Chocolate-Caramel-Banana Upside-Down Cake

This is one delicious and tasty cake! If you have some bananas in your house, make this cake! If you do not have any bananas, go out and buy some, and make this cake! Yes, it is that good! 

The yummy caramel made of butter and brown sugar is cooked and poured into the cake pan, top with slices of bananas and then the batter. Place the pan in the oven and then wait!

About five minutes after baking, turn out the cake onto a plate and gosh, all the yummy, gooey, delicious caramel will flow down on the cake. Wait for 20 minutes, then slice and enjoy!

Just this one cake alone is worth getting the book "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman. This is the second recipe I've tried, the first one being the Nutella Swirl Pound Cake, and without a doubt, this book is getting to be among my favourites.

My daughter asked for a small slice, saying she wasn't hungry. Moments later, she came back into the kitchen with her empty plate and asked for a second piece, "Bigger, please!"

The texture of the cake is brownie-like, soft, really moist with all the caramel flowing and soaking into it, full of chocolate flavour with just the right amount of sweetness (I reduced the sugar slightly), a spoonful of this yummy cake with the caramelized bananas is an absolute divine! Eat it while still warm with all the gooey caramel around it or eat it at room temperature when the caramel has been absorbed into the cake, either way, it tastes just as good!

A slice of this is not enough, maybe perhaps a BIG slice!

Yummy deliciousness!

I'm sharing this with 

Sweet Tooth Friday over at Alli n Son

Potluck Sunday over at Mommy's Kitchen

Sweets For A Saturday over at Sweet As Sugar Cookies
Recipe Swap Thursday over at Prairie Story
These Chicks Cook
Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Bake with Bizzy at Bizzy B. Bakes

Chocolate-Caramel-Banana Upside-Down Cake

(adapted from "Cake Keeper Cakes" by Lauren Chattman)
Serves 8
For The Topping :
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I use less 2 tbsp)
3 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices


For The Cake :
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar (I use 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk (I substitute with 4-5 tablespoons milk and top up with homemade yoghurt to get 2/3 cup, stir well)


Make the topping :

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round nonstick pan and dust with flour.
2. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat until foaming. Whisk in the brown sugar, turn the heat to low, and cook, whisking, for 2 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Arrange the banana slices in concentric circles on top of the sugar mixture. Set aside.

Make The Cake :

1. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
2. Combine the butter and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides after each. Turn the mixer to high speed and beat until the mixture is light and increased in volume, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla.
4. With the mixer on low, stir in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Stir in 1/2 of the buttermilk. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk, ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat the batter on high speed for 30 seconds.
5. Pour the batter over the bananas, gently spreading it into an even layer.
6. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let stand for 5 minutes. Holding the pan and a plate together with oven mitts, immediately invert the hot cake onto the plate. If necessary, replace any fruit stuck to the bottom of the pan. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes and serve warm, or serve at room temperature. Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper, or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.