Banana Upside-Down Cake

Banana Upside-Down Cake came up into my “queue” because I’ve been craving bananas lately. Wonder what that means? Anyway … I’ve made my Small-Batch Banana Muffins a couple of times lately (love them!), so thought I should do something different with the bananas today.

Usually, if I add nuts to an upside-down cake, it’s walnut or pecan halves worked into the pattern of the fruit on the bottom (that will be the top), but I had finely diced walnuts left over from my muffin-making and thought I’d just throw those into the batter.

If you’re allergic to nuts, you can leave them out of the recipe without having to make any adjustments to it. We enjoy the cake with some unsweetened (you might prefer lightly sweetened), softly whipped cream. A 1/8-of-the-cake serving comes in right at my daily sugar allowance!

If you like it, I hope you'll share the link on your social media and with all your friends, relatives, coworkers and assorted pets! And do leave a comment and tell me about your favorite ways with bananas or whatever! 

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Banana Upside-Down Cake

(Makes one 8-inch round cake, 8 servings)

9 tablespoons (4.5 ounces/128 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
1/2 firmly packed cup (3.5 ounces/99 grams) dark brown sugar

3 medium (about 18 ounces/510 grams, total unpeeled) perfectly ripe bananas
1 dip-and-sweep cup (5 ounces/142 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (3.5 ounces/99 grams) sugar

1/4 cup (1 ounce/28 grams) finely diced walnuts or pecans, optional
2 teaspoons aluminum-free non-GMO baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 cup (4 fluid ounces/118 ml) milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, room temperature

1 Preheat oven to 350F/180C/Gas4. Grease a 2-inch deep* 8-inch round Pyrex baking dish or cake tin with unsalted butter or cooking spray. Line the base with a round of baking parchment. In small saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter, mix the brown sugar into it, then spread the mixture evenly over the baking parchment. Place banana halves, cut side down, in a pleasing pattern over the sugar. Set aside.

* It is important that the pan be 2 inches deep. If it is shallower, the batter might run over. 

2 In 1-cup glass measure, stir cider vinegar into milk; let stand a few minutes while you proceed with recipe. In mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for one minute to blend. Add the 5 tablespoons softened butter, milk, and vanilla. Mix on low speed for 1 1/2 minutes, then add the egg and mix 1 1/2 minutes longer.

Note: Or do it by hand, as I usually do. Just whisk together the dry ingredients; use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients; add the milk, egg and vanilla; beat by hand for a minute or two. Couldn't be easier!

3 Spread the batter evenly over the bananas. Run a knife through just the batter, not disturbing the bananas, a couple of times to break up any large air bubbles. Bake for 35 minutes. Do not underbake. You're going to be turning it out onto a plate while it is hot, so a nice crusty top (that will be the bottom) is not a bad thing!  

4 Remove from oven, loosen edges with knife, and invert immediately onto a plate. Let it cool completely before serving with whipped cream (unsweetened or lightly sweetened, with a dash of vanilla extract).

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Jean