Upside Down Banana Cake With Maple Caramel Sauce Food

CARAMEL BANANA UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
• Make the banana topping: Melt butter in a small deep heavy saucepan over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble, add sugar and let simmer for 3 minutes until thick and smooth. Pour into prepared pan.
• Cut bananas in half lengthwise and, depending on the size of the bananas and pan, cut each half into 2 or 3 pieces widthwise. Place bananas over caramel, cut side down.
• In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Occasionally scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. On medium speed, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating it with the sour cream in 2 additions, starting and ending with the flour. Do not over mix.
• Pour batter carefully into pan over bananas and smooth the top. Bake for 40 - 50 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool for exactly 5 minutes on a wire rack, then invert it onto a plate and let cool completely.
• Serve warm or at room temperature. Store cake in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

UPSIDE-DOWN CARAMEL BANANA CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180C (170C fan-forced).
• Generously grease a 22-24cm (9 - 9 1/2") round cake tin, approx 4.5cm (1 1/2") deep, with butter - a non-stick tin is best.
• For the caramel topping, melt 60g butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat.
• Add brown sugar and golden syrup.
• Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Pour caramel sauce into the prepared cake tin, tilting it to ensure it covers the base evenly.
• Now, sift the flour and spices together in a bowl, add a pinch of salt ONLY if you are using unsalted butter.
• In a small bowl, mash the very ripe banana well then mix in the sour cream.
• Now, place the 90g butter and the caster sugar into a medium to large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
• Add the vanilla extract and then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Reducing the speed of your mixer to low, add the flour to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.
• Add the mashed banana and sour cream mixture and beat briefly to combine.
• Now, peel the just-ripe bananas and slice them on the diagonal.
• Starting at the outside edge of the cake tin, arrange the banana slices, overlapping each other, in a circle on top of the sauce.
• Now, arrange another circle of banana slices inside the first and so on until you reach the middle of the tin.
• Reserve four smaller slices for the centre and arrange them, overlapping, as best you can.
• Now, carefully spoon the cake batter as evenly as possible into the tin, being sure not to disturb the bananas.
• Take a bread knife and gently smooth the batter until it is spread evenly.
• Place the cake onto the centre shelf of a preheated 180C (170C fan-forced) oven and bake for 45-50 minutes (approximately 40 minutes in a fan-forced oven).
• The cake is cooked when it looks golden brown and the springs back when you touch it - if unsure, insert a skewer into the cake and, if it comes out clean, the cake is cooked.
• Remove the cake from the oven and let it sit for 3 minutes before running a knife around the rim to loosen the sides.
• Now, place a large plate upside down over the top of the cake tin and, being careful not to burn yourself, quickly invert the plate and the tin.
• Leave the cake tin to stand on top of the plate for 20 seconds before removing it.
• If any bananas stick to the top of the tin, simply remove them and press back into the cake.
• Serve warm, drizzled with extra golden syrup and serve with thick cream or ice-cream.
• If you have to make the cake in advance, it can be reheated for a couple of minutes in the microwave.
• If you wish to be really decadent and serve this cake as a dessert, consider making up a batch of the Caramel Sauce that goes with my Little Icky Sticky Puddings, recipe #88565, to serve with it.

BANANA UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Make the topping: In an oven-safe 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice and salt, and whisk until the brown sugar melts, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Let cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to smell like caramel and darkens slightly, about 1 minute longer. (Don't walk away, or the mixture may burn.) The mixture will clump and separate, but that's OK.
• Add bananas and nuts, gently tossing to coat with the caramel. Remove from heat and arrange fruit into an even layer on bottom of skillet. Ignore any sugar clumps; they will dissolve during baking.
• Make the cake: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and whisk until well mixed. Sprinkle in baking powder, salt and baking soda into the batter, one at a time, and whisking vigorously after each addition.
• Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in flour until just incorporated. The mixture will be lumpy, but that's OK. Don't overmix. Scrape batter into the skillet over the fruit and spread evenly.
• Bake until surface is deeply browned all over (with darker brown edges) and the fruit is lightly bubbling around the sides of the skillet, about 35 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. A toothpick inserted into cake will come out clean.
• Once the cake is out of the oven, immediately run a butter knife or offset spatula around the edge of the skillet. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes to cool slightly. Carefully invert cake into serving platter. If some fruit or nuts stick to bottom of skillet, gently remove them using an offset spatula or knife and place them back onto cake. Let the cake cool until the fruit topping sets, at least 30 minutes to 1 hour, before serving. Cake is best served on the day it is baked.