BANANA UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

A very delicious banana cake!

Back in the UK for a spell I did my customary sweep of the five local charity shops.

I found three cookbooks at £1.50 each.  They all appeared to be brand new.

The one entitled "the baker" is very much a "how to bake" book not just a collection of recipes.

The recipe for banana upside down cake caught my eye.

On the way home from the charity shop I called for some milk at the corner shop and spotted two bunches of bananas reduced in price so that clinched it!

The recipe said to line bottom and sides of the cake tin but I opted for using a circle of paper that was bigger than the tin and therefore came up the sides a bit.  It seemed to work.

The recipe said to use a 20cm tin which to me seemed a bit small.  I couldn't fit the right number of bananas in the bottom and also the quantity of mixture filled the tin more than I would normally do.  I came to the conclusion that 20cm was a mistake and would use a 23cm tin next time.  

It produced a very deep cake which dipped alarmingly in the middle!  The picture in the book shows a shallower cake with more sliced bananas on top, lending weight to my theory that the tin size stated was incorrect.

The recipe also included a lot of sugar and less flour than I would have expected.

However, the cake looked stunning and tasted divine!

It was very sweet and very bananery.

In the book it says it should be eaten on the day of baking.  Certainly the next day it was a bit more moist but equally delicious and the day after that made an excellent pudding warmed and served with ice cream!

I would definitely make it again - it would be good for a cake sale - but I would use a larger tin and possibly slightly less sugar.

Ingredients

For the banana topping

50g unsalted butter, melted

60g light soft brown sugar

6 large ripe bananas, peeled and cut into half lengthways

    (Using the size of tin stated I only fitted in 3 medium bananas)

For the cake

125g unsalted butter, softened

230g light soft brown sugar

2 eggs (I used medium)

185g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed (mine were medium)

Method

Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin.  I used a springform tin and see my notes about the size of tin and lining above.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan.

Pour the melted butter over the base of the tin and spread out with the back of a spoon if necessary to make sure the whole of the base is coated.  Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top.

Arrange the cut bananas in a pattern over the top of the sugar, cut side down.

To make the cake, using electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar until lighter and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Sift the flour and baking powder over and fold in, followed by the mashed bananas.

Spoon the mixture carefully over the sliced bananas and level the top.  Bake for 45 minutes or until the cake passes the skewer test.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out upside down onto a wire rack to cool.  Sit the rack over a dinner plate to catch any drips of the topping.  

Cuts into 8-10 generous slices.  Best eaten on the day it is made (see my notes above).

BANANA AND CARAMEL MUFFINS

 

With some bananas going past their best in the fruit bowl I looked for something different from my usual cake recipes to make use of them.

I settled on a recipe in one of my favourite books, a W.I. publication called "cakes" by Liz Herbert where they are called "Banana Banoffee Muffins".

I would normally have used some Bonne Maman caramel but have recently had trouble getting hold of it.  The French supermarkets I usually frequent no longer seem to stock it.

I mostly use it for baking - for example see here.

Consequently I have bought other brands instead.

They are not quite the same!

The caramel did sink to the bottom of the muffins as warned in the recipe!

They were however, utterly delicious!  Dead easy to make, wickedly sweet and very bananary, they were a hit with all who tried them and I still have four in the freezer for a future treat.  Yum !!!

Ingredients

225g plain flour

1½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g golden caster sugar

2 medium ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

2 eggs, beaten

4 tblsp sour cream or crème fraîche

½ tsp vanilla extract

80g butter, melted and cooled

10 tsp caramel spread/jam or tinned caramel

Method

First, have the butter melted and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170° fan /gas mk 5.  Put 10 muffin cases into a muffin tin.  (My mixture actually made 11.)

Sift the flour, BP and bicarb into a large bowl.  Stir in the sugar.

Make a well in the centre and add the bananas, eggs, crème fraîche, butter and vanilla.  Fold or mix together until just combined.

Spoon the mixture equally into the muffin cases.  Make a depression in the top of each one with a spoon and drop a teaspoon of caramel into each one.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until firm and golden.  Remove from the tin to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 10 - 11 muffins.

