Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Banana-Butterscotch Upside-Down Chocolate Cake


I recently bought this book, because if there's one thing I need, it's a cookbook dedicated to nothing but chocolate cakes, am I right?



I haven't made too many things out of it yet, mostly for the sake of my never-ending diet, but it did come in handy when I had a few bananas that were reaching the end of their lives. What is it about those last two or three bananas? We are never able to finish off that bunch. But when you get something like this as a result it's hard to complain too much. It was fun to make a cake so different like this, and my favorite part was the butterscotch sauce. The recipe is a bit extensive, but it's still a surprisingly easy cake to put together. Enjoy!

Banana-Butterscotch Upside-Down Chocolate Cake
By Chocolate Cakes

Ingredients

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup golden corn syrup (I just used light)
3 large ripe but firm bananas, cut into 1/2 inches

CAKE:
1 cup cake flour
1/3 cup unsweetened dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup buttermilk


Directions


1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 350. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan with side 2 inches high. Line with a piece of aluminum foil long enough to extend over opposite sides of the pan.

2. To make the butterscotch sauce: In a medium saucepan, cook the cream, butter, brown and granulated sugars, salt, and corn syrup over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter and sugars are melted. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring the sauce to a boil, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Pour the sauce into the prepared pa n, tilting the pan if necessary to spread it evenly. Arrange the banana slices in rows over the sauce, placing them close together. Set aside.

3. To make cake, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and granulated and brown sugars until smoothly blended, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until each is blended smoothly into the batter and the batter looks creamy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the vanilla. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the buttermilk to blend it into the batter. Mix in the remaining flour mixture until it is incorporated and the batter is smooth. Scrape the batter evenly over the bananas. Gently smooth the top.

4. Bake just until the top feels firm when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake, but not the bananas, comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack. Carefully remove and discard the foil. If any bananas stick to the foil, replace them on the cake. Cool the cake thoroughly on the wire rack for about 1 hour. Transfer the cake to a serving plate.



Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose when trying new recipes. This chocolate peanut butter mousse cake was unfortunately a loss for me. The cake was too dry, the mousse was too sweet and the ganache was a bit bitter for my taste, such a bummer because it was SO MUCH WORK! Oh well, live and learn right! Here's hoping for a win on my next cake!

18 comments:

Jennifer said...

That is gorgeous! I heard that if you seperate the banannas they will ripen slower, I have tried it seems to work!

Christo Gonzales said...

there is nothing dry about the upside down cake - thats for sure - wow it looks so decadent.

Pam said...

The first cake looks mouthwatering. I am sorry the second cake didn't turn out very good but it was a fantastic photo!

Velva said...

Oh, this looks good. A girl's friend. very nice.
I love bananas. I enjoy eating them yellow and I always have plans to bake with what turns brown...rarely, do I get around to it, then don't want to waste them so, I put them in the freezer. I won't shame myself in telling you how many bananas I have in my freezer.

Krista said...

Holy cow! It looks delicious...and then I read the recipe. I can only imagine how amazing this cake must taste. Definitely going to try this one!

I'd love to have a book dedicated to chocolate cakes...but like you, I'm perpetually trying to conserve my calories (although most days I fail miserably. The curse of the food blogger....). I'll still check this out from my library, if for no other reason than to dream...

Joyti said...

The banana cake looks delicious. Too bad the chocolate-peanut one didn't pan out.

Kim said...

Wow- an entire book devoted to chocolate cakes! I could really spend some time looking at that one:) Chocolate cravings be gone!

I love the idea of an upside-down chocolate cake. I don't know if I've ever seen that before. And, I can see how this recipe drew you in. It sounds like a unique and fun combination with the bananas and butterscotch. No doubt it was delicious.

The chocolate peanut butter mousse cake looks to die for, but I hear what you're saying about being bitter. I can't do bitter chocolate either.

Julie said...

Wow, it is too bad about that choc pb cake cause it is quite a looker! I'd love to have a piece!
Yes, I think a book dedicated to cakes is exactly what everyone needs :)

The Blonde Duck said...

I adore butterscotch!

Lynn said...

Sorry about the mousse cake not turning out, but I'm glad the banana one was a success. Honestly, they look so good I could lick my computer screen. Disgusting, I know. But they look so good!

Jenn said...

OMG, I want some of that right now. I seriously go. It would go great with the coffee I'm sipping right now.

Debbie said...

Oh what a pretty cake. It sounds so good too! You can't beat the combination of chocolate with bananas. The last pic of the candy bar cake looked so good too. Sorry it didn't taste as good as it looks. It's happened to me many times. So frustrating!!!

Joanne said...

I keep buying baking cookbooks as well even though I'm supposedly on a "diet". This looks fantastic! I love butterscotch and we always have a few bananas leftover at the end of the week. Guess I'll just start the diet again next week!

♥peachkins♥ said...

Oh my! this is mouthwatering!

Heather S-G said...

Sucks that the second one was a loss...but wowza, that upside down cake looks crazy delicious..I imagine it more than made up for it!

Barbara said...

That's some gooey looking butterscotch in that cake, Teresa! And I'm laughing, because why is it we always seem to have two or three bananas sitting on the counter getting old? I'm getting tired of banana bread; yummy on your cake!

jor said...

That banana ones sounds so good! That would be a dangerous book for me!

claire said...

wow! that looks amazing! just happened upon your blog, and i love it!