Hello Everyone! So I don’t think I’ve shared this little piece of information on the blog before – I’m going on holiday starting this coming Friday! I’ll be in Singapore for a 10-hour layover (yay me) before finally setting off to my final destination. I won’t share where I’ll be going as I’ve been trying so hard to keep this a secret from a few people – but you’ll definitely know in next week’s post. I’ve got everything planned out and prepared for the blog for this month so you guys don’t have to worry about me being gone from Amcarmen’s Kitchen for another 3 weeks (yeap, that’s how long I’ll be on holiday for) seeing as I just returned for 2017.
Anyway, that aside, today’s recipe has been made multiple times before back when I was still studying in Sydney. My then housemate and I would whip this cake up whenever we’d see our fruit bowl of bananas start to get all spotty and soft. This is definitely a recipe you should consider when you find yourself in a similar situation – instead of throwing those bruised bananas, which are actually still pretty mint, mash them up and make an upside-down banana cake! You definitely won’t regret it.
This is an incredibly moist and flavourful dessert, but it could be great for breakfast or as a morning/afternoon snack too. You can take it a step further as well by topping it all off with some toasted pecans, a generous amount of caramel sauce, and topped with a scoop or two of creamy vanilla ice cream. I decided to keep mine simple without all the extra and unnecessary sugars on top since I’m not a big fan of too much sugar, and the fact that my Mom is a diabetic is an enough reason to hold back on the sugar since she’ll definitely be having a slice or two… Or even the whole cake to herself.
PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 55-65 MINS | SERVES 10-12
INGREDIENTS
- 65g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2-3 large bananas, 1/3″ rounds
- 70g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 & 3/4 cups plain flour
- 1 cup overripe bananas, mashed
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup plain yoghurt
- 1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4). Grease a 9″ x 2″ round cake pan, or an 8″ x 8″ x 2″ square cake pan. Spread the 2/3 cup of brown sugar on the bottom of the pan and scatter the pieces of cubed butter on top.
- Place the pan in the oven for about 5 to 7 minutes until the butter has completely melted. Remove the cake pan from the oven and give the butter and brown sugar a stir, spreading evenly on the bottom. Arrange the sliced bananas to cover the caramel bottom then set aside.
- For the batter, add the dry ingredients – plain flour, baking powder, baking soda, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt – to a medium sized bowl and stir together until combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer on medium speed, cream the softened butter granulated sugar together until pale in colour. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, mixing well to combine. Then add in the plain yoghurt and mashed bananas, again mixing well to combine.
- Turn the speed of your mixer on low and slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Mix just enough to combine.
- Pour the batter over bananas, smoothing the top and then place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes at 180C. After half an hour, reduce the heat to 170C (325F or gas mark 3) and bake for additional 25-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out completely clean.
- Once down, remove form the oven and let it cool in the pan completely, or at least until the bottom is barely warm before inverting onto a plate. Use a knife to loosen the edges from the pan then place a plate upside-down on top of the pan, then invert cake.
- At this point you can make a caramel sauce to top off the cake and add a handful of toasted, roughly chopped pecans to your dessert/breakfast/snack. Otherwise, enjoy the cake as it is!
BON APPÉTIT
– Ally xx
AMCARMEN'S KITCHEN 