I am going to make a tree stump cake for my daughter's birthday. She wants chocolate and banana in it. So, I figured I'd make the cake chocolate and fill it with banana pudding. Could I also swirl the banana pudding into the cake mix before baking to make the tree look like it has rings? Has anyone done that before and will it work?

I've never done that before, but I'll bump you up to see if someone else may know.

I've never done that with prepared pudding. Can I suggest make a marbled cake? Just take some of the batter out and put it into a separate bowl, add a little bit of cocoa powder and then swirl this mixture into the other. That would give it the ring look you are looking for.

HTH

That would be great, but the cake is already dark chocolate, I need a lighter ring in it. Also, my daughter wants banana in it.

Anyone else have any input?

Do a white cake with instant banana pudding in it and cover it in chocolate icing. A tsp of banana extract or some mashed bananas in the batter would also bring out the flavor even more.

If it must be chocolate cake -- what about a banana filling between the layers?

Round layers might be fun -- you could make it look like a tree on the outside and put leaves on the top -- maybe an arched door on the side -- almost like a fairy cake.

It would be a hoot is to get a small plastic banana and put it right down the middle of the cake before you frost it..... You might want to carve a little out so it doesn't crack....

Have fun with this one -- hope we get to see a picture of it.