Kortni’s Kitchen: Banana Upside Down Cake
Banana upside down cake tastes amazing. You know the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by the cover”? Well, that saying comes in handy if you do this cake wrong. If you do this cake correctly then it will look beautiful and taste even better. If you don’t do it correctly like I did this time around, then keep the banana side down and it looks exactly like cake. You can add a pecan glaze and have yourself a perfect cake even with the mistakes. Plus unlike pineapples, bananas are ripe year round so you can make this any time you want.
Ingredients: Real House Moms
4 TBS unsalted butter, melted (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3-4 bananas
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup cake flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBS baking powder
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- I had the cake in the oven at 350 and thought I could make it bake faster if I raised the temperature to 375. This is true in most cases, but with bananas they will naturally oxidize due to the high temperature, turning them pink or sometimes purple. That is what happened to my cake.
2. Grease and flour two 9″ round cake pans or one 13×9″ cake pan.
- I love using the cake pans that have the spring release on the side. They are so helpful for getting a cake out of the tin. My advice is to use an old fashioned cake pan for this cake. For this specific cake you put a liquid on the bottom and it leaks out of the spring release. I didn’t know that until my oven was smoking from the burning batter that had leaked through and onto the bottom of the oven. Though it did make my sister laugh seeing my oven smoking within 10 minutes of me putting the cake in… So much for being a chef.
3. Combine 4 TBS melted butter with 1/2 cup brown sugar and mix well. Spread the brown sugar mixture evenly into the bottom of your cake pan(s).
Kortni’s Kitchen: Banana Upside Down Cake
4. Top with sliced bananas, placing bananas in a single layer.
- If you love bananas, then make the slices a little thicker. If you are indifferent to bananas, slice them thin. It may have to be a single layer, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a thick layer.
Kortni’s Kitchen: Banana Upside Down Cake
5. In a mixing bowl, cream together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 1/4 cups milk and 1 tsp vanilla and beat until combined.
- Make sure you use a big enough bowl. This is such an easy mistake to use a small bowl and then have to transfer it to something larger. I used too small a bowl and my mix was at the brim. I had to whisk slowly so the batter wouldn’t spill over the sides.
Kortni’s Kitchen: Banana Upside Down Cake
6. Add 2 1/4 cups flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 TBS baking powder and mix until just combined.
7. Pour cake batter evenly into pan(s) and bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until the center bounces back when lightly pressed. Cook time will vary depending on what size pan you use, so be sure the middle is set (no jiggles).
Kortni’s Kitchen: Banana Upside Down Cake
8. Cool for 15 minutes and then run a knife around the edges of the cake and carefully invert onto a serving platter.
- In the end, all the mishaps could easily have been avoided. I find, like with everything, when I rush through a recipe I tend to end up doing something wrong. Cooking is no different; you should never rush food. It needs time just like anything else.
Kortni’s Kitchen: Banana Upside Down Cake
I made this cake once before and it came out perfect. I had just run across it and thought it seemed easy, so why not try it? It was easy. This time around was a little different. In the end, this cake is nice. It tastes wonderful, and as cake goes it is so simple. It has many perks, for one, no need to frost it. The decoration is baked right into the cake. Another perk is that the ingredients are simple and should be found in every kitchen. This means no matter where you go, if you have this cake recipe in your back pocket you should be able to make it anytime. Just make sure to take your time and do it right.
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