When I first created this Salted Caramel Upside Down Banana Cake...it looked sooo ugly...but oh lordy...the taste!

You know when you first bite into something that's so delicious, that even if you're completely alone, you still talk to yourself about how yummy it is?

It was that kinda yummy...but boy...was it ugly! 😂

The story of the ugly cake...

Once upon a time there was a lady who couldn't go past a bargain at the supermarket. 

One day, when she was shopping for groceries, she spotted bags of bananas past their acceptable (fresh looking shelf life), discounted for a quick sale 🍌🍌🍌

She couldn't believe her luck, and quickly maneuvered her trolley over to the stand and grabbed herself a bag of those still firm, but slightly brown skinned babies and toddled off home (after paying of course) to make them into choc top banana popsicles and banana bread.

After the usual eyebrow raising from her husband (more banana's???), she went about her usual business with plans to make good use of them the next morning. 

Then she got Covid! 😲

So for nearly a whole week, those bargain banana's sat on the bench, being even more neglected than they were at the supermarket. 

Now, you already know how she loves a food bargain...but she also can't stand waste!

So even though a week later...when she was well enough to even think about using them (they were seriously mooshy), she still couldn't bear to throw them in the compost.

The Solution - sticky delicious Salted Caramel Banana Upside Down Cake

Pause story...

Ok...I think by now the jig is up and you realise that the bargain food hunter/ war on waste warrior princess...is none other than me!😛

(I just wanted to clear that up before we got to the ending!)

🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌

So why is this the story of the ugly cake when all the photo's on this page look...well...pretty damn good?

Well, when I first made this cake, those banana's were so soft...the top layer of the cake ended up looking really gross, and some of the banana looked a little grey🤔. It also didn't hold together very well...but oh the taste!

       It was so delicious it made my tastebuds think they'd died and gone to heaven!

I couldn't NOT share the recipe with you!

So with a little tweaking (firmer banana's for the top to start with), and some better photo's I can now bring you this very acceptable looking sticky and scrumptious upside down salted caramelly bananery creation. 

The end!

Okay...okay...enough chit chat! Let's get to the good bit so you can get this baby in the oven 😆

Salted Caramel Upside Down Banana Cake

Ingredients

Topping

• 150g brown sugar
• 75g unsalted butter, cubed
• 2 medium ripe but not mushy bananas (peeled & cut lengthways)
• ¼ teaspoon granulated sea salt
• ½ teaspoon flaky salt

Cake

• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 165g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 185g plain flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
• Pinch of granulated sea salt
• 275g mashed very ripe banana (1 cup, approximately 2 large bananas)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced).
2. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.

Topping

1. Combine the sugar, butter and the ¼ tsp granulated sea salt in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and starts to bubble.
2. Let simmer without stirring for 15 seconds then pour the caramel into the prepared tin.
3. Sprinkle the flaky sea salt over the surface of the caramel then arrange the sliced bananas on top of the caramel with the cut sides facing down. Set aside.

Cake

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate soda, pinch of salt and the cinnamon. Whisk until completely combined, set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs one at a time and beat until combined.
4. Add the mashed banana and briefly beat on low to combine.
5. Add a third of the flour mixture at a time to the banana mixture, and beat only until just combined. Continue until all the flour is incorporated into the banana mixture. Don’t overbeat the mixture.
6. Pour the batter over the caramel and bananas, then smooth the top with a spatula, or the back of a spoon.
7. Bake for 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
8. Leave the cake in the tin for at least 15 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Leave for longer if you want the caramel to look more set for serving.

Tips

• Stunning served warm with cream or custard, but equally good served cold.
• Keeps for 3 days in a sealed container in the fridge.
• Using the ripest bananas for the cake mixture will give your cake the best flavour.
• The bananas for the topping should be ripe but not mushy so they hold their shape as they cook.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and as always, if you have any questions or post a photo on social media I would love you to tag me over on Instagram @little.river.kitchen  or on Facebook @little river kitchen

Happy Baking!

Have you heard about our amazing LRK Baking Academy?

It's your golden ticket to becoming a fantastic baker...

Crumbly bread, cakes that end up with crusty volcanoes on top, leaking tarts...it's enough to make you hang up your apron forever!

There's nothing worse than spending time, effort and money on a recipe only for it to fail!

Unfortunately most recipes just give you the instructions...they don't tell you what you really need to know to make sure your bakes turn out perfectly.  

All those lesser known baking secrets like when it's time to stop kneading bread dough, why your cakes are dry and dense, or how to make sure you pie crusts are going to hold a filling without any leaks or developing a soggy bottom!

This is what LRK Baking Academy is all about. 

It's like having your own personal baking expert right there with you in your own kitchen guiding you as you bake our amazing recipes.  And you'll love our private baking community where we support and encourage each other no matter where you are in your baking journey.

The results our members achieve speak for themselves...FIND OUT MORE HERE