Julie Le Clerc: Upside-down caramelised banana cake

Upside-down caramelised banana cake. Picture / Carolyn Robertson

Serves 12

Topping

100g butter, melted
1 cup soft brown sugar, firmly packed
4-5 medium bananas, peeled and halved lengthways

Cake

200g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup milk

1. Heat oven to 180C. Grease a 24cm springform cake tin. Mix melted butter with brown sugar and spread into base of cake tin. Cover with banana halves and set aside.

2. Make cake mixture by beating butter and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale. Beat in eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. Sift flour and baking powder together and stir into creamed mixture, alternating with milk.

3. Spread cake mixture over bananas. Bake for 90 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven, loosen cake and invert on to a serving plate while still hot or the caramelised sugar will stick to the tin making it impossible to remove.

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