Why You'll Love It
- Flavorful - Banana Fosters is all about the sauce. A rich caramelized sauce featuring dark rum, cinnamon, and brown sugar, that absorbs into the cake making it extra moist.
- Drama -Built upside down providing a dramatic reveal. The caramelized slices of banana look beautiful on top of the cake.
- Fun - Bananas Foster features a little flair, or rather flambe, the art of setting the sauce on fire using rum to create a complex caramelized sauce.
Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake
Ingredients
- 3 bananas halved lengthwise
Bananas Foster Sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ⅔ cup light brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup dark rum
Cake
- ½ cup butter (one stick) softened
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Grease an 11-by-7-inch pan with cooking spray.
- Arrange the bananas, cut-side-down, in the prepared pan and set aside.
Sauce
- In a large pan over medium-low heat, combine the butter, light brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring frequently, until the butter is melted, the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture is well-combined.
- Add the rum and bring the mixture to a simmer.
- Using a lighter, stand back and carefully ignite the rum.
- Shake the pan until the flames subside.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and pour over the prepared bananas. Set aside.
Cake
- In a large bowl, using a stand or a hand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and light brown sugar together until creamy and lightened in color.
- Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla extract and buttermilk, and mix to combine.
- In a second large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl containing the dry ingredients, and mix until just combined, being careful not to over-mix the cake batter.
- Carefully spoon the cake batter over the bananas. Using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, gently spread the batter, covering the fruit.
- Set an empty baking sheet on the bottom of the oven, or on a rack directly underneath where you will bake cake, to catch any foster sauce that may drip during baking.
- Bake the cake in the center of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center-bottom, near the bananas, comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Use an offset spatula to ensure the sides of the cake are free from the pan. Place an upside-down plate or platter, large enough to hold the cake, on top of the cake pan. Carefully invert the cake onto the plate/platter to show off the caramelized bananas underneath.
- Let the cake cool for about 20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
Chef’s Tips
- If you prefer, you can also make your cake in a 8-inch cake pan or an 8-by-8-inch brownie pan. If you use a smaller pan, you will only need 2 bananas.
- When mixing the cake batter, be very careful not to over-mix the cake batter, as doing so will result in a tough cake.
- When testing the cake to see if it is done, make sure to test close to the bottom of the pan nearest the bananas to ensure cake is completely cooked.
John
I can't find the other comments. I wanted to read and see who must have already asked about the cake topping drizzle at the end after a piece has been plated. I don't see a description for it in the recipe anywhere 🙂