) all purpose flour
- 1 cup (240ml) mashed ripe bananas (2–3 bananas)
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tbsp (30ml) dark rum
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
Bananas Foster
- 1/4 cup (56g) salted butter
- 1/2 cup (113g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy whipping cream
- 2 tbsp (30ml) dark rum
- 2 medium bananas, sliced into coins
Whipped Cream
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- ¼ cup (29g) powdered sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper in the bottom and grease the sides.
2. Combine the crust ingredients in a small bowl. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan.
3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes then remove from oven to cool.
4. Cover the outsides of the pan with aluminum foil so that water from the water bath cannot get in. See my tutorial for preventing a water bath from leaking. Set prepared pan aside.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F (148°C).
6. In a large mixer bowl, blend the cream cheese, brown sugar and flour on low speed until completely combined and smooth. Be sure to use low speed to reduce the amount of air added to the batter, which can cause cracks. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. Add the mashed bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg and dark rum. Beat on low speed until well combined.
8. Add eggs one at a time, beating slowly and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
9. Pour the cheesecake batter into the crust.
10. Place the springform pan inside another larger pan. Fill the outside pan with enough warm water to go about halfway up the sides of the springform pan. The water should not go above the top edge of the aluminum foil on the springform pan. Bake for 1 hour.
11. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in oven with the door closed for 30 minutes. Do not open the door or you’ll release the heat.
12. Crack oven door and leave the cheesecake in the oven for another 30 minutes. This cooling process helps the cheesecake cool slowly to prevent cracks.
13. Remove the cheesecake from the oven from oven and let sit on the counter for 15 minutes.
14. Remove the pan from water bath and remove aluminum foil. Refrigerate cheesecake until completely cooled and firm, 6-7 hours.
15. When cheesecake has cooled, make the bananas foster. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat.
16. Add the brown sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and heavy cream and stir until sugar is dissolved.
17. Pour the rum into the pan, then use a lighter to light the rum. Be careful, the flame can get somewhat high. Once lit, allow it to cook, swirling the pan a few times to disperse the rum and flames. It should burn out within a minute or two, but if not, swirl a little more to help it burn out.
18. Add the bananas to the sauce and continue cooking another 1-2 minutes to thicken the sauce. Remove from heat and set aside to cool and thicken before adding to the cheesecake.
19. While bananas foster cools, remove the cheesecake from the springform pan and set on a serving plate.
20. To make the whipped cream, add heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and cinnamon to mixing bowl and whip until stiff peaks form.
21. Pipe a swirl border with the whipped cream around the outside edge of the cheesecake.
22. To finish off cheesecake, add the bananas foster on top, in the middle of the whipped cream. Drizzle the sauce over the bananas and down the sides of the cheesecake.
23. Refrigerate cheesecake until ready to serve. Cheesecake is best for 2-3 days because the bananas on top can spoil.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 370
- Sugar: 29.6 g
- Sodium: 277.5 mg
- Fat: 20.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Protein: 5.9 g
- Cholesterol: 92.1 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made it and my cheesecake turned out just perfect! And it’s so delicious!
Do you cover the cheesecake before putting it in the fridge ?
Do you take the temperature of the cheesecake before turning the oven off ?
I would not cover it while it is still warm, because condensation can form on top of the cheesecake, which is fine for this cheesecake, but also not necessarily ideal. Once it’s cool though, you can cover it.
I don’t personally take the temperature of the cheesecake. I use the jiggle test. Here is my tutorial for how to tell when your cheesecake is done baking. It outlines several ways, including taking temperature, if that’s what you’d like to do.
This recipe was a hit! Absolutely delicious, even though I didn’t wrap it right, and water got in…no one even noticed! Definitely a do over for Christmas dinner! Thank you for your wonderful recipe!
So glad it was a hit!
Could rum flavoring be used instead of rum? Or what could the rum be replaced with?
You could just replace it with some water if you don’t want to use the rum.
How many eggs? The number isn’t listed in the ingredients list. Making this for Thanksgiving dessert!!!
It’s there. It’s the last ingredient listed for the cheesecake filling. Three eggs. Enjoy!
What’s the different between using vanilla wafers and graham crackers? Can I add pecans to the crust?
