A deeply caramelised and super delicious banana cake from Melissa Clark via NYT Cooking.
Preheat your oven to 175ºC (350ºF) and grease and line a cake tin. In an frypan melt 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Add ⅓ of a cup of light brown brown sugar, 2 teaspoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and ¼ of a teaspoon of fine sea salt. Whisk until the brown sugar melts then continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to smell like caramel and darkens slightly. Add ½ a cup of coarsely chopped walnuts and 3 large bananas sliced lengthwise into 1¼cm (½”) thick planks. Coat with the caramel by tossing gently then remove from the heat. Arrange the bananas in an even layer on the bottom of the cake tin. Ignore any sugar clumps as they will dissolve during baking. In a large bowl, whisk together ½ a cup of melted and cooled unsalted butter, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of finely grated lemon zest until thoroughly combined. Whisk in 2 large eggs, one at a time and ½ a cup of sour cream until well mixed. One at a time sprinkle in ½ a teaspoon of baking powder, ¾ of a teaspoon of fine sea salt and ¼ of a teaspoon of baking soda, whisking vigorously after each addition. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in 1½ cups of all-purpose flour until just incorporated. Don’t overmix even if the mixture is a bit lumpy. Spread the batter evenly over the bananas. Bake until the surface is deeply brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the tin before inverting onto a serving plate.
michelle picker cooks 