Feast with your eyes while indulging in this banana upside down cake. Think of warm buttery flavours of brown sugar, cinnamon, and so much more!
I promise you won’t just want a little slice of this banana upside down cake. This cake is dense, flavourful, moist, and hits the spot every time. With this cake you truly feast with your eyes and nose before diving into its sweet and spicy caramel profile. I promise this cake belongs in the classics and it’s the recipe you never knew you were missing.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
-Very quick and easy to make
-Packed full of flavour
-Visually impactful and your home will smell absolutely delicious!
-The unpanning is 100% satisfying
-Everyone will love this cake – coworkers, baker friends, and family
Here you’ll learn how to make a banana upside down cake from scratch, and the difference between banana bread and banana cake.
How to make banana upside down cake:
I absolutely love upside down cakes, when baking they don’t look like much but when you take them out of their pan they reveal a sumptuous treat. When developing this recipe I wanted to include classic flavours that we all know and love. I also wanted this recipe to be very easy, where you can throw everything in one bowl and have it be ready to go. So, I took the spicy flavours of cinnamon and clove, pan sauteed bananas, the delicious molasses of brown sugar, the depth of whiskey, and lastly the sweet crunch of pecans, and put it all together for a complex and delicious cake. I truly wanted this creation to hit all the senses. I wanted it to be the recipe that you placed on the table, with hot caramelized syrup dripping down the sides, that will have everyone wanting that first slice!
I have to say I’m one of those people who love over ripe bananas – I feel like you either do or you don’t, there is never a middle ground! Always having leftover bananas in the house at the end of the week, I wanted to make use of the black splotted, sweet bananas that nobody wants to eat. So I got to work combining flavours. The hardest part for me was figuring out the liquor I wanted to use in this particular cake. Sniffing around the liquor cabinet, I had corks pulled and caps unscrewed from every bottle we owned. Of course, the last bottle I smelled was the whiskey, and for some reason the notes resonated with me, it just seemed to match the smell of the bananas. After testing it in the recipe I was shocked at how lovely the combination was.
What is the difference between banana bread and banana cake?
The big difference between banana bread and banana cake is texture and crumb. Traditionally, a cake’s crumb is a little finer and lighter. Banana breads are what’s known as a quick bread. Quick breads are usually more dense.
Baking Overview:
This cake recipe is perfect for all bakers, no matter your level – it is very easy and simple. In this recipe we are going to start with the topping, and then move into making the cake batter. In this particular recipe it’s very important not to skip the lining of the cake pan and greasing at the edges. Since this cake has a caramelized syrup on the bottom (which becomes the top), the liner will prevent it from sticking to the base and allow for the perfect unpanning.
Lastly, take your time creating this syrup, and never exceed just over medium heat. We don’t want to scorch or burn the sugar. The goal is to create a silky, thick syrup.
Banana Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
Banana topping
- 2 bananas
- 1/4 cup butter unsalted
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp whisky
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Banana cake
- 2 bananas mashed
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg room temperture
- 1 egg yoke room temoerature
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp whisky
- 1/2 tsp cinnimon
- 1/4 tsp clove
- 1/4 cup peacasn crushed
Instructions
Banana topping
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 inch cake pan with a little butter and line the base of the pan with parchment paper.
- Slice three ripe bananas in half lengthwise, and set aside.
- Place the pan over medium heat, melt butter and brown sugar together. Once the butter and sugar amalgamate and bubble, reduce heat to low. Add vanilla, whiskey, and maple syrup, stirring continuously until incorporated. Increase the heat back to medium and add the bananas gently. Once the syrup starts to bubble gently, spoon off the mixture over top of the bananas so they're coated in the syrup.
- Reduce heat back down to low and carefully remove the bananas, placing them in the bottom of the cake pan in your desired design. Pour the caramelized syrup over the bananas and ensure it covers the entire base of the cake pan. Set aside while you whip up the cake batter.
Banana cake
- In a mixing bowl, add all cake ingredients together at once – mashed banana, cake flour, brown sugar, eggs, yolk, salt, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, whiskey, cinnamon, clove, and pecans. With your paddle attachment or hand mixer whiz up until all ingredients are combined.
- Pour the batter over the bananas and caramelized syrup in the cake pan. Place cake pan in oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden.
- Once done, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to set for 10 minutes. Then, take a knife and run it around the edge of the cake carefully. Place a wire rack over the cake and flip it over so it comes out of the cake pan (careful it might still be hot).
- Enjoy!
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