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No Bake Banana Split Cake

This no bake banana split cake has all the delicious flavors of a banana split ice cream sundae and a vanilla cheesecake all rolled into one amazing dessert. It’s a rich dessert perfect for any occasion and any time of year. 

When I think of classic desserts, I always think of banana split sundaes and cheesecake. That’s why I decided to combine them into one super dessert. When I have family and friends over, I love to serve this as an extra special treat. Let’s be real, in my book, there’s never a bad time for a banana split or a cheesecake, especially if it’s no bake! 

Slice of banana split no bake pie decorated with frosting and cherries

No Bake Banana Split Cake

This delicious, no bake cheesecake starts with a simple graham cracker crust. Then, I make a no bake vanilla cheesecake batter swirled with hot fudge sauce, pour it over the crust, and chill it overnight. The next day, I decorate it with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry frosting that’s scooped to look like ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate fudge, banana chips, and cherries. When it’s all done, I have a delicious no bake cheesecake that tastes just like a banana split and looks just like it, too. It’s as adorable as it is delicious. 

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • It’s a no bake cheesecake recipe, so there’s no changing temperatures, fancy cooling strategies, cracking, or collapsing. 
  • It uses simple ingredients available in any grocery store. 
  • It’s loaded with the classic flavors of a banana split. 
  • The decorations are absolutely adorable. 
slice of banana split cake on a white plate.

Ingredients

Everything you need for this recipe is readily available at your local grocery store. It only takes a few minutes to zip down about two aisles to get all the ingredients. 

Graham Cracker Crust:

  • 1 1⁄2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 1/8 teaspoon fine salt, I used sea salt 

Cheesecake:

  • 3 – 8 ounce packages cream cheese, softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, I used fine sea salt
  • 16 ounce Cool Whip, thawed
  • 2 cups hot fudge sauce, I bought a good one in the jar

Decorations:

  • 1 – 16 ounce premade vanilla frosting
  • 1 – 16 ounce premade chocolate fudge frosting
  • 1 – 16 ounce premade strawberry frosting
  • 3 medium cookie scoop sizes of each frosting flavor
  • Maraschino cherries
  • Banana chips

 Whipped Cream

  • 1 1⁄2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 3⁄4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1  teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Tiny pinch salt
whole banana split cake on a blue plate with a slice missing.

Instructions

Making this no bake banana split cake is very easy. It’s no bake, so you’ll only be mixing, chilling, and then decorating. It’s so much easier than a baked cheesecake, but it’s no less delicious!

Step 1: Make the Crust

Combine the crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Then, spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray. Press half the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan, and press the remaining crust up along the sides of the pan. Freeze while you make the cheesecake batter. 

Step 2: Make the Cheesecake

Beat the cream cheese until smooth in a large bowl. Then, gradually add the powdered guar and vanilla and beat until completely smooth. Finally, fold the Cool Whip gently into the mixture until smooth and combined. Remove the crust from the freezer and pour the batter into the pan. 

Step 3: Swirl

Microwave half of the hot fudge sauce for about 30 seconds. Then, pour it into a piping bag and cut off the tip. Pipe a squiggly line all over the top of the cheesecake and use a butter knife to swirl it into the cheesecake batter. Chill the cheesecake overnight. 

Step 5: Make the Whipped Cream

Place a large bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes. Then, remove the bowl and add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla to it. Beat the ingredients with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form – about 10 minutes. Pipe dollops of whipped cream all around the edge of the pie and freeze for 1 hour to harden. 

Step 6: Decoration Prep

When ready to decorate the cheesecake, microwave the other half of the hot fudge for 30 seconds or until soft. Then, pour it into a disposable piping bag and place it in the freezer for 3 minutes. 

Step 7: Add Hot Fudge

Remove the piping bag and the cheesecake from the freezer. Then, remove the springform pan, and cut the tip off the piping bag with the hot fudge. Pipe hot fudge on top of the whipped cream to look like fudge on ice cream scoops. Place back in the freezer for 30 minutes. 

Step 8: Add Frosting “Ice Cream”

Use a cookie scoop to add a mound of vanilla frosting “ice cream” to the center of the cheesecake. Then, rinse off add a second cookie scoop to add a scoop of chocolate frosting “ice cream” next to the vanilla. Finally, repeat with a third cookie scoop of strawberry frosting. 

Step 9: Add the Finishing Touches

Pipe a big dollop of whipped cream on top of the vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry frosting in the center of the cheesecake. Then, place a maraschino cherry on top of it. Decorate the outside edge of the cheesecake by adding banana chips between the whipped cream dollops and a maraschino cherry on top of each dollop of whipped cream. Place in the refrigerator or freezer overnight. 

slice of banana split cake on a white plate.

Substitutions and Variations

  • If you store this pie in the freezer, you can actually use real vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream in place of frosting. 
  • For extra chocolate flavor, you can make the crust with Oreo cookies. 

Equipment

  • Mixing bowls
  • Springform pan
  • Microwaveable bowl
  • Disposable piping bag
  • Large piping bag with star tip
  • Medium size cookie scoop

Tips

  • A hand mixer is the easiest way to achieve the best results for the cheesecake batter. 
  • Be sure to chill the cheesecake adequately between the additions of whipped cream, hot fudge, and frosting. 
  • Be sure your cream cheese is fully frosted for the best cheesecake texture. 