Just a different flavor. Vanilla wafers are sweeter and more of a cookie crust. Some finely chopped pecans would be fine. You just don’t want them to be too big or they can cause to crust to be crumbly.
Can I use a 10 inch pan?
Sure, the cheesecake just won’t be as tall and you may be able to take five or 10 minutes off of the bake time.
Can I make the topping sauce a day or 2 ahead of time & reheat if before serving it?
I haven’t really tried it. I’m not sure how well the bananas would hold up. You could maybe make the sauce without the bananas and then add them when you reheat it.
Can you make ahead and freeze the cheesecake part since it has bananas and rum in the mix?
The cheesecake part should do fine being frozen.
I want the rum in the sauce, but do you have to light it? I’m a bit nervous about that part as I don’t want to burn my house down lol
No, you don’t have to light it. It does burn off some of the alcohol, but you don’t have to.
What can I use instead of rum
You could just leave it out. If you need to thin out the sauce a little, you could add a touch of cream or water.
The best cheesecake I’ve ever had. My family is kinda obsessed with bananas fosters and I made this for my moms birthday and the recipe is perfect and sooo delicious I literally can’t stop thinking about it!
Awesome! So glad you enjoyed it!
My oven has steam bake, do you think I can use that instead of the water bath?
I haven’t ever used it, so I’m not sure.
Can you use dark brown sugar instead of light?
Sure!
Just finished making this recipe! Some water was in the aluminum and came out of the pan. I’m worried I will have a soggy crust. Is there anything I can do to save it? I just put it in the fridge
The crust should be fine. Possibly a little wet, but if you remove the sides of the pan and let it sit in the fridge, it should dry out a bit.
This was REALLY good!!!!!!!!!!!! It also smelled AMAZING when it was baking. The crust is so delicious. The topping was phenomenal. Put it all together and it was a real treat! Thank-you for this recipe! Your website is SO much fun; I just love cheesecake and most of my cookbooks don’t have many variations on the classic, but here you have been so creative! And I appreciate all of the recipes!
Awesome! Thank you! So glad you’re enjoying everything!
Can you substitute rum flavoring for the rum?
You can try it, but you wouldn’t need much. Maybe a fourth or half a teaspoon. I would probably just leave it out unless you really want the rum flavor.
Wow!!! We made this for a LSU football party, we only cooked Louisiana foods and wow it was a hit! The middle was not cooked all the way sadly, but we just cut the outside into squares and ate them as bites. But for whipped cream, we added 2 tablespoons of dark rum and it was amazing! This will definitely be made more often in my household.
Awesome! So glad it was a hit!
Quick tip if you don’t mind: instead of foil put your spring form pan in a slightly larger pan then put in a lager pan and fill with water also use an instant thermometer and cook to 150 degrees f. I take out once reach temp and put it on cooling rack. I never have cracks or uncooked/over cooked cheesecake.
Can this be made ahead and frozen
The cheesecake itself would be fine, but not the topping.
Really look forward to making this. Is there something else that could be substituted for the dark rum ? We don’t drink alcohol in our household. Thanks for your time
You can simply leave it out of the cheesecake. For the topping, you can replace it with water or additional cream.
Bananas Foster is my favorite dessert, and I am a bit of a purist, so I had high expectations and assumed this cheesecake would disappoint. Boy, was I wrong! This cheesecake is fabulous! I appreciate the instructions for baking and the process of letting the cheesecake sit in the oven. The texture was perfect and the appearance looked like a professional made it. This is our new favorite cheesecake.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hi I am traveling with this cheesecake. Could I make the sauce 4 hrs ahead of time and then put it on when I get there? Would it need to be warmed up? Thank you
That should be fine. If you want the sauce a little warm, then you could warm it up.
Hi I just finished cooling mine. It’s very jiggly almost doesn’t look cooked. Will it firm up in the fridge?
How long can the banana foster topping be kept in the fridge?
It kind of depends on the bananas. They are going to be the best within the first day or two, but might be ok for another day or two after that.
This is a great recipe. I made one last week for a co-workers birthday and made another one this week for home. Delicious, I wouldn’t change anything.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hello Lindsay, I’ve many of your recipes and love them all. I made this one on Saturday and I actually doubled the recipe because I have a larger springform pan. I cooked it an additional 15 min and it had what I thought was a mild jiggle so I turned off the oven and started the cooling process. I cut myself a piece last night and found out it was under done. It had a sort of mousse texture to it and wasn’t that nice creamy texture. Since I only cut one piece can I place it back in the oven and see if it cooks fully?
