This Grammy Bananny Upside-Down Cake features a crispy Cocoa Pebbles caramel with a layer of sweet bananas and a moist chicory cake.
Cocoa pebbles, bananas, and a coffee-flavored chicory cake make this Grammy Bananny Upside-Down Cake one you’ll crave often.
A few weeks ago, we got the devastating news that my sweet senior tortie cat, Grammy, had a cancerous tumor. Unfortunately, it was not treatable and very aggressive, and we had to make the difficult decision to euthanize her last week. We adopted Grammy in 2014, and she’s been such a major part of so many milestones in our lives–moving to a new city, returning to an old city, a marriage, new apartments, a new home, and everything in between.
Her presence was always sweet, sassy, and LOUD…one of my favorite things about her. When we first met her at the shelter, we told them we needed to think about it. We went back again, and she immediately jumped into my husband’s arms and just did her strange and loud “MAOW” as if to declare, “I am leaving with you whether you like it or not.” And the rest is history.
I’ve joked that behind every recipe, every food photo, and every cake flip is a feisty little Grammy yelling at me about something. She always waited at the entrance to my kitchen, keeping me company as I bake and cook.
So, why Grammy Bananny?
I began developing this recipe as we started working through treatments with Grammy (before we knew it was the scary c-word). When I did the first iteration, it was based on a comment from a reader. They wanted a Cocoa Pebbles caramel, a chocolate cake, and a layer of bananas.
I developed it, but I did a chicory cake, thinking that a chocolate cake might be too rich. My hope was that a slightly bitter coffee flavor would offset the sweetness nicely. When I tasted it, I thought that maybe the reader was onto something. I told myself I’d come back to it and try it with a chocolate cake instead. I wasn’t able to return to this cake until after we got the news, but as I continued to tweak the recipe, I realized that the combination of the almost (not quite, but close enough) burnt orange cake, with the dark Cocoa Pebbles caramel, and the yellow banana layer kind of resembled Grammy’s tortoiseshell fur color and her gold toes.
That it reminded me so much of her coat and that my work on this recipe began at a time when Grammy’s end-of-life journey occupied such a large space in my mind, I decided to keep it chicory. I kept coming back to the name Grammy Bananny. It felt like a sweet and silly way to memorialize her and all the time we spent in my kitchen together.
So, that’s the story! But it’s not all sadness, I promise. Even though it is, right now. I look at this cake as a way to celebrate the joy our furry friends bring us. If you have pets and love to cook, I just know they’re always close by (waiting for something to fall off the counter, no doubt), and this cake (for me) is a dessert to honor our kitchen companions.
What you need
- Cocoa Pebbles caramel: You’ll use butter, light brown sugar, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and Cocoa Pebbles.
- Banana layer: Just bananas, that’s all you need! Caramelizing them gives a deeper, sweeter flavor, but I prefer the more pronounced banana flavor against the chicory and sweet, crisp Cocoa Pebble layer.
- Chicory cake: You’ll use butter, light brown sugar, egg, all-purpose flour, powdered buttermilk, instant chicory (or instant espresso, if you don’t have chicory), baking powder, salt, and milk.
- For serving: You can make my simple homemade whipped mascarpone (I love it with a chicory mascarpone) or serve it with vanilla ice cream or store-bought whipped cream. Finish the cake by sprinkling a few Cocoa Pebbles on top for extra crunch.
How to make it
Step 1: Make the Cocoa Pebbles caramel.
Melt butter in a small saucepan and add the brown sugar, stirring until the mixture comes together. Add heavy cream and vanilla extract, and stir in the Cocoa Pebbles. Toss to coat (don’t cook the cereal too long) and immediately remove from the heat. Pour into a greased cake pan. Transfer to the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 2: Make the batter.
Cream together light brown sugar and butter, and add the egg. Alternately add the dry ingredients and milk and beat until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
Step 3: Prepare the bananas.
Peel the bananas and slice them into rounds on a slight bias.
Step 4: Assemble and bake the cake.
Remove the cake pan from the freezer and arrange the banana slices in concentric circles on top and press them down with your fingers to form a tightly packed layer. Pour the batter on top and transfer to the oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Step 5: Cool the cake and make the whipped mascarpone.
Let the cake cool, and prepare the whipped mascarpone in the meantime. Once the cake has cooled, invert it into a plate, slice, and serve with whipped mascarpone or ice cream and a sprinkle of Cocoa Pebbles on each slice.
Grammy Bananny Upside-Down Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cocoa Pebbles caramel:
- 4 tablespoons (57 g) butter
- ½ cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30g) heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (60g) Cocoa Pebbles
Bananas:
- 3 medium ripe bananas (about 14 to 16 ounces (about 400g to 450g) before peeling)
Batter:
- 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (7g) powdered buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons (8g) instant chicory (or use 1 tablespoon (4g) instant espresso powder)
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (57g) butter (room temperature)
- ½ cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ cup (120g) whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped chicory mascarpone:
- ½ cup (120g) heavy cream
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon (8g) instant chicory (or use 2 to 3 teaspoons instant espresso, depending on how strongly flavored you’d like it to be)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ounces (56g) mascarpone cheese
Instructions
Make the caramel:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease an 8-inch round cake pan. Line with a parchment paper round and grease the parchment as well. Set aside.
- Melt 4 tablespoons (57g) of butter in a small pot over medium heat. Once melted, add ½ cup (100g) of light brown sugar. Stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture darkens slightly in color.
- Turn the heat to low and add 2 tablespoons (30g) heavy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and simmer for 1 minute. Add the Cocoa Pebbles and stir to coat. Turn off the heat.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and smooth it into an even layer. Transfer to the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Prepare the bananas:
- Peel the bananas and slice them into ¼-inch rounds on a slight bias. Transfer to a bowl.
Make the batter:
- Sift 1 cup (120g) of all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon (7g) powdered buttermilk, 2 tablespoons (8g) instant chicory, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt into a small bowl. Set aside.
- Add 4 tablespoons (57g) of room temperature butter and ½ cup (100g) of light brown sugar to a large bowl. Use an electric hand mixer to cream them together. Add 1 egg and beat until smooth.
- Add half the sifted dry ingredients and beat with the mixer until just combined. Add half the milk and beat until just combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and the remaining milk, along with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat until just combined. Don’t over-mix!
Assemble the cake:
- Remove the cake pan from the freezer. Arrange the bananas over the caramel layer in tight concentric circles, slightly overlapping, to create a rosette shape in the middle. Pour the batter over the bananas and smooth it out with the back of your spatula.
Bake the upside-down cake:
- Transfer the cake to the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Let the cake stand at room temperature for 60 minutes. The cake should still be warm to the touch.
Prepare the whipped chicory mascarpone:
- Add ½ cup (120g) heavy cream, ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon (8g) instant chicory, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric hand mixer until soft peaks form. Add 2 ounces (56g) mascarpone cheese and continue beating until stiff peaks form, being careful not to overmix, as the mascarpone can separate when overworked. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a round tip and refrigerate until needed.
Flip the cake:
- Place a large plate over the cake pan and carefully invert the cake onto the plate. Take care peeling off the parchment round as it may have stuck to the caramel. See Note 1.
To serve:
- Frost the cake and smooth out the mascarpone with a spatula, creating divots as you smooth it out. Sprinkle with crushed Cocoa Pebbles. Slice the cake into pieces and enjoy!
