
Faced with 6 small, VERY ripe banana’s, I decided to try something different! I had some leftover butterscotch in the fridge from a previous bake and after reading an Ottolenghi recipe for mini banana cakes that are drizzled with a rum caramel when baked, I thought the combination of banana’s and caramel sounded delicious! Ottolenghi’s recipe calls for 2 tbs of malted drink powder which I didn’t have substituting it instead for milk powder. Instead of drizzling the caramel over the cake once baked, I lined the tin with the butterscotch pouring the batter on top of it so that the batter bakes into the butterscotch… the result is a fluffy, moreish sponge with a squidgy, fudgey top, turning a simple banana bread into a comfort food sensation !
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 1oog butter at room temperature
- 70g caster sugar
- 70g muscavado sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 110g self-raising flour
- 100g ground almonds
- 2tbs milk powder
- ½tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp bicarb
- 3 medium ripe bananas
- 100g sour cream
- 2 tbs dark rum
For the butterscotch
- 125ml cream
- 60g butter
- 220g muscavado sugar
- ¹⁄³ cup water
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°c
- For the butterscotch place the cream and butter in a saucepan over a medium high heat. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and set aside
- Meanwhile, place the sugar and water in another saucepan over a high heat and stir with a metal spoon until starting to melt. Bring to the boil and cook without stirring until the mixture is a deep golden colour
- Remove from the heat and working quickly, add the butter mixture in a thin steady stream, stirring constantly. It will spit so be careful!
- Return to the heat over a low heat and cook, stirring until the caramel has thickened slightly, 5 minutes or so
- Pour into a clean bowl, set aside and allow to cool to room temperature
- For the cake, place the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electrical mixer ( I used my kitchenaid artisan mixer) and beat on medium high until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a a time, beating after each egg, then add the vanilla and beat for about another minute
- In another bowl, sift the dry ingredients together, whisk and set aside
- Mash the bananas, and place in a separate bowl with the sour cream and the rum. Mix well
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the wet to the butter mixture , beating well after each addition until everything is well combined
- Pour the butterscotch into the bottom of a prepared bundt tin and spoon the cake batter over it, smoothing out the top slightly
- Bake for 45-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean
- Allow the cake to cool slightly and turn out onto a plate to cool completely
- Serve with a blob of créme frâiche