Ingredients

For the caramel:
• 10g butter
• 100g sugar
• 2 tablespoons cold water
For the cake:
• 100g butter, softened
• 130g brown sugar
• 3 bananas, peeled, halved and then halved again lengthways (you want ripe bananas, but not ones that are too ripe and mushy)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon golden syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 135g plain flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract / vanilla bean paste
• 80ml cup milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease and line a 9cm / 19cm loaf pan.
2. Make the caramel sauce by combinig the butter, sugar and cold water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar has all dissolved, then bring it to a boil. Lower the heat a bit and cook for an extra 3 minutes or so until it has thickened. Pour it into the loaf pan – try and cover the bottom of the pan evenly.
3. Place the halved bananas, cut side down, on top of the caramel (trim them if you have to). You’ll probably won’t have space for all the banana halves – for any leftovers, finely dice them and set them aside for now. We’ll add them to the cake batter later.
4. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer over high speed until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, beating until just combined into the butter/sugar.
5. Stir in the golden syrup, baking powder and cinnamon. Then add half the flour and mix until just combined. Add half the milk, mix until just combined. Repeat with the rest of the flour and milk. Stir in the vanilla extract and any diced banana you might have left over.
6. Pour the batter over the bananas.
7. Bake for about 45-55 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
8. Stand in the pan for five minutes, then turn out upside down on to a wire rack to cool. Eat it warm if you can. Amazing.

Notes