Storage

Store this cake in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze it for up to 1 month in an air-tight, freezer-safe container. 

What to Serve with this delicious no bake banana split cake

Serve this delicious cake with fresh berries. That’s all you need and all you’ll want with this super-rich dessert. 

FAQ

What is no bake cheesecake? 

No bake cheesecake is a type of cheesecake that uses whipped cream to achieve its texture rather than eggs and baking. Strictly speaking no bake cheesecake is classified more as a mousse, but it’s still considered cheesecake. 

Do you refrigerate or freeze no bake cheesecake? 

You can do either. No bake cheesecake can be refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to a month. 

Why can’t cheesecake be frozen for longer than a month?

While cheesecake won’t go bad if frozen for longer than a month, it will begin to lose its flavor and its texture will begin to become grainy. 

My whipped cream collapsed. What happened? 

Many people don’t realize that whipped cream can actually be OVER whipped. If you continue to whip your whipped cream after stiff peaks form, you’ll actually whip the trapped air right out of it, and it will collapse. 

slice of no bake banana split cake on a white plate.

More No Bake Recipes

If you love no bake recipes, then check out the beauties. They’re as easy as they are delicious. 

No Bake Banana Split Cake

This no bake banana split cake is full of cheesecake, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry frosting, banana chips, cherries, and whipped cream.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword No Bake Banana Spilt Cake, No Bake Cake, No Bake Desserts
Prep Time 1 hour
Chill Time 12 hours
Total Time 13 hours
Servings 8 Slices

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

  • 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly melted
  • Baking spray
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt, I used sea salt

Vanilla Cheesecake

  • 24 ounces cream cheese, (3) 8 ounce packages softened
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 16 ounces Cool Whip thawed
  • 2 cups hot fudge sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, I used fine sea salt

Topping

  • 16 ounces vanilla frosting
  • 16 ounces chocolate fudge frosting
  • 16 ounces strawberry frosting
  • Maraschino cherries
  • Banana chips. freeze dried

Whipped Cream Topping

  • 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • small pinch salt, I used fine sea salt

Instructions

Graham Cracker Crust

  1. Spray the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with baking spray.

  2. Press half the graham cracker crust into the pie dish.

  3. Combine the ingredient.s into a medium bowl

  4. Press the remaining crust up along the sides.

  5. Place the springform pan into the freezer while you make the no bake cheesecake.

Make the Vanilla Cheesecake Layer

  1. Using a large bowl, beat together cream cheese until smooth.

  2. Gradually add in the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla and beat until completely smooth.

  3. Gently fold in the cool whip into the cheesecake batter until combined and smooth.

  4. Remove the crust from freezer and scoop the cheesecake batter into the crust.

  5. Spoon about half of the hot fudge sauce into a microwave safe bowl and place into the microwave for 30 seconds.

  6. Pour the hot fudge into the piping bag and cut the tip off.

  7. Pipe a squiggly line all over the top of the cheesecake.

  8. Using a butter knife, swirl the cheesecake and hot fudge together..

  9. Place the cheesecake into the fridge overnight.

Whipped Cream Directions

  1. Using a large bowl, place the bowl into the freezer for 30 minutes.

  2. Remove the bowl after 30 minutes and add in the 1 ½ C heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla.

  3. Using a hand mixer, beat the ingredients together until stiff peaks form. About 10 minutes.

  4. Scoop the whipped cream into the piping bag.

  5. Pipe dollops of whipped cream all around the edge of the pie.

  6. Place the pie into the freezer for 1 hour to harden the whipped cream.

Decorating the Pie

  1. Before the hour is up, scoop some more hot fudge into a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds or until the hot fudge is soft.

  2. Pour into a disposable piping bag and place into the freezer for 3 minutes.

  3. Remove the pie from the freezer as well as the hot fudge.

  4. Remove the springform pan.

  5. Cut the tip off the hot fudge and pipe hot fudge onto the top of the whipped cream to make it look like fudge on top of ice cream.

  6. Once done, place back into the freezer for 30 minutes.

  7. Once the 30 minutes is up, remove the pie from the freezer.

  8. Using the cookie scoop, take the vanilla frosting and scoop a mound of frosting onto the center like a ice cream scoop. Rinse the scoop off.

  9. Take a second scoop of the chocolate frosting into a mound and scoop it out next to the vanilla frosting mound. Rinse the scoop off again.

  10. Repeat the steps with the strawberry frosting.

  11. Once you have a mound of frosting, take the whipped cream and pipe a big dollop on top.

  12. Place a maraschino cherry in the dollop.

  13. Alternate between the banana chips and maraschino cherries as garnish.

  14. Serve and Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

I recommend that you only top with the cheesecake with the cherries and banana chips when you are ready to serve it. Otherwise the cherries will cause the topping to become runny. 

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy this delicious no bake banana split cake recipe along with the other no bake desserts posted.

To save and collect these and any favorite recipes, you can pin on Pinterest. It’s a great way of saving for later on.

Please stop back again soon, there’s so many more recipes to see both sweet and savory, new ones too!

Bye for now…

Disclosure: You may see links to ingredients or cooking items in the ingredient, instructions, or equipment sections of this post. I’m a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. I will receive a small percentage of sales generated by these links. However, this in no way increases the price of the items.

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