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Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

salted caramel upside down banana cake

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… every week we go down to London and like the good jewish boy I am I go and see my mum.  It’s not quite as twee as it sounds for you see she’s not a white haired little old lady – well, she very well may be but that’s between her and her hair-dresser… no, the fact is that between her and the new husband they’re pretty much more out than in… if there’s a new play at some dodgy arts theatre it’s more than likely they’ll be there… or a new exhibition in town… or they’re trying out some new restaurant surrounded by the cool and chic of London… and it’s international too as they were in New York whilst I was in California, in fact I think they’re probably more out that The Viking and I… we really have no excuse…

… when she’s not hob-nobbing with the west end stars she’s playing bridge with her friends and they have almost daily gatherings of cards, tea and cake so this week I thought i’d make her something she could take along and serve to her gal pals… it also gives me the perfect excuse to bake and not eat, although I did make too much batter and was forced to make some mini muffins that I may or may not have tried… a couple of times…

salted caramel upside down banana cake
still on my salted caramel trip I was thinking about how I could use it in a cake that could handle it without being way too sickly sweet and the bananas that were sitting on the bowl opposite my desk were my inspiration… in fact i’ve kept the cake freakishly simple by using my classic banana loaf recipe but left out the sultanas and nuts but added something special slathered on it’s bottom…

this recipe works for 1 regular loaf tin or two mini tins
for the cake
8oz self-raising flour
4oz butter or margarine
4oz soft brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 ripe bananas – mashed
2 large eggs – beaten

for the caramel topping
3 tablespoons salted caramel
2 not so ripe bananas

place the flour, butter and sugar in a bowl and crumble together with your hands, sprinkle in the cinnamon and stir

pour over the mashed bananas and beaten eggs and then beat it all together with a wooden spoon, it will quickly loosen nicely.

line your tin with parchment paper… I simply cut the paper to size and then scrunch it into a ball, then once smoothed out it is easy to fit into the tin

place the caramel into a small pan and gently heat it until it is liquid and bubbly and pour this into the bottom of the lined tin

cut your bananas into slices… I tried both length ways and sideways and they both look good… and place these on top of the caramel, then gently pour in the batter to the tin

bake on 170C for 40 mins or until risen and golden… let the cakes cool slightly before turning them upside down on a plate to reveal the caramel bottoms!

eat and of course, enjoy!

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Comments

  3. Jo Romero says

    I have some very ripe bananas in the freezer and have been waiting to make a banana cake – this looks great! Just one thing – how do you make your salted caramel to pour into the tin? Cheers!

  4. Cakeyboi says

    I love the bananas cut length ways – a different touch! I have a jar of M&S salted caramel lurking in a cupboard – may have to prise it open for this one 🙂

  12. Amy says

    This sounds delicious and I will have to give it a go. I used to make cakes for my mum's bridge games when I was a teenager so this post brought back lots of memories. I bet your mum's bridge group will be wishing that you could send them something every week. Glad you made a couple of muffins too – a baker has to taste!

  14. Rebecca Subbiah says

    this looks so good, sorry I didn't reach out when in Lincolnshire last week was so busy would love to meet you in person one day. how was your trip to America?

  15. Susan Lindquist says

    DAMN! This sounds like it's right up me alley … and I just posted that banana bread never had it so good … but perhaps I'm mistaken. I shall have to consult the kitchen God, SB, on this one …

  16. Caroline says

    Oooh, what a lovely idea! I haven't tried salted caramel yet, but fear it is only a matter of time given how often it seems to be popping up everywhere.

  20. Mark Willis says

    Dom, I'm not much of a cake person myself, but I do like Banana cake, especially as a breakfast food, (pretending it's “Kek Pisang” therefore served with strong Indonesian coffee) and I just love the idea of it combined with salted caramel. I hope your Mum approved of it too!

  23. Choclette says

    What a splendid cake Dom – due to loving all thing salted caramel, I'd happily polish off a slice or two of this, even with the bananas! Actually, love the look of the caramalised bananas on the bottom / top of the cake and suspect I'd be quite happy with the flavour too.

  26. ROSE COTTAGE says

    There's definitely telepathy in cooking. We were obviously thinking along exactly the same wavelength that day, though mine has dates. Nowt like a banana cake.

    Now, guess what I'm cooking tonight and maybe it'll appear on our blogs at the same time! x

  27. Karen S Booth says

    OMG! I go travelling for a few days and look what I come back too….the most DIVINE cake ever and a WONDERFUL post! It was BRILLIANT to see you yesterday and what a LUSH recipe too. Karen