Banana Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Dulce de Leche Frosting

Ingredients

For the Cake
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup (8 oz/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups very ripe mashed bananas (about 5 to 6 large)
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 6 ounces dark chocolate chopped (I used 72%)
For the Frosting
• 1/2 cup (4 oz/ 1 stick), unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 8 ounces cream cheese, cold and cut into 10 pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons dulce de leche, homemade or store-bought
• pinch of salt
about 6 to 8 tablespoons additional dulce de leche for assembly

Instructions

For the Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 3 8-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper, and coat the parchment.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, and both sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. On low speed, add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Add in the dry ingredients and beat on low speed just until combined, about 30 seconds. Add in the mashed bananas and yogurt, and mix on low speed just until combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate.
5. Divide the batter evenly among the 3 pans (I like to weigh the batter for very even cakes), and smooth out the tops.
6. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Rotating pans halfway through baking. Let cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Invert the cakes onto the racks and remove the parchment, and let cool completely.
For the Frosting
7. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed (start off slowly), until combined and a thick paste is formed, about 5 minutes. Beat in the cream cheese, 1 piece at a time over medium speed until combined. Add in the vanilla and beat to combine. Add in the dulce de leche and salt, and beat on low speed until combined. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
Assembly
8. If you choose, trim the domes of the cake to create an even cake layers. Place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread a thin layer,about 3 to 4 tablespoons of dulce de leche over the layer. Top with about 1/3 of frosting (less if frosting sides), and spread evenly over the layer. Top with second cake layer, and repeat. For the top layer, only top with frosting and not dulce de leche. Drizzle frosted top with dulce de leche, if you wish.