Banana Upside Down Cake

March 24, 2010 in cake

Bananas are a favorite around here and most of the time I can’t buy enough, but every few weeks we all get burned out on bananas and a bunch or 2 just sits on the counter until I finally turn it into banana bread. That happened this week, only I wasn’t into the whole banana bread idea.

This cake was one of the best cakes I’ve made. It was almost like banana bread except not as dense as a bread and with caramelized bananas on top. I can only imagine how amazing it would have been with some fresh whipped cream on top.

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Banana Upside Down Cake
 

Ingredients
For the topping:
  • 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 3 large ripe bananas. peeled, cut diagonally into ¼-inch-thick slices
For the cake:
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 tablespoons milk

Instructions
To make the topping:
  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until butter melts and mixture is well blended. Pour into 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides. Spread to coat bottom of pan. Pour maple syrup over sugar mixture. Place banana slices in concentric circles on nuts, overlapping slightly and covering bottom.
To make the cake:
  1. Stir flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in medium bowl to blend. Beat sugar and butter in another medium bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy. Beat in flour mixture alternately with milk in 3 additions. Spoon batter over bananas. Bake until tester inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer cake to rack. Run knife around pan sides. Cool cake on rack 30 minutes. Place plate over pan; invert cake. Let stand 3 minutes, then gently lift off pan. Serve warm with whipped cream.


adapted from Bon Appeitit

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