Banana Upside-Down Cake

I really don't like over ripe bananas, so I'm always looking for ways to use them up. Tonight I was scavenging the pantry and found nothing readily available but 4 over ripe bananas. So I decided I would actually have to put some effort into my sugar hunt. So here is the fruit of my quest for sugar. Caramelized bananas and pecans over a heavy cake, almost like a pudding. And all of it jam packed with bananas.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 1/2 cup pecan halves 2 medium bananas. sliced CAKE: 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 TBSP  cold butter or margarine 2 medium bananas, mashed or roughly chopped 1/2 cup plain yogurt 2 eggs, beaten 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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. Pour into a greased 9-in. springform pan. (Make sure it seals. And just to be safe put a cookie sheet under it.) Arrange pecans on top with flat side up. (I just chopped them roughly and sprinkled them in) 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. in a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine bananas, yogurt, eggs, lemon peel and vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon over bananas. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan; invert cake onto a serving plate.

Arroz con Leche

• Milk -- 4 cups
• Short-grain rice --1/2 cup
• Cinnamon stick -- 1
• Orange or lemon peel -- 2 strips
• Salt -- pinch
• Raisins -- 1/4 cup
• Sugar -- 1/2- 1/4 cups depending on taste
  
• Butter -- 2 tablespoons
• Vanilla 1 teaspoon

1. Place the milk, rice, cinnamon stick, orange or lemon peel and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Immediately reduce heat to very low and simmer, stirring often and scraping bottom, for about 45 minutes.
2. Add the raisins and sugar and simmer for another 15 minutes. Stir often to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. Adjust sugar to taste and serve hot or cold, sprinkling the top with some ground cinnamon.

Notes:
I always skip the raisins and the orange peel (two things I usually don't have). the original recipe called for 1/2 cup sugar, but it was a little sweet for me. This is the way I use up any souring milk in my fridge.