I have always been a huge fan of banana bread. This was always made during the holidays and whenever bananas were getting too ripe to eat. My mom never wasted over ripe bananas. They were put into bread, cookies, cakes, or pudding. The other day, an RN I work with, came across a recipe for “Banana Upside Down Cake” and said “Drew, you have got to give this a go!!”
I looked at the recipe, thought about how I could tweak it to make it mine and gave it a shot. OH MY!! Gastric Bliss!! It was completely devoured in a single night by my mom and the staff in the ER. It is tough to beat slices of caramel coated bananas on top of a gooey, moist, banana flavored cake. This will surely be a hit with your family, friends, and/or co-workers
Ingredients:
Topping:
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 bananas sliced
Cake:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup pecans chopped
1/2 cup chocolate bits
3 medium ripe bananas mashed
1/2 cup buttermilk (see note below)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs beaten
Maple Syrup – optional
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch spring form pan. Wrap the bottom 1/3 part of the pan with foil so the liquid does not leak out all over the bottom of your oven.
2. For the Topping: Mix 2/3 cups brown sugar and the 5 tablespoons melted butter. Pour into the bottom of the spring form pan. Smooth it around and then place the sliced bananas on top of this.
3. In another mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients.
4. In another separate bowl, mix the brown sugar, white sugar, mashed bananas, buttermilk, vanilla, oil, and eggs. Mix well. Add the sifted dry ingredients a little bit at a time to the wet. Fold in the dry ingredients. Add the pecans and chocolate bits. Do not overmix the batter or the cake will be tough and rubbery. Folding prevents this.
5. Pour the batter over the top of the sliced bananas.
6. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check the cake with a clean knife at 45 minutes to make sure cake is done in the middle. Keep baking if needed. I covered mine with foil at 45 minutes and it took a little bit longer.
7. Let the cake cool for 5 to 8 minutes. Place a large plate over the top, flip, and then drizzle some Maple Syrup over the top. This takes it over the top!!
8. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
*NOTES: If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, measure out a 1/2 cup of milk and pour 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice and let it sit for 10 minutes. Your pan will leak, it is critical you wrap the spring form pan with foil. If you place it on foil on a baking sheet, the cook time will be longer, like the full 1 hour. I can’t stress enough about folding in the dry ingredients. This makes it light and not heavy.
This is one delicious twist on banana bread!! Cheers, Drew Frederic