This banana upside down cake has a layer of caramelized bananas and a layer of moist banana cake. Made with simple ingredients like ripe bananas, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract, this dessert is impressive but tastes comforting.
I love baking this recipe when I'm craving cake but can't be bothered to deal with frosting. The golden banana slices and caramel are stunning on their own!
Recipe Notes
- Texture: The cake is soft and moist, but the edges are caramelized and have a slight crunch to them.
- No need for frosting: The banana topping that bakes right into the cake provides both the decoration and the sauce.
- Uses ripe bananas: This recipe is a great way to use up those overripe bananas sitting on your kitchen counter.
- Easy to make gluten-free or dairy-free: All you need to do is swap out a few ingredients to make this safe to eat for my fellow gluten-free or dairy-free bakers.
Key Ingredients
Most of the ingredients used in this recipe are probably already in your fridge or pantry! The full ingredient list is down in the recipe card, but here are some notes on a few of the ingredients:
Bananas: Overripe bananas are best in the cake batter for moisture and a strong banana flavor, while ripe bananas that still hold their shape when sliced are best for the topping.
Butter: Use either regular or vegan butter. Both salted and unsalted butter work.
All-purpose flour: You can swap this out for a gluten-free 1-to-1 flour blend that includes xanthan gum to make this cake gluten-free.
Cornstarch: This gives the cake a tender crumb.
Sour Cream: You can use plain Greek yogurt, or if you want to make it dairy-free, use mayonnaise.
Milk: Use whole milk or plain non-dairy milk.
Tips for Making Banana Upside Down Cake
Grease your cake pan. Don't forget to grease your pan with butter or oil to help the cake release cleanly after baking. Parchment paper will leave indentations on your banana slices, so stay away from that.
Let the cake rest before flipping. After the cake is finished baking, let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting it onto a plate. It can take longer if using vegan butter in the topping, about 30 minutes.
Use a deep cake pan. The topping can bubble over, so a pan with higher sides (about 2 inches) is ideal. You can also put the cake pan on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil to catch any caramel that bubbles over the side of the cake pan.
Banana Upside Down Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Topping
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 3 to 4 medium bananas sliced vertically
Cake
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- ¾ cup mashed banana
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Grease a 9-inch round pan and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan 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 all-purpose flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar, sour cream, milk, and vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Pour the batter over the sliced bananas and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick insertedinto the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a plate.
Nutrition
Storage Instructions
Store this upside down banana cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can warm the slices slightly before serving, but it's quite delicious cold, too.
More Banana Recipes
Do you have even more ripe bananas you need to use up? Here are some ideas:
- You can't go wrong with this moist banana bread recipe. It bakes up beautifully every time. I love to add some chopped walnuts, just like my mom did.
- These banana cupcakes are also a winner! Super moist cake, and goes with a variety to frosting flavors - vanilla, chocolate, caramel, or peanut butter.
- If you love that chocolate and banana combination, try this chocolate banana bread recipe or these chocolate banana cupcakes!
- My fellow gluten-free friends, this gluten-free banana bread and these gluten-free banana pancakes are right up your alley!
Want more upside-down cakes? Try my gluten-free pineapple upside down cake or my kumquat cake!
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)