Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake

By msippigrl

Buttery brown sugar caramel and banana topping on homemade vanilla cake. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients

• Cake Batter:
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• Topping:
• 1/2 stick (1/4 c) unsalted butter, sliced into thin pats
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large, ripe but firm bananas, sliced diagonally into 1/4" slices

Preparation

Step 1

Grease or spray a 9-inch round cake pan that is at least 2" high. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl and using a hand mixer on high speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in one egg at a time until each one is well blended. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to the creamed mixture, starting and ending with flour. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350° F.

Meanwhile, make the topping:
In a small 1-qt. non-stick saucepan, heat together the butter slices and brown sugar just until the sugar is melted and tiny bubbles are beginning to form around the edges of the pan, stirring frequently. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour into the greased cake pan.

Peel and diagonally slice bananas in thick slices, at least 1/4" thick. Arrange banana slices over the brown sugar topping in the pan. Carefully, pour the batter over the bananas. (NOTE: I was afraid that my pan would overflow in the oven so I had about 1/2 cup of batter leftover. I also pushed the batter from the center toward the edges of the pan with a rubber spatula, creating a slight dip in the center since the cake always rises higher in the center. Worked out perfectly.)

Bake on centered rack in oven for 45-50 minutes, or until center of cake tests done with a wooden toothpick.

Cool in pan on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Using a thin-bladed paring knife, loosen edges of cake from the pan. Place a serving plate over the cake pan then invert the cake onto the plate. Immediately, spoon any topping left in the pan over the cake. Cool to lukewarm on the cooling rack.

Serve warm as is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.