Put those ripe bananas to excellent use and make this easy, rich and sinful Banana Upside Down Cake. Its the perfect dessert for any occasion.
Mercy. This dessert was heaven. I’m sure each slice has like 1000 calories, but this is the kind of cake I would run around the track 10 times for. Its that good.
We’ve had a surplus of ripe bananas in our house lately. We used to go through bananas like they were going out of business. They were the perfect snack on the go. But, for some reason, my family hasn’t been eating them lately, then they turn ripe, then I transform them into banana cupcakes or banana bars or banana muffins or banana french toast (you get the idea), then I go to the store to buy another bunch thinking we’ll go back to just eating plain bananas only for the entire vicious cycle to start all over again. This time I had four ripe bananas. I took the ripest one and mashed it up. The remaining three were sliced up for the top (or bottom?) of this cake.
After I melted the butter and sprinkled in the brown sugar, I made a pinwheel type pattern with the bananas filling in the gaps with smaller pieces. You can place them however you’d like. go crazy.
The cake itself is very similar to a pancake – only sweeter. After you take this bad boy out of the oven and let it cool a wee bit, just place a plate over the cast iron skillet and flip it over. If I can do it, you can do it, although that process always scares the heck out of me.
The result? Oh my god. First of all, how can you go wrong with a ton of melted butter and brown sugar. All of that just seeps into the cake. The entire thing is so insanely moist and delicious and the flavor is incredible.
This is one of those desserts that’s just dangerous. I mean, its really easy to make, inverting any baked good is fun, and you feel like the size of the slice isn’t too big so you’re compelled to eat another. And another. And another. So good. Next time you have some ripe bananas begging to be transformed into something wonderful, you’ll know what to make.
This recipe uses pure vanilla extract. Did you know you can make your own homemade vanilla extract? It makes the perfect gift too. Watch how in the video below.
Banana Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 4 medium sized ripe bananas
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt (optional and to taste)
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a 9 inch cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat until bubbly. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over melted butter. Do not stir, but allow to sit over heat for just a minute until it starts to dissolve. Remove from heat.
- Take the ripest banana and set aside - it will be mashed up and mixed into the cake batter. For the remaining three bananas, peel, cut in half, and then quarter each half lengthwise. Gently place these banana spears in a circular pattern in the butter and brown sugar mixture.
- To make the cake batter, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
- Separately, mix together egg, buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed banana. Add this wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just to combine. Do not overmix - this will be very similar to pancake batter.
- Pour over banana pieces taking care not to change their position.
- Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before inverting onto plate.
- Store in airtight container. Best if eaten within 1-2 days because bananas will brown over time.
So yummy, I love banana so much and will try to make this for my family. Thank you so much for sharing this!
You guys nailed this, so great! I would love this to go with a cup of tea. Will give it a try soon. Thanks for sharing!
These look easy, fun, and delicious. And love me some
Hi Krissy,
It looks delicous. I never try to make cake with banana.
My garden has many banana trees. I think I will try this recipe someday.
Thank for share
These are so fun!! Love the different options…will have to try them all just to see which is best
Oh my gosh! This was SO delicious! I followed the recipe exactly–using the cast iron pan really made it nice–I was afraid when I plated it, it might be a soupy mess but it turned out perfectly! I would totally make this again! Thank you!
(Came back to put the 5 star rating)
Wow this turned out great! I used a regular nonstick 9 inch pan! Thanks for helping me rescue a bunch of overripe bananas for our community brunch!
me too
My stomach is hungry when I see, it’s really delicious!
It was supremely moist & delicious! I followed the recipe word for word (using European unsalted butter). I didn’t have a 9″ skillet so I made it in a 10″. It’s sweet, rich, moist & my family loved it!
Great recipe as is, have done it exactly as directed and it turned out great. Second time I mixed it up and alternated my banana and some pineapple, love the balance of the tart pineapple with the sweetness of the banana.
Does anyone know how long to bake it for if I use a larger 12inch pan?????
Hi Karla, I would just expect the time to be less and start checking on it when it starts to smell good. Be sure to check the cake doneness with a tester like a toothpick.
This cake was delicious! I added a tiny bit of cinnamon to the brown sugar and a little too the batter. I didn’t have a skillet but used a pie pan. It came out perfect! I will definitely cut the bananas into rounds next time. Thank you for a delicious recipe!