GLUTEN FREE BANANA AND WALNUT CAKE

In making cakes for a recent cake stall I took on the task of baking for people who like a slice of cake but need it to be gluten free.  This banana and walnut cake turned out really well using Doves Farm gluten free flour.

I didn't get to taste it but it smelled lovely when baked and it seemed nice and moist when I sliced it to serve to customers.  Sometimes gluten free cakes can seem a bit dry and crumbly.  Doves Farm gluten free self raising flour already contains xantham gum, something which helps to avoid the sandy, crumbly texture.

I do worry a bit when making gluten free cakes.  Being a vegan seems to me to be a voluntary lifestyle choice but requiring a gluten free diet is a serious health issue and it only takes a small amount of contamination to make people quite poorly.  Consequently I always bake gluten free cakes using a brand new pack of butter and sugar, to make sure there has been no accidental dipping of a spoon used for ordinary flour into an opened pack.  I also made sure there were separate knives and tongs for serving the gluten free and the vegan cakes, something that can be easily overlooked and cause problems.

It was an easy cake to make and it sold well.  I adapted a recipe on the website "Coeliac by Design".

Ingredients

For the cake

140g butter, softened, or baking spread

140g caster sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, beaten

140g gluten free self raising flour

2 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

50g chopped walnuts

For the topping

1 tblsp demerara sugar

banana chips or walnut halves to decorate

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk4.  Butter and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin or use a paper liner.

Put all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat together with a hand held electric mixer until well combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.  Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and decorate with the walnut halves or banana chips.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until done.  Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before carefully lifting out (GF cakes can be slightly fragile) onto a cooling rack.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

VEGAN BANANA AND WALNUT CAKE

There is an annual autumn event in a nearby village that requires a few cakes, raising a good amount of funds for the village entertainment committee.  The French it seems are fascinated by, and very fond of, English baking.

For a few years now I have been contributing a cake or three and for the last two years braved the selling of cakes which requires a certain amount of French speaking.  It was challenging at times but light hearted and fun until last year when my friend and I were chastised in French by a couple of ladies asking for vegan cakes.  We didn't have any.  

All the cakes are donations towards village funds by local people, mostly English.  The classic English cakes are usually the best sellers and for the last two years everything sold out down to the last crumb.

This encounter with the two vegan ladies stung a bit.  On the day they opted for a slice of gluten free cake as if that would do instead and there is often a selection of those to choose from.  So, this year I decided to try to redress the balance by making a couple of vegan cakes.  Then at least we could say we had had some even if they had sold out by the time the two vegan ladies turned up!  As my friend said, you can't control who buys them and some none vegans will try a slice just to see what they're like!  

I opted for easy recipes and discovered that it essentially requires oil instead of eggs and butter with maybe a bit of extra baking powder.  I was surprised how good this one looked and it smelled divine (as banana cakes usually do).  I didn't get to taste it but it sold well.  You can see the recipe I adapted here.

Ingredients 

3 ripe bananas, peeled

75ml vegetable oil (I used sunflower)

100g soft light brown sugar

225g plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

3 tsp ground cinnamon (or mixed spice)

50 chopped walnuts 

walnut halves or banana chips to decorate

1 tblsp demerara sugar (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200° / 180° fan / gas mk 6.  Oil a 2lb/900g loaf tin or put in a paper liner.

In a large bowl, mash the peeled bananas.  Add the oil and sugar and mix well.

Sift in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and mix well.  Add the chopped walnuts and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top.  Add walnut halves or banana chips to decorate.  Sprinkle over the demerara sugar if using.

Bake for 20 minutes and cover loosely with foil if the cake is already nice and brown to prevent scorching.  Bake for another 20-30 minutes until done.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

BANANA CAKE with walnuts

Using up fruit and veg so as not to waste any is a challenge.  This includes bananas and I'm not always ready to make a cake so lately I have been freezing them at the point where they are just over but still firm enough to peel easily.  I just peel them and pop them in a plastic bag, two at a time, draining off any excess liquid when thawed.  Hence this cake came about because I needed freezer space, we were on a mission to use up frozen food and friends were coming round for apéros.  Why not give them cake as well as savoury nibbles?!

I have made a lot of different banana cakes over the years and there have been some really stunning ones.  In fact the only failure was a recipe using Trex which was, truthfully, grim!  (See here.)  However, I've had my eye on this recipe for a while and decided to give it a go.  The only issue was that it required "4 tablespoons of melted butter" and I wasn't quite sure how to do that - melt some butter and measure out 4 tablespoons - what would you do if there wasn't enough or too much?  Or soften some butter and scoop out 4 tablespoons before melting it?  My butter was quite hard so I googled it and the consensus was that 4 tablespoons was 60 grams so that's what I weighed out and melted and it produced exactly the right amount!

This was an excellent banana cake with a lovely texture and a glossy top.  Very easy to make and definitely a winner. At the time of writing you can see the recipe here and I decorated mine with some walnut halves and banana chips.

Ingredients 

350g peeled ripe bananas, thawed if frozen

180g plain flour

2½ tsp baking powder

60g butter, melted (4 tblsp)

160g soft light brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

50g walnuts, roughly chopped

walnut halves and banana chips to decorate (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170° fan / gas mk 5.  Butter a 2lb (900g) loaf tin or use a paper liner.

Mash 2/3 of the bananas to a pulp in a bowl, add the remaining bananas and mash roughly so that you have a few lumps.

Put the eggs, melted butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat with a hand held electric whisk, or a wooden spoon, until pale and creamy.  Sift in the flour and baking powder, add the bananas and fold in until well combined.  Stir in the chopped walnuts evenly.

Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for about an hour.  Cover loosely with foil after 30 minutes to prevent scorching.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cuts into 10 slices.

BANANA ON TOAST and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

At the start of this brand new year I feel that there is less "new year, new you, a healthy start" and more "comfort food" still around.  One can ponder why this is but personally, let’s just say that I have more or less given up watching the news and listen to my favourite music instead.

Recently I have not baked anything new to post about but have worked my way through old favourites.  I might pinch an idea from one of my favourite blogs, Lavender and Lovage, and do a little post about my own favourite recipes of 2024.

My mum was fond of a banana sandwich.  She would walk home from work every lunchtime, a distance of about a quarter of a mile, for her "dinner".  When my grandmother was alive and we all lived in the same house, this would be something cooked by her.  After she died my mum would have some kind of snack.  I never asked why she preferred to do this rather than eat in the works canteen but suspect that she liked a bit of her own space away from the chatter and clatter of her workmates.  Also, probably, to save a few shillings a week.  My dad went to work with home made sandwiches and a bun every day and she would have a snack and a bun at home.  Except that when she was "on a diet" she would resist the bun!

Her favourite snacks included cheese (cheddar or cheshire) and Jacob's cream crackers, toast and jam, a lettuce and tomato or potted beef sandwich or, if there were still any left in the fruit bowl, a banana sandwich.  This was usually made with white bread, "wonderloaf" type, buttered.  The banana would be sliced thickly onto the bottom slice and sprinkled with ordinary white sugar then the second slice squashed on top.  During the school holidays she would make the same for me.

I now prefer banana on toast, especially for breakfast, but think of my mum every time I take the first delicious bite! The ultimate comfort snack! 

Instructions 

Take a slice of your favourite bread, for me wholemeal or granary.

Toast it lightly and spread it thinly with your favourite spread, for me salted butter, but could be peanut butter, Nutella or even pineapple jam.

Take a banana of your preferred ripeness, for me ripe but not too soft.

Peel the banana and lay it on the toast in two halves.

Squash it onto the toast with the back of a fork and dust it lightly with ground cinnamon.

Eat and enjoy while the toast is still just warm.  

A SLIGHTLY BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

CARROT CAKE with or without icing

I’ve tried various recipes for carrot cake from my collection of cookbooks over the years but was never completely ecstatic about any of them.  In fact one of them turned out so awful that I actually wrote "horrible and inedible" at the top of the page because that’s what it was - soggy, oily, dull and unpleasant and I hadn’t made another one since!

