Caramelized Banana Pancake with Whipped Cream
Kind of breakfast, mostly dessert, entirely delicious.
·Aug 31, 2023
This part-breakfast, mostly-dessert recipe is a long-standing family favorite of Dustin Valette, Chef-Owner of The Matheson and Valette in Healdsburg, CA. Perfect for when you need a decadent breakfast-adjacent recipe for a special occasion, holiday, birthday, or just to brighten up a morning, this isn’t your standard banana pancake recipe—it’s even better.
This hearty pancake is more like an upside down cake than the breakfast staple. Batter is poured into a Non Stick Frying Pan on top of a foolproof caramel, baked, then inverted on a large plate to serve. Pro tip: Select your desired Serving Plate or platter before you start cooking. Since our Non Stick Frying Pan is oven-safe up to 500F, prep and cleanup is a cinch—if you needed another reason to make this.
Caramelized Banana Pancake with Whipped Cream
Kind of breakfast, mostly dessert, entirely delicious.
Dustin Valette
- For the vanilla whipped cream:
- ⅔ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- For the pancake batter:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¾ cup milk
- 4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
- 1 large egg
- For cooking and assembly:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced into ¼-inch thick rounds
- 1 2–4 ounce bar dark chocolate, optional (Chef Valette loves Volo brand)
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.
