I discovered something a little magical.
It was a tiny cart tucked into a corner of my local grocery store—the discount produce section. Most of it looked past its prime, strangely unappealing and, yes, a bit gross. But among the bruised and aging vegetables I found paper bags full of bananas. They’re apparently a thing at other stores too: small white bags packed with a bunch of overripe bananas, sold for next-to-nothing. I can’t recall the exact price, just that it was unbelievably cheap—like “buy-a-pile-of-bananas-for-pennies” cheap.
Of course I got excited. I eat bananas every day and I’m a little obsessed. I mash them into batters, spread them with chocolate peanut butter or cookie butter, toss them into smoothies, freeze them for quick soft-serve, or dip slices in chocolate and sprinkle with coconut or salted peanuts. Basically, I use bananas for everything.
I grabbed three bags—yes, three. That totaled more than thirty bananas. Sometimes I get carried away. Only two people live in my house, and one of them is picky about banana ripeness: they have to be the perfect shade of green-gold, which results in a very narrow window of acceptability. So I ended up freezing a ton of bananas and offering smoothies to anyone who would visit.
Some I left on the counter while I toyed with the idea of eating three bananas a day (a plan that was probably doomed). Fruit flies quickly became a problem, which sealed the fate of the remaining fruit: I turned the overripe bananas into baked goods. Specifically, this upside-down caramelized banana bread skillet cake—a glorious hybrid of banana bread and skillet cake.
I made this right before a vacation, so we had to eat a lot of it instead of letting it go to waste. Halfway through I found myself scraping the caramelized banana layer with a fork—purely practical, of course—devouring the buttery, sugar-crusted banana pieces straight from the skillet. It was a brilliant decision.
Upside Down Caramelized Banana Bread Skillet Cake
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled + 3 tablespoons
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup loosely packed brown sugar + 1/3 cup
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 bananas, mashed (about 1 1/4 cups) + 2 bananas, sliced
- 1/3 cup milk
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.
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Heat a 12-inch (minimum) cast iron skillet over medium. Add 3 tablespoons of the butter and let it sizzle and melt. Whisk in 1/3 cup brown sugar, then arrange the sliced bananas in a single layer. Cook 2–3 minutes, then remove from heat while you prepare the batter.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and stir to combine, then fold in the mashed bananas. Add the milk and mix until incorporated. Pour the batter over the bananas in the skillet and spread evenly. Bake 30–35 minutes, until golden and set in the center. Let cool 5–10 minutes, then serve warm with ice cream if desired.
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Note: This recipe will likely also work in a 10-inch skillet and will yield a taller cake—start checking at 30 minutes. For a smaller skillet, consider halving the recipe and checking at about 20 minutes.
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Honestly, almost better than that designer purse investment.