Caramelized Banana Upside-Down Coconut Cake & Coconut Whipped Cream

NOTE: This recipe is designed for a 10-inch cast iron skillet, but it can also be made in a 10-inch cake pan or a 12-inch cast iron skillet. To make it in a cake pan, prepare the topping in a separate saucepan first, add it to your cake pan, and then continue with the recipe as usual. If you make it in a 12-inch skillet, it’ll produce a thinner cake, may require an extra banana or two, and may take about 5 minutes less to bake. Because cast iron can vary, no matter what size of skillet you use, be sure to check the cake’s doneness early and often. Start checking it around 20 minutes, with a toothpick inserted into various spots.

Toast the coconut flakes: Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread flakes out on a baking sheet. Bake for a few minutes, stirring every minute or so, until the coconut is lightly browned (watch it like a hawk). Transfer to a plate to let cool. Keep oven preheated to 350 F for the cake.

Make the topping: In a 10-inch skillet (see note above about using different pan sizes), melt the butter over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the brown sugar, ground ginger, crystallized ginger and salt and simmer for 4 minutes whisking constantly. Be careful—hot sugar is no joke! After 4 minutes, remove the mixture from heat and add the bananas into the bottom of the pan, placing them as close together as possible and fitting in as many as you can. Set aside.

Make the cake: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the oil and coconut milk and whisk like a crazy person for 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla and whisk it in well. Pour the batter over the banana mixture, evening it out with a spatula.

Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until it’s lightly brown on top and a toothpick inserted in various parts of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Remove cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for exactly 5 minutes. (Any more and it will harden in the pan, and any less and it might fall apart). Then run a knife around the edge of it and carefully (use oven mitts and hold both sides of the skillet) invert it onto a large serving platter (hold the plate on top of the skillet with the heels of your hands, enlist a spotter, and be careful—did I mention that hot sugar is no joke?).

Make the coconut whipped cream: Using a spoon, remove the cold coconut solids from each can of coconut milk (save the coconut water for other uses). Place the coconut solids in a chilled bowl with the vanilla and powdered sugar. Whisk like the dickens with a chilled beater until it has a whipped cream-like consistency (this probably took over 10 minutes with my electric mixer, but it’s worth it).

Serve cake warm with a big dollop of cold coconut whipped cream and a sprinkle of toasted coconut.