There are many perfectly lovely blogs out there that extol the virtues of healthy eating. Page after page will be filled with photos and recipes of jazzed up salads and low-calorie sweets, all nudging you to at least try to live a better life.

This blog, dear readers, is not one of them.

Yes, there has been the recent issue of the doctor’s concern. But when this concern has somehow led to an untouched mound of rapidly browning bananas sitting on the kitchen counter (because the doctor has ordered the consumption of a banana a day), something has to be done.

Not that this leads to any bananas actually getting consumed, mind you. Instead, a recipe is found — one that calls for ripe bananas that will be turned into a banana cake topped with a thick, hot layer of sweet caramel and walnuts.

The recipe oozes decadence and sin. But it does have a saving grace — there are bananas in there, after all. Isn’t that what the doctor ordered?

The recipe has an auspicious beginning — one stick of butter, mixed together with corn syrup and brown sugar.

The mixture gets melted in a pan and then chopped walnuts are stirred in. This will form the glaze of this upside-down cake.

Note: When making the caramel topping, watch the clock carefully — you don’t want the mixture to simmer too long or the topping could be too hard, making the cake difficult to bite into. Trust me, I’ve learned this the hard way.

After that, the recipe is simple — cake flour, eggs, rum, mashed bananas and more are mixed together and then poured into the pan. Once that’s in the oven, it’s helpful to have snacks on hand while you’re waiting for the cake to bake — the smells coming out of your kitchen will make you insanely hungry.

As cakes go, this one’s pretty easy — and delicious to boot. The banana base is light and buttery and the caramel-walnut glaze adds a deep, almost-chocolaty sweetness and crunch that gives each bite a nice little kick.

I’d like to think the good doctor would approve.

Caramel-Walnut Upside-Down Banana Cake

(Recipe from Bon Appetit, March 2008)

Topping:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons dark corn syrup
• 3/4 cup walnut halves or pieces

Cake:

• 1 3/4 cups cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 to 3 large)
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream