salted caramel upside down banana loaf cake

I was making my mums brilliant banana loaf the other day and remembered these incredible upside down cakes I made a few years ago so I thought I’d give them a second whirl, see if the recipe still works and tastes as good as I remember.  I’m on a bit of a banana bread hit since we got back from California because  they seem to have the most incredible banana bread there.  So many cute artisan bakeries with so many different versions.  This one uses a simple blended banana sponge but it’s the caramelised ‘bottom that becomes a top’ that is the real hero here.

Even though it seems to have had it’s day in the sun I still adore salted caramel.  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 – pre-heat the oven to 170C

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!