Upside-down sticky banana cake |

There’s only one problem with Belinda Jeffery’s delicious banana cake – keeping it for more than a few moments after it’s come out of the oven.

This cake really needs to be eaten the day it’s made to look – and taste – at its most beautiful, glossy best, but I would hasten to say I’ve never found that to be a problem – the hardest thing is trying to keep everyone away long enough to let it cool down a little! However, in the interests of seeing whether it would keep, I managed to snaffle a slice when I made the one in the photo and refrigerated it overnight (with a big note on it threatening dire things to anyone who even thought about eating it!) I gently warmed it the next day and then of course had to eat it…in the interests of research you understand…and it was terrific; the bananas weren’t quite as glossy as when it’s freshly turned out, but the taste and texture were perfect.

Caramel Topping:

60g unsalted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

Large pinch of salt

4-5 large #just ripe bananas

Cake:

180g self-raising flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 medium size very ripe banana

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 eggs

180g castor sugar

90g cultured unsalted butter, in small chunks, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To serve: Golden syrup and rich cream or vanilla ice cream

# It’s important that the bananas for the caramel topping aren’t too ripe otherwise they collapse and become mushy as they bake, mind you the cake still tastes great, it just doesn’t look as pretty. This works in reverse for the banana that’s part of the cake batter, it’s best if it’s really ripe because it’s sweeter and mixes in more evenly.

Preheat your oven to 180C. Butter a 24-25cm round cake tin and set it aside.

For the caramel topping, melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and salt and cook the mixture, stirring it occasionally, for a few minutes until it’s glossy – don’t be alarmed if the sugar doesn’t dissolve completely, it tends to form a slush. Just be a little careful as you cook this – don’t let it cook for too long or get too hot as the butter will separate out, not that this is a major tragedy as you can still use the mixture, it’s just a bit more awkward to do so as the sugar hardens.

When the caramel is ready, pour it into the prepared tin and tilt it to coat the bottom evenly. (If the topping has separated a bit so the sugar has hardened, just press it in as best you can…it will melt again as the cake bakes.) Now, peel and slice the bananas fairly thickly (about 6-7mm) then sit the slices in overlapping circles over the base of the tins so they completely cover the caramel. Set the tin aside.

Put the flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into a food processor and whiz them together for 10 seconds. Tip them into a bowl. In another bowl, mash the banana then stir in the sour cream. Set both bowls aside.

Put the eggs and sugar into the processor, then whiz them together for 1 minute, stopping and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula occasionally. Add the butter and vanilla, and whiz again for 40 seconds or so. Now, scrape the mashed banana and sour cream mixture into this and whiz them together for 10 seconds or until they’re just combined. The batter may well look a little curdled at this stage, but don’t worry, it will be fine. Add the flour mixture to the food processor and pulse them together until they’re just combined.

Dollop spoonfuls of the cake batter into the tin, over the bananas and spread it out evenly. Do this fairly carefully so you don’t disturb the bananas underneath.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake is golden and springy when you give it a gentle prod in the centre. Remove it from the oven and leave it to settle in the tin for three minutes. Then carefully loosen it around the sides (watch out for your fingers as the tin is very hot). Sit a serving plate on top of the tin and, holding it with a tea towel to protect your hands, flip the cake and plate over. Sit the plate on the bench and leave the tin on top for 20 seconds – this creates a little bit of steam which helps the cake come out of the tin easily. Gently remove the tin. Don’t worry if some banana slices stick to the bottom of it, just scrape them off and press them back onto the cake. Occasionally, I’ve found the caramel has hardened a little and some bits have stuck to the base of the tin – if this happens to you, very gently warm the base of the tin to dissolve the hardened caramel then drizzle it over the cake. Let the cake cool.

Just before serving, brush a little golden syrup over the top. It’s lovely served warm or room temperature with cream or ice cream. I’d have to say this cake is best eaten the day it’s made. Serves 6-8.