Walnut-Banana Upside-Down Cake

Walnut-Banana Upside-Down Cake

  • Prep Time: 25 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hrs 20 mins
  • Servings: 8

    • About This Recipe

    “Serve this at your next dinner party; just don’t expect any to be left! One tablespoon of rum, mixed in with the maple syrup, is a nice addition.”

    Ingredients

    Topping

  • 1cuppacked light brown sugar
  • 1/4-1/2 cupunsalted butter
  • 3tablespoonspure maple syrup, no substitutes
  • 1/4 cupcoarsely-chopped, toasted walnuts
  • 4largeripe bananas, , peeled and cut diagonally into quarter-inch thick slices

    • Cake

  • 1cupall-purpose flour
  • 2teaspoonsbaking powder
  • 1/2 teaspooncinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoonsalt
  • 3/4 cupwhite sugar
  • 3/8-3/4 cupunsalted butter, softened
  • 1largeegg
  • 1/2 teaspoonpure vanilla extract
  • 6tablespoonsmilk

    • Directions

  • Preheat oven to 325F degrees.
  • First, make topping: In a heavy, medium-sized saucepan, combine sugar and butter over low heat.
  • Stir until butter melts and mixture is well combined; then pour into a 9-inch-diameter cake pan that has 2-inch-high sides; spread to coat bottom of pan.
  • Pour maple syrup over sugar mixture, then evenly sprinkle on the nuts.
  • Place banana slices in concentric circles on the nuts, overlapping slightly and covering the bottom of the pan.
  • Now, make cake: In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
  • In another medium-sized bowl, beat sugar and butter together until creamy; add egg and vanilla, then beat until light and fluffy.
  • Beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk, in 3 additions.
  • Spoon this batter over the bananas; bake about 55 minutes, or until a tester inserted into centre comes out clean.
  • Transfer cake, in pan, to a rack, and run a knife around the sides; let cool on rack for 30 minutes.
  • Place plate over pan; invert cake– let stand for 3 minutes, then gently lift off the pan.
  • Serve warm, preferably with whipped cream.

    • Reviews

  • “My Hubby and I loved this my Mother not so much. She just didn’t like it because she was comparing it to traditional pineapple upside down cake and this cake is different. But we loved it and it’s gooey topping. Yum! We baked it in our square cast-iron pan.”

  • “It tasted great. Otherwise, it was a waste of time and labor and ingredients. Soaking wet, rose four inches, fell three, can’t cut into pieces, doesn’t unmold, has to be bowled after scooping up. Sorry; but you should have tried your recipe first.”

  • “Lenny..you are a genius..the best banana cake i’ver ever tasted…i used brown suger as i didn’t have light..and i replaced the walnuts with pecan..but still it tasted great..especially the top, it was more like a carmel sauce….just Perfect…thank you”

  • “The cake tasted delicious but it was soaking wet. the caramel on my cake was very watery instead of being sticky. I cut the sugar down a lot and the sweetness was just right for me. My change in topping: used just 1/2 cup dark brown sugar + 3 Tbsp butter (prolly need to reduce butter here) + a tiny pinch salt + 2 Tbsp of Macadamia nuts (provided nice crunch but not a vital part). I also used 3 Tbsp of really good maple syrup but that probably make the cake even wetter. My change in the cake: used 6 Tbsp butter with 1/2 cup white sugar, which turned out fine.”

  • “Delish, but a little too sweet.Next time I will cut the brown sugar down to 3/4 c or maybe 1/2 c.I did not use the maple syrup and it was just fine.”

  • “Yummy Yummy Yummy! This is a good idea for a cake, I love it. Sweet and flavorful, it is rich. I must do for company and looking to present something a little different. Easy to make and it is good cold too. I love the caramelized walnuts on top. This is a definate keeper, thanks Lennie!”

  • “Omg!!!This was amazing!!Made it for dessert and it lasted the evening!!I made it in a bundt pan and the presentation was beautiful!This will be my “I want to knock their socks off!” dessert from now on!!!”

  • “Utterly delightful. The topping was sweet despite me cutting back 25%.The chewy caramel bits were a hit.Colleagues and I had it with vanilla ice cream.It’s a keeper.”

  • “To reduce sugar: replaced brown and white sugars with brown and white Splenda. To reduce fat: used 2 tbs butter in topping and 1/4 cup butter + 1/2 cup chopped banana in cake. Didn’t have any pure maple syrup, used maple flavoured pancake syrup which turned out great.Cake had a lovely dark chewy caramel ring around top which my hubby loved. He thought I might have bought the cake instead of making it!”

  • “This is a great cake- a real keeper. Glad to see it was already here on recipezaar. Thanks, Lennie!”

  • “This is a fabulous recipe and came out beautifully.I used a 9-inch springform pan as I only have 8 inch cake pans and it was so easy to remove.The cake was gone in a day!”

  • “I found that this recipe came out perfect and it is oh, so delicious!”

  • “I am so sorry, Auntie Lennie, this didn’t work out for me. It breaks my heart to give a bad review, but this was a total disaster for me today. I followed each and every step of the instructions, but even after having baked this cake for 1 hour 35 minutes in my AMC Dutch Oven, this cake made my kitchen countertop and drawers a total mess. When removing the cake from the pan, the topping off this cake just ran down the drawers. I am feeling most bad because I was wanting to make this recipe since ages. “

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