Salted Caramel Brown Butter Banana Cake (Printable)
Moist banana cake with nutty brown butter topped with rich salted caramel sauce.
# What You’ll Need:
→ Cake Batter
01 - ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
02 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
03 - 1 teaspoon baking powder
04 - ½ teaspoon baking soda
05 - ½ teaspoon salt
06 - ½ cup granulated sugar
07 - ½ cup packed light brown sugar
08 - 2 large eggs, at room temperature
09 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 - 3 large very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1¼ cups)
11 - ½ cup full-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
→ Salted Caramel Sauce
12 - 1 cup granulated sugar
13 - ¼ cup water
14 - 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
15 - ½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature
16 - 1 to 1½ teaspoons flaky sea salt, to taste
→ Optional Garnish
17 - Banana slices
18 - Extra caramel sauce
19 - Chopped toasted nuts
# Directions:
01 - In a light-colored saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter foams and golden-brown specks form on the bottom, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to a bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
02 - Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round or square cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
03 - In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly distributed.
04 - In a large bowl, whisk the cooled brown butter with the granulated sugar and light brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each fully before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla extract, mashed bananas, and sour cream until well combined.
05 - Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and gently fold with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.
06 - Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
07 - Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
08 - In a clean saucepan, combine the granulated sugar and water. Stir over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring. Allow the mixture to cook undisturbed until it turns a deep amber color, approximately 6 to 8 minutes. Immediately add the cubed butter, which will bubble vigorously. Whisk until the butter melts, then slowly pour in the heavy cream while whisking continuously. Simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from heat and stir in the flaky sea salt. Cool slightly before using.
09 - Once the cake has cooled completely, pour the warm salted caramel sauce evenly over the top. Garnish with banana slices, chopped toasted nuts, or an additional drizzle of caramel as desired.
# Expert Suggestions:
01 -
- Brown butter transforms ordinary banana cake into something deeply nutty and complex with almost zero extra effort.
- The homemade salted caramel sauce is liquid gold and tastes far better than anything from a store.
- It looks wildly impressive but the whole process is surprisingly forgiving for a medium difficulty recipe.
02 -
- Brown butter goes from perfectly nutty to burnt and bitter in roughly thirty seconds, so stay right at the stove and use a light colored pan so you can actually see the color change.
- Never stir boiling caramel with a spoon because sugar crystals will cling to the sides and cause the whole batch to seize into a grainy mess.
03 -
- Mash your bananas with a fork rather than a blender because a few small lumps actually create pockets of concentrated banana flavor throughout the cake.
- If your caramel seizes or gets grainy when you add the cream, return it to low heat and whisk patiently because most seized caramel can be rescued with gentle persistence.