A cake worth licking your fingers over, our Upside Down Caramelized Banana Chocolate Cake is an upscale version of the traditional banana bread and a scrumptious treat made decadent with the addition of cocoa.
An upscale version of traditional banana bread, our Caramelized Banana Chocolate Cake is sticky and made sweeter with the addition of a warm caramel base that when flipped over creates a scrumptious sauce atop the moist cake. And with the mix of raw cocoa into the batter, it's easily become a cake worthy of an afternoon snack, a dessert topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or when doubled, a decadent yet humble birthday cake.
The best part about this recipe is its versatility. Coming straight out of the oven our Caramelized Banana Upside Down Cake is warm, moist, and dripping with caramel sauce. Serve on its own or with a scoop of vanilla or coconut ice cream for a classic warm and cool tonal dessert.
How to Quickly Ripen Bananas
What we love about cooking with bananas is the natural sweetness they take on as they ripen, all adding to the flavor and moistness of the cake. But of course, most markets and grocery stores don't sell post-prime bananas. Out of luck with green bananas only? We've shared a few tips below on how to quickly ripen bananas c/o Epicurious.
Oven Method:
Set your oven to 250°F and bake your bananas for roughly 15-20 minutes. What you'll get are warm, sweetened, and mushy bananas perfect for cakes. The only caveat is the skins will turn black, don't be frightened. Underneath the skins will be the most succulent bananas.
Over the Fridge Method:
The top of fridges are generally warm. By placing bananas above the fridge, it warms them at a more consistent pace and can help ripen them within a few days.
Brown Paper Bag Method:
Our go-to method involves placing our bananas in a dark brown bag, and rolling the bag shut. The darkness and stifling allows the gasses to emit and stay within the bag helping to ripen the bananas.
How to Make Upside-Down Caramelized Banana Chocolate Cake
Ingredients Needed to Make Our Upside-Down Caramelized Banana Chocolate Cake
Bananas, butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and sour cream.
Make the Caramel Sauce
Melt ¼ cup of butter and ½ cup brown sugar together in a skillet. Cook until it starts to bubble and creates a caramel sauce, stirring occasionally. Pour this into the bottom of a cake pan and set halved bananas, cut side down, into the caramel sauce.
Make the Batter and Bake
Sift a cup of flour, ¾ teaspoon of baking powder, ½ teaspoon of baking soda, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon of salt together into a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix ⅓ cup butter, ½ cup brown sugar, and egg then stir in the 2 mashed bananas and ½ teaspoon vanilla. Alternating between the dry ingredients and ⅓ cup sour cream, add them to the wet ingredients until a thick batter forms. Pour the batter directly on top of the bananas and caramel in the cake pan and smooth out. Bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.
Turn Out the Cake
Once the cake is baked, let cool for 10-20 minutes before turning it out onto a plate. You want the cake to be cool enough to not fall apart, but warm enough that the caramel is still soft enough to release from the pan. To turn the cake out, cut along the edges of the cake to release any bits that may be stuck to the side of the pan. Place a plate upside down on top of the cake pan. Firmly hold the plate and pan together then flip the cake dish over. Give it a little shake to make sure the cake has been released. Serve the cake warm with a scoop of vanilla or coconut ice cream.
Recipe Card
Upside Down Caramelized Banana Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Caramelized Bananas
- 3 bananas halved lengthwise
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup brown sugar lightly packed
Cake
- ⅓ cup butter room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 2 bananas mashed
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cups flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 9 cake pan with butter.
- Place a pan on medium heat and add ¼ cup butter and ½ cup of brown sugar. Cook, stirring often, until the sugar dissolves and the mixer begins to bubble, about 3 minutes. Pour the caramel into the greased cake pan, making an even layer along the bottom of the pan. Place the banana halves in the caramel, cut side down.
- Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a medium sized bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the ⅓ cup butter, ½ cup packed brown sugar and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in the mashed banana and vanilla.
- Add ½ the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until combined. Stir in half the sour cream, then the rest of the dry ingredients and finish by mixing in the rest of the sour cream.
- Pour the batter on top of the bananas in the cake pan and spread it out evenly.
- Place the cake pan in the oven to bake for 40 minutes. Test the doneness by inserting a knife in the centre and ensuring it comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes, but no more than 20 minutes, before turning it out onto a plate.
- Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.
Recipe Notes
- For best results, use over ripe bananas for the batter and yellow bananas for the bottom of the cake.
- When turning the cake out, if the caramel has set too much, then place the cake in the oven to warm and loosen the caramel sauce.
Leanne | Crumb Top Baking says
I love this spin on traditional banana bread! Those caramelized bananas are just calling my name, and the presentation is so lovely! Pinning to make later!
Krissy says
Hi,
Just wondering if you tried adding a couple of table spoons of cream to the caramel sauce for a smoother sauce?
Thxs,
Krissy
Chef Sous Chef says
Hi Krissy,
We haven't tried it before, but imagine it would make the sauce smoother and even richer. Let us know if you try it and how it turns out!
Marisa says
I’ve heard of the baking method for bananas...I’ll need to try it one day! This cake looks absolutely scrumptious and styled so prettily too!
marilyn @family food around the clock says
love the photos, you make it so easy!Thanks for sharing 😉 I'm pinning this one for later!
Chef Sous Chef says
Thanks so much Marilyn, enjoy!
Jordan says
This cake is almost too pretty to eat.... almost, but honestly it tastes as good or even better than it looks.
Chef Sous Chef says
LOL... Thanks Jordan. So happy you enjoyed the cake.
sheenam | thetwincookingproject.net says
Oh my!! This upside down cake looks amazing!!!