Banana Upside Down Cake
OK, tell me you don't want it: a dense, buttery cake with bananas sitting in caramel.
Well, OK, maybe you don't. If September is truly the start of the new year, you might have a resolution or two up your sleeve. I want to bone up on my French. I've lost it since we moved to the country four years ago. I don't get into too many conversations about the proper use of the subjunctive with my neighbors.
But I digress. I'm supposed to be writing about banana upside down cake. How it got mixed up with the subjunctive is. . . .
Right. Resolutions. The best thing about calling September the new year is that you don't have to make any. No French, no gym memberships. Those are all well and good. But you don't have to. You can just celebrate this thing called time. (Or not. At fifty, I can't decide which.)
I warn you, real food lovers: this cake is a also a celebration of butter. Without a doubt, it's empty calories. Probably eight servings in this thing. But butter is a real fat. Better that than some fake stuff. And yes, there's sugar involved. Even corn syrup. We'll get to that. On to the cake:
First, position the rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
Mix 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and 2 teaspoons light corn syrup in a medium saucepan and stir over high heat until the sugar melts. Why the corn syrup? Because it aids in the caramelization, the "candy-making" for the top of the cake. Is it real food? In the book, we refer to it as "barely real food." Still, a little here is necessary for good success. Otherwise, the caramel topping becomes liquid after baking, like on a flan. It's not the worst thing in the world, but there it is. That said, you could indeed leave out the corn syrup and have a runny topping. It's a trade-off. Call it life. You know that's why we wanted to write REAL FOOD HAS CURVES. Because we don't believe in simple answers. We think life has to be nuanced and balanced.
Once the sugar mixture starts bubbling, leave it undisturbed until it turns dark amber, about 7 minutes, maybe a little more. Watch it closely--the color changes quickly, particularly in that last minute. Take the saucepan off the heat and stir in 4 tablespoons unsalted butter. Then pour this mixture into the 8-inch baking dish.
Now line that baking dish with 3 ripe bananas, split in half lengthwise, then cut and made to fit. I think Bruce ended up with a little bit of extra banana because his were so jumbo. The point is to have very ripe bananas, quite brown and soft. Look how squishy his were. Set these bits and pieces in place in the dish.
Next, sift 1 1/2 cups cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a medium bowl. Bruce puts it all in a fine-mesh strainer and taps it over the bowl. Why this fussy step? To aerate the flour and get the leavening mixed well into it. We want lots of air--and lots of rise.
Beat 1 cup sugar with 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time, making sure the first is thoroughly incorporated before adding the second. Remember: you can barely overbeat a batter at this stage. Then beat in 1/2 cup plain yogurt and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.
Scrape down the bowl, then beat in the flour mixture in three additions at low speed, making sure each is dissolved in the batter before adding the next. You are creating a dense, chewy cake.
Pour and spread this batter over the bananas in the baking dish. Bake until browned and puffed, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake without going down to the bananas comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool in the baking dish on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert the whole thing onto a serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature later that day. Make sure you've got a pot of coffee on as well. This cake needs it!
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Friday, September 10, 2010 at 11:32AM | in Cake, Desserts, Fabulously Empty Calories banana, banana dessert, banana upside down cake, butter, cake, dessert, flour, fruit, yogurt
Reader Comments (13)
I studied French for years - it was my minor in college. I'm going to France in 10 days and I'll be lucky if I can make myself understood, much less use the subjunctive properly. So don't be hard on yourself!
This recipe looks fabulous and I think I have all the ingredients at home. I might have to give the bananas until Sunday to get a little softer, but it will be great on Sunday evening or Monday morning. Beautiful!
a great upside-down cake,don't worry about french,i lost the subjonctif,too. i will learn it again,it isn'easy,but is a challenge!:)
I think we should replace 2 tbsp of the water with rum and have a Bananas Foster upside down cake. What do you think?
Connie, Bruce says you run a chance of a big alcohol explosion in the kitchen at the temperatures that sugar will get to. Better to put the rum in the cake itself, maybe 2 tablespoons. Or just cut the cake into wedges, then serve these with a little rum dribbled on top--maybe even warmed rum from a little saucepan over low heat.
M.
Hm, I don't think my one banana will do it! Note to self: add bananas to grocery list -- then wait!
Thanks for the warning about adding rum ( the real stuff). I like the idea of sprinkling the cake with rum.
Ok it looks like a good cake but in draw the line at corn syrup. That it what I would call an anti food. It is so hideously bad for you and there is no reason to ever eat it. You can make a fantastic caramel with rapadura, coconut sugar or raw agave. Even processed white cane sugar would be preferable to corn syrup.
Merrie: You're right to be concerned. Of course. But in our book, we list corn syrup as "barely real food"--and high fructose corn syrup as "not real food." A dab of the (slightly) better stuff simply makes this caramel better--but as I said, you could leave it out. And yes, you're right about making caramel with other sugars. Even turbinado can make a fine caramel. Maybe that's a future blog post. Or we'd all love to hear about making a caramel from coconut sugar. Sounds fantastic.
M.
Thanks Mark. Coconut sugar is a wonderful ingredient. I have only recently started using it. It is made from coconut palm nectar in Indonesia, which is then dehydrated and crushed so it is pretty much unprocessed and raw. It is very low GI (35) , high in lots of minerals and has a toffee taste, you can use it as a substitute for brown sugar or in tea and coffee, I have even used it to replace white sugar in cakes. It's as sweet as regular sugar and acts the same way in cooking so you can just substitute 1:1 in any recipe. I recently used it just as I would caster sugar (not sure what you call it over there but the very fine sugar for baking) to make a dry caramel for a tarte tatin.
Oh, Merrie, that sounds amazing--a tarte tatin with coconut sugar. Wow. Very cool. Thank you so much for posting this on the blog. I can't wait to find it and try it. Anyone else has? Let us all know!
Mark
this looks delish!! ive been looking for a new cake to try for the holidays. Thanks!!!
I have made this cake probably a dozen times now, but never with bananas! I've made it with pears, pears and cranberries, pears and walnuts, peaches, nectarines, plums, golden delicious apples, granny smith apples, brambley apples, oranges, mandarins, blueberries... my favorite was the pears... my husband's favorite was the peach version... we have two small kids and can't ever seem to keep bananas long enough for them to turn spotted. Thanks for the recipe! I will try it with bananas some day - I'll have to hide them.
Portia:
I'm so glad you have liked the cake. And with bananas--well, I won't say it's better, but I will say it's darn good.
M.