Banana Upside-Down Cake

I am so excited for my holiday. Next week, I'll be leaving for Jakarta and there I'll be reunited with my friend Cian who is flying all the way from the UK. Cian and I used to work together and though we never traveled together, we both really look forward to our little adventure.  

From Jakarta, we'll make our way to Bandung in West Java, Singapore, Bali and end up at the Gili Islands. Being obsessed with food, my itinerary consists very little of cultural sights... hardly any, to be honest. It's mostly food places I want to visit.  But I will try my best to visit some interesting places in between meals. And if you've been to any of those cities, I welcome more recommendations... 

I'll be sure to share my experiences with all of you when I am back, so watch this space!  But until then, first I want to share with you this banana upside-down cake.  I suppose it's nothing really new and ground-breaking here, but it's comforting with the sticky brown sugar topping, the sweet cinnamon and warmth from ginger... and that's what I want today, on this gloomy day (my favourite kind of day). This cake is very easy to make and serve with ice-cream (vanilla is great, but I had it with chocolate and salted caramel ice cream which is sublime) while the cake is still warm... oh you know it just makes sense...

Banana Upside-Down Cake

For the topping:
50 gr butter
50 gr soft light brown sugar
a pinch of salt
2-3 bananas, depending on size

For the sponge:
3 eggs
60 gr caster sugar
40 gr soft light brown sugar
50 gr plain flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
40 gr butter, melted

Grease and line a 18 cm square tin and pre-heat the oven to 180 C.

To make the sticky topping, place the butter and brown sugar in a small pan over medium heat.  Once the butter is melted, turn up the heat and let this bubble away for a few minutes until the mixture begins to thicken slightly.  Do keep an eye on it, because it may burn quickly. When it's done, take it off the heat and stir in a pinch of salt.

Carefully pour the mixture into the bottom of the lined tin and swirl the tin around to spread it out evenly. This needs to be done straightaway otherwise the mixture will solidify.  Slice the bananas, neither thick nor thin and arrange them in a single layer in the bottom of the tin. You can do any patterns as you please.

Now make the sponge... Using a free-standing or a hand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugars until pale, thick and light.  This will take a few minutes.  Then slowly add the flour, ground cinnamon and ginger.  Using a spatula, fold in the melted butter.

Pour the sponge mix over the bananas and gently spread it out with a spatula or the back of a spoon to level the top.  Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Once the cake is cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin for five minutes or so.  Then put a large platter on top of the tin, and holding the tin and the platter with a tea towel, flip the cake over.  Gently remove the tin and carefully peel off the baking parchment. 

Cut into squares, serve with softly whipped cream or ice-cream and you know what to do next...