Caramel Banana Upside-Down Cake
Happy 2016 everybody! What’s your New Year’s resolution this year? Mine is to learn how to take better (food) photos. I’m planning on taking a digital photography class next semester, so hopefully I will make some progress without going too out of my way. Look forward to more delicious-looking photos in the semi-near future. ;)
For New Year’s Eve, I decided to make this Caramel Banana Upside-Down Cake. It’s basically an extra fancy and extra delicious version of banana bread, and it’s definitely worth your time to make. I hope your New Year’s resolution doesn’t involve eating less dessert, because you’d be missing out. Besides, dessert is good for the soul.
You’ll need to do some planning ahead for this cake. It requires bananas with different degrees of ripeness. The banana puree in the cake should come from fruit that is so ripe it is almost black. The sliced bananas on top however, should be barely-ripe, with tinges of green, so that it doesn’t disintegrate during the baking process. I had a stash of super-ripe bananas in the freezer, so I just defrosted some and used that for the cake.
You can try to make cool patterns with the bananas and walnuts if you’re feeling extra artistic. I kind of gave up because the bananas were too slippery though. Also the pattern will get messed up when you spread the batter on top. So actually, disregard the previous comment.
The cake also calls for browning half of the butter before creaming. It’s technically an optional step but it adds such rich, toasted notes to the cake that it’s not really optional. Just doooo it. It’s worth the extra dishes. Just in case you’re not sure what “light and fluffy” means, here’s a picture of the creamed butter:
The batter should be the consistency of thick frosting and there will be just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Don’t panic; it’ll rise in the oven and fill out the pan.
I would highly recommend serving this with vanilla ice cream. We did just that on New Year’s Eve but I was too impatient to take pictures. I ate leftovers this morning with some plain whole milk yogurt and it was also a delicious combination. The yogurt totally justifies me eating cake for breakfast and snack.
Hope that 2015 was a great year and wish you the best in 2016! Happy munching!
Caramel Banana Upside-Down Cake
Makes one 10’’x15’’ sheet cake, about 24 servings
Ingredients:
For the caramel:
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
¼ cup unsalted butter
¼ tsp. salt
For the topping:
3-4 medium, just-ripe bananas, sliced, enough to cover bottom of pan
½ cup walnut halves
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ cup unsalted butter, softened, divided, plus extra for greasing pan
½ cup dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ tsps. vanilla extract
1 cup pureed overripe bananas
½ cup sour cream or ½ cup heavy cream mixed with 2 tsps. white vinegar, room temperature
Vanilla ice cream or whole milk yogurt, for serving
Preparation:
To make the caramel, bring ingredients to boil in a small saucepan. Lower the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Be sure to keep an eye on the pan so it doesn’t boil over. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Butter a 10’’x15’’ sheet cake pan. Pour the cooled caramel into the pan. Arrange the sliced bananas and walnuts on top of the caramel.
For the cake, Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Brown ¼ cup of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature and then place in freezer until solid.
Cream the browned butter, remaining ¼ cup butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, pausing to scrape down the sides. Beat in the vanilla extract.
Beat in the banana puree. The mixture will look slightly curdled after adding the bananas. Don’t panic.
Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the sour cream in 2 additions, alternating, and mixing on low speed until just incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. The batter will be thick and should be about the consistency of frosting.
Pour batter on top of bananas and walnuts. Spread evenly to cover the whole pan.
Bake in middle rack of preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool on wire rack for 20 minutes. Then carefully invert onto another pan. Allow to cool completely on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