Loved this recipe. I changed it up a bit. For the crust, I used Biscoff cookies with unsalted butter (due to their saltiness) and it was a hit. Absolutely delicious; especially if you are a fan of banana.
Our daughter requested something with a Bananas Foster flare for her birthday. I saw this recipe and knew she would love it. I made it in stages, the cheesecake and whipped topping one day before we planned to serve it and the bananas foster about an hour before serving. The recipe was easy to follow and the cheesecake did not crack. Even though I think I cooked the sugar/cream mixture a bit too long it was delicious, and everyone raved!!! One person even had a second full sized slice. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Thank you for developing this recipe.
I made this for my husband’s birthday. He didn’t love it because, he said, it doesn’t really taste like cheesecake”. It did receive rave reviews from other people in attendance and I shared the recipe link with them. Guess I should’ve known my guy well enough to know that he’s not a fancy cheesecake kinda guy. But the rest of us loved it. 😊
Came across your recipe because my youngest wanted us to make a cheesecake together and she wanted it to be bananas foster. So like I always say why not I think we can make it. Sooooo happy we did it came out delicious!!! We both agreed that this is a keeper. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Definitely 5 star! It is FABULOUS! I made it and took pictures, tagged you on Instagram. I made one minor change. I took out 1/3 of the cookie crumbs and substituted an equal amount of ground pecans. I debated crushing some roasted pecans and sprinkling them on top, but in the end opted not to do that. Super creamy and extremely delicious! My mother doesn’t like cheesecake as a general rule but she loved this!
Hi,
I wanted to make this cheesecake on a Sunday and serve it on a Wednesday. I know I should make the topping and the whipped cream on the Wednesday, but since I am making the cake so far in advance…should I freeze it?
Sorry for the delay. It should actually be fine without freezing it.
Could you use light rum? That’s all I have on me!
Thanks
Certainly!
We don’t have any rum, but we do have bourbon! Any chance I could substitute that for the rum? 🙂 Thank you!
Sure, that should be fine.
Amazing! I just made this for my family and everyone loves it!
So glad to hear that!
This recipe sounds delicious, qq:
How would I adapt this for mini cheesecakes? Say, making them in cupcake pans (i’ve never tried before!)
I would check out this recipe for mini cheesecakes and use that as a bit of a guide. It will be very similar, you just may need a touch more baking time. https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/mini-cheesecakes/
Hi this looks absolutely gorgeous. I was wondering however if the rum can be substituted with something non alcoholic or left out entirely?
You can just leave it out. If the topping needs a little extra liquid, you could add a touch of water.
My son loves Banana Foster but I thought it would be hard to make that for 10 people so I made this instead. Every one raved how good it was. I used the tutorial for the bath and I found it very helpful. Since i was traveling with the desert I did not bother to add the whipped cream but I don’t think it was missed. Since I was traveling with the desert, i left it in the springform pan until I got to my destination. It did not have any cracks when I arrived to my destination so I was very happy.
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Absolutely excellent! Everyone loved it! Came out amazing!
I’m so glad to hear it!
I never leave comments, but I felt the need to share with you that I made your recipe yesterday for a dear friend’s 30th birthday. It was AMAZING! I followed your recipe to a t and it came out beautifully and a huge success. I had never even heard of a bananas foster cheesecake until her husband said that it was her favorite. I saved your recipe and it will become a staple for a special occasion dessert. 😊 Thank you!
That is so awesome to hear! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Can you substitute the rum for rum extract? I’m tripling the recipe and am afraid of the flames being to high lol
You could try it. I might also add 2-3 tablespoons of water, if you want the same consistency as the original recipe.
This recipe is amazing! Not to heavy but very flavorful.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This was awesome!! Definitely make again. Held off putting banana’s on top so would keep longer. Added banana liqueor and rum in whip cream instead. Never too much rum.
Yum! So glad you enjoyed the cheesecake!
Good morning, I wonder if this could be done by adding some of the ingredients to a no bake version!
That might take a little playing with the recipe. Adding bananas to a no bake cheesecake would soften it just a bit. You would probably want to add gelatin, and I don’t know if the bananas would brown a good bit.
