By Frances
This was the second cake I made for Tui's 2nd birthday, also from Julie Le Clerc's Favourite Cakes (Penguin, 2011). My first attempt at an upside-down cake so was pretty chuffed it worked out. I'll be making more!

Caramel topping:
50g butter, melted
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
2 large bananas, sliced on an angle

Cake batter:
125g butter, softened
3/4 c caster sugar
1 very ripe banana, mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 c self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 c milk

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 22cm spring-form cake tin with tight-fitting base. To make topping: melt butter and sugar and spread into base of tin. Cover evenly with sliced bananas.
To make batter: beat butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Sift flour and baking powder with spices and stir into creamed mixture, alternating with the milk.
Spread cake batter over bananas. Bake for 60 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven, loosen edges of cake and remove spring-form surround. Immediately invert the cake onto a serving plate and carefully remove base of  tin while hot or the caramelised sugar will stick to the tin.
Best served on the day it is made. Lasts well for 2 days but is best heated to serve warm.
I'm entering this into May's Sweet New Zealand blogging event, hosted by Couscous & Consciousness.