Make the vanilla whipped cream: Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla paste in a medium bowl and whisk to soft peaks. Reserve in refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Make the pancake batter: Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Gently whisk in milk, melted butter, vanilla, and egg.

*Chef’s Trick: Don’t overmix batter, and you can adjust thickness with a little milk as needed.

Cook the pancake: Add granulated sugar to one 12" Non Stick Frying Pan (or two 8” Non Stick Frying Pans) and place over medium heat. Rotate Pan often to melt sugar evenly. Continue until sugar turns a light straw color and is completely melted, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add heavy cream (careful, cream will boil at first) and butter and quickly stir to combine. Add sliced bananas cut side down in a single layer and use a spatula to carefully spread bananas evenly in Pan. Pour pancake batter on top and place in oven. Bake pancake until fully cooked and a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 12–16 minutes.

Remove from oven, place a large plate or cutting board (something larger than Pan), and gently invert pancake onto plate. You’ll want to work quickly so the caramel does not cool off and set. Allow to cool slightly.

*Chef’s Trick: Caramel is sticky and you want to do this step as soon as it comes out of the oven, though you might need to use a spatula to help remove the pancake from the Pan.

To serve, slice the pancake into wedges and place each in the center of a plate. Top with vanilla whipped cream and use a microplane to grate chocolate over top, if desired.