I made this cheesecake this weekend and it turned out AMAZING!!! I used a Jamaican dark rum and my only problem through the entire recipe was that I couldn’t get the rum to light in the pan? I even put some on a spoon and tried to light it by itself and it wouldn’t light, so there must have been something wrong with the rum I bought. The final cake had a slight alcohol taste but I really didn’t mind. I followed the cooling times just like you said and my cheesecake turned out perfect and didn’t crack!! This recipe will be saved in my recipe box forever!
It may be a problem with the rum. Glad you enjoyed!
what is the difference between the heavy cream in the bananas foster and the heavy whipping cream in the whipped cream? do we need to purchase both or is it the same thing?
You can use the same for both, I actually used heavy whipping cream for both and I have updated the recipe. Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!
how ripe should the bananas be?
You could really use them at any level of ripeness for inside the cheesecake. I’ve used yellow bananas and brown bananas and both were fine. More ripe can lend a little stronger flavor sometimes though.
how many days ahead can this be made
It lasts well for about 4-5 days. But if you’re making it ahead, I’d add the bananas foster topping before serving.
I made this cheesecake along with the Strawberry Moscato Cake for Christmas, which I’m now required to make since last year when I made it everyone can’t stopped talking about it. This was the first time I ever made a cheesecake as my 12yr old son who makes them was away visiting family this year & everyone was expecting his cheesecakes. It came out amazing, in 5 mins half the cheesecake was gone. I have received text msg raving about this cheesecake. Thank you for your recipes.
Wonderful! I’m so glad you all enjoyed!
Hi Lindsay! I really enjoy your site and have made many of your cakes & cheesecakes. The Bananas Foster cheesecake looks and sounds awesome. I would like to make it for a family function and one of my niece-in-laws is gluten intolerant. What could I substitute the 3 Tbls flour with?
Thank you,
Lois
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipes! You could use 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch instead.
Which run exactly do you use for this?
Any dark rum should be fine. I’ve used several different ones and they all worked great.
Hi Lindsay, the sugar that you use for the cheesecake filling, is it also lightbrown sugar or darkbrown sugar?
I use light brown sugar.
Could I swap out the rum and use rum extract? And how much would I use? This looks so good!!!
You could, although it doesn’t really give quite the same flavor. If you were going to use the extract though, 2 tablespoons would be too much. I would probably stick to 1 to 2 teaspoons, depending on how strong you want the flavor.
Oh goodness this looks so good! I am excited to try it! I always love the new and unique cheesecake flavors you come up with :).
This cheesecake came out looking beautiful -picture perfect. I might not add as much mashed banana in the recipe as it was almost too much banana flavor since you serve fresh sliced bananas on the top anyway. It might taste better as a plain cheesecake with banana. Still, it is a very good recipe. I would make this again. Thanks for your recipe!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
I made this today and it was RIDICULOUSLY delicious. I brought slices to everyone in my family and all agreed this one is spectacular.
I made the banana cheesecake with bavarian cream for Thanksgiving, and as soon as I saw this one, I had to make it, too. Everyone in my family preferred this one! I’ve got the lemon meringue cheesecake setting up in the fridge as I type this (butane arrives from amazon.com tomorrow). I am so happy I found this website, since I am now addicted to making cheesecake, and you’ve got lots more options for me to try.
That’s awesome! I’m so glad you enjoy the cheesecakes!
This looks fantastic, and congratulations on the two-year cookbook anniversary! We still pull the cookbook out at all the special occasions to choose something delicious.
Enjoy this first set of holidays with the boys, Lindsay! What a wonderful time of year.
Thank you Jennie! I’m so glad you enjoy the cookbook!
Can this be made without the rum? We don’t consume any alcohol.
Yes, you could just leave it out.
This cheesecake was AMAZING!!!!!!!
I took a picture of it, but unable to post.
I also made extra sauce and it tastes amazing poured over vanilla Ice cream! ❤
Awesome! I bet the sauce was great over vanilla ice cream!
This looks amazing! Could I make it two days in advance? Would you leaving the topping off till serving?
Yes, you could make the cheesecake a couple days ahead. I’d suggest making the fosters topping shortly before serving, if you can, so it’s fresh.