Right now I'm enjoying my summer vacation in beautiful Vancouver with Tristan's grandparents. Right before we left Japan, I made this banana coconut upside-down cake to bring to my parents' place. I was supposed to post this recipe over the weekend but with cleaning and packing, I completely lost track of time.
I have to be honest, the coconut flavor in this banana coconut upside-down cake is very subtle, if at all noticeable. I added canned coconut milk as well as coconut milk powder and coconut rum to compensate for the lack of coconut extract but the banana took over almost all of the coconut flavor. Still, it was a delightful dessert!
Preheat your oven to 356°F (180°C) and grease a 9-inch round pan with butter and set aside. I lined the bottom of my pan with parchment paper because I'm a worry wart, but I don't think it's necessary. Melt some unsalted butter, either in a pan or microwave, and combine with brown sugar. Spread this mixture evenly into the cake pan and top with sliced bananas. I sliced my bananas about ¼ inch (0.5cm) thick.
In a small bowl, mix together cake flour, all-purpose flour, coconut milk powder, salt, and baking soda. I didn't have coconut extract on hand so I tried to add extra coconut flavor by using the powder, but it turned out it wasn't strong enough. In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar and sour cream. When combined, add the coconut milk, egg, and softened butter. Add the mashed banana and coconut rum. I added 2 tablespoons but I suggest adding 3 tablespoons. Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour the batter over the sliced bananas and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate.
Voilà! The parchment paper I folded and cut into a circle, unfortunately, left indentations on the bananas, but still tasted great!
The cake was incredibly moist with great banana flavor. The edges got caramelized nicely and added a slight crunch, which my brother was a big fan of. If you're not a fan of coconut, I think it'll be just as lovely if you replace the coconut milk with regular milk or more sour cream, and the coconut rum with regular rum.
If you have a few over-ripe bananas in your kitchen and you want something other than banana bread, why not try this banana coconut upside-down cake?
Banana Coconut Upside Down Cake
Ingredients
Topping
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 2 medium bananas, sliced
Cake
- ½ cup cake flour
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut milk powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup coconut milk (from a can)
- 1 large egg
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup mashed banana
- 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut rum
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 356°F (180°C).
- Grease a 9-inch round pan with butter and set aside.
- Melt the butter (either in a pan or microwave) and combine with the brown sugar. Spread it evenly into the cake pan and top with sliced bananas. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together cake flour, all-purpose flour, coconut milk powder, salt, baking soda, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and sour cream. When combined, add the coconut milk, egg, and softened butter. Add the mashed banana and coconut rum.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter over the sliced bananas and bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate.
Angie says
What the?! Oh em gee!! This sounds sooo....good!! And how pretty! I'm going shopping today. For bananas! 🙂
Ai says
Thank you Angie! Happy Fiesta Friday!! 😀
Jhuls | The Not So Creative Cook says
Yay! I love anything banana and this upside down cake looks so delicious! 😀
Ai says
Thank you Jhuls! I love baking with bananas too 🙂
MB @ Bourbon and Brown Sugar says
Oh wow, that looks delicious! Happy Fiesta Friday!
Ai says
Thank you! Happy FF!!
Michelle says
Wow! I love this idea! I have some bananas that need to get used today! So off I go to make a Banana Coconut Upside Down Cake! Lol
Michelle
Ai says
Thanks Michelle! Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Julie says
This looks beautiful! I hope you are or had an amazing vacation Ai!
Ai says
Thanks Julie! I'm in Vancouver for a whole month so I'll still be here for a while 🙂
Colleen says
Love! So gorgeous and I bet it tastes amazing! Happy Fiesta Friday!
Ai says
Happy Fiesta Friday Colleen! Have a great weekend 🙂
Juilianna says
Wow, this looks sooo delicious, Ai! I would love a big piece right now with my morning coffee!! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe with us. Hopefully the sun will make an appearance while you are in Vancouver! The weather has been a bit weird for July! Have a nice vacation, though! 😀
Ai says
Thank you Juilianna! We've had a couple showers since we've arrived but we're just so thankful to be away from the heat and humidity in Japan haha.
Jenny says
Beautiful cake! It looks so pretty and festive! A great way to use bananas. 🙂 Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Ai says
Thank you Jenny! Happy FF!
Sarah says
That looks so good! Never thought about making an upside down cake with banana's 😮
Ai says
Thank you Sarah! Pineapple's the most common fruit for upside down cake (besides apples for tarte tatin) but bananas work wonderfully!
tentimestea says
This sounds so delicious, and looks so pretty! The two overripe bananas on the counter have just caught my eye and are prodding me to finally make use of them... I'm glad to hear that someone else also puts parchment under everything. I think it sounds like quite a good idea for an upside down cake to keep anything from sticking to the pan (though rearrangement and a bit of whipped cream will fix all woes!).
Ai says
Thank you! Good to know I'm not the only one who is constantly concerned about things not coming out of the pan. (I was using a nonstick pan for this cake and I was still worried lol)