Weather: 7 degrees, wind is howling
What I’m listening to: Leave a Light On, Jenny & Tyler
A while back, my sweet and uber-talented blogging friend Karista of Karista’s Kitchen was sorting through her cookbook collection and offered to ship some of her gently used favorites to Alaska. Of course, I was quick to jump on her generous and thoughtful offer. Karista and I are friends precisely because we share a deeply-rooted love of beautiful food, thoughtful writing, and memories made at the table. I knew she would select cookbooks from her collection that would speak to my heart. The cookbooks arrived complete with Karista’s dog ears on the recipe pages (I love this) and a hand-written note which I keep tucked away inside of one of the books.
One of those cookbooks was Favorite Food at Home by Irish chef Rachel Allen. I enjoy this cookbook because it’s warm, welcoming, and unassuming. This delightful Banana Butterscotch Pudding Cake is all of those things, too. My version is only very slightly adapted from the version in Chef Allen’s book. It bakes into a tender golden banana cake on top and a gooey butterscotch layer on the bottom. I served mine hot from the oven with a dollop of freshly whipped cream with flecks of vanilla bean.
Banana Butterscotch Pudding Cake
Golden banana cake with a gooey layer of butterscotch underneath. Adapted from Favorite Food at Home by Rachel Allen.
Yields: Serves 4-6
- For the cake:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 ripe banana, mashed (great use for overripe bananas)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted
- For the butterscotch layer:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 2/3 cup boiling water
- For serving:
- Freshly whipped cream, lightly sweetened (I added some vanilla bean to mine)
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, banana, milk, vanilla, and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pie plate.
To make the butterscotch layer, place a small saucepan on the stove on medium-high heat. Add the brown sugar, corn syrup, and boiling water to the saucepan. Stir to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. Drizzle the butterscotch over the cake batter (it will sink to the bottom as it bakes, creating the gooey butterscotch layer).
Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, until golden and just set in the middle (the cake will be slightly jiggly, but you want it cooked through). Serve warm with freshly whipped cream.