A most unsexy cake

Shortly before my old hard drive failed, Jasmine at Confessions of a Cardamom Addict posted a Sugar High Friday having to do with seduction. I had dreams of buying blocks of cream cheese and dark chocolate, or instead seeing if I could be seduced by a vegan. But when a potluck rolled around, I didn't have any cream cheese or soft tofu. I had bananas.

I did have all the ingredients to make the brownies that I usually make (I'll post that recipe some other time) but I wanted to get creative and I wanted to use those bananas. A quick search on AllRecipes (Yes, I know it's hardly a "gourmet" site) turned up a Banana Upside-Down Cake.

Banana Upside Down Cake
TOPPING:

• 125 mL (1/2 cup) packed brown sugar
  
• 30 mL (2 tbsp) lemon juice, divided
  
• 15 mL (1 tbsp) butter or margarine
  
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) pecan halves (I didn't have pecan halves so I ended up using chopped walnuts instead--less pretty but still delish)
  
• 2 medium firm bananas, sliced

CAKE:

• 375 mL (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
  
• 125 mL (1/2 cup) sugar
  
• 5 mL (1 tsp) baking soda
  
• 5 mL (1 tsp) baking powder
  
• 1 mL (1/4 tsp) salt
  
• 60 mL (1/4 cup) cold butter or margarine
  
• 250 mL (1 cup) plain yogurt
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
  
• 10 mL (2 tsp) grated lemon peel (at this point I want to note that the review says this adds just the right hint of lemon to offset the sweetness, but my roommates managed to wash the cutting board I had with the lemon peel on it before I got to add it to the cake... and it turned out ok)
  
• 5 mL (1 tsp) vanilla extract
  
• Whipped cream
  

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F)
   
2. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and butter; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook without stirring until sugar is dissolved.
   
3. Pour into a greased 9-in. springform pan. Arrange pecans on top with flat side up.
   
4. Pour remaining lemon juice into a small bowl; add bananas and stir carefully. Drain. Arrange bananas in a circular pattern over the pecans; set aside.
   
5. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
   
6. Combine yogurt, eggs, lemon peel and vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon over bananas.
   
7. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
   
8. Cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan; invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

The end result is a cake that is unsexy, but still very comforting. Like something your grandma would make. The brown sugar topping is sweet and the bananas and nuts add a nice touch, although I wish the bananas were a bit more visible. The cake itself is like a sponge cake (don't overbake this cake or it'll be tough!) It's very down-to-earth.

So maybe I wasn't seduced, but once in a while you need some comfort food ;)