So, with a surfeit of carrots in the veg drawer and a carrot soup already gurgling away in the soup maker, I decided to have another go.  This time I used a recipe from Mary Berry's Baking Bible, the latest edition thereof.  There were no spices or dried fruit in this recipe, unlike some of the others I had tried.

It turned out really well, delicious in fact.  I then discovered that the same recipe appears in some  of Mary's previous books with one principle difference; this most recent recipe says to use one teaspoon of baking powder and all the others say two!  How odd!  However, it rose well so one is clearly enough!  Also, the instructions say to bake for 50-60 minutes.  Mine was done in 50 minutes and if anything was slightly over.  I would check after 40 minutes next time.  

It's a pity I hadn't spotted this Mary Berry recipe before as I would have made dozens of them by now, especially as they are immensely popular at cake sales, especially it seems with the French.

I made this one as an uniced traybake for ease of cutting and handing round.  I decided that the next time I would try adding a little mixed spice, and for a cake sale I would definitely ice it, but it was really good just as per the recipe.  Very simple to make and delicious.

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I have a tip for grating carrots.  Weigh slightly more than you want and grate as far down as you dare until you have a short stump which you can do something else with (such as chomp on it while you grate the next carrot). That way you get the amount of grated carrot you want with your fingers intact!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As is the way of things here, the opportunity arose to make the cake again for a cake sale at an event in the next village a few weeks later.  This time I added a teaspoon of mixed spice and iced it as per Mary's recipe, decorating it with chopped walnuts and banana chips.  It looked the business and sold out early in the day.

I would happily have used the little marzipan carrot decorations that identify it immediately as a carrot cake but the only place I could find them in France was online and the price worked out at 1€ per carrot!  I resisted, as the cost of a pack of decorations would have been more than the cost of making the whole cake!

As an aside, it’s amazing how much the French seem to love English cakes, considering their reputation for fine patisserie.  On the cake stall this time we were asked by a French couple if we ran a course on how to make them!  Now there’s an idea……..

This is the recipe for the iced version with a little added spice.

Ingredients

For the cake

225g self raising flour, sifted

1 level tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed spice (optional)

150g light muscovado sugar

50g chopped walnuts

115g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

2 ripe bananas, mashed

2 eggs

150ml sunflower or vegetable oil

For the icing  (if using)

175g full fat cream cheese

55g softened butter

115g icing sugar, sifted

To decorate

banana chips 

2 tblsp chopped walnuts

(or mini carrot decorations if you can get them)

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4.  Butter a 20cm square or round springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper. 

Put all the cake into a large bowl and beat until smooth.

Spoon into the tin and level the top.  Tap a couple of times on the worktop to dispel any air bubbles.

Bake for 50-60 minutes but check after 40 minutes as mine was well done by 50 minutes and a square cake may also be done sooner.

Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn out, remove the baking paper and leave to cool on a wire rack.  Once cool it can be frozen by wrapping tightly in foil.

To make the icing, put all the ingredients into a bowl or food processor and beat well until smooth.  Make sure the cake is completely cold (or thawed if it's been frozen) and spread the icing over the top.  Decorate with the chopped walnuts and banana chips (or any decoration of your choice such as purchased sugar paste carrots).

Cuts into 10-12 slices.

CARAMEL BANANA CAKE

 

I've been back in the UK for a short spell.

When I got home, the car we leave in the UK, (officially an old banger) wouldn't start.  The new battery that was fitted only a few weeks ago had failed.  How odd.  The old battery lasted nine years but the new one only eleven weeks.  Very annoying.  However, Halfords came out and changed it two days after I arrived.  My brother drove me everywhere I needed to go whilst the car was out of action, bless him.  

There has been plenty for me to do whilst I've been here and the weather hasn't been too bad, mostly fine.  I managed to cut the grass (once my brother had started the mower) and tidy the garden a bit.  I am mindful of the fact that too much tidying at this time of year can deprive insects and wildlife of their habitat until Spring properly arrives so left piles of leaves and moss undisturbed.  

On the first day of Spring and in the sunshine I fetched the garden table and chairs out of the shed to enjoy it.  I brought the pots of geraniums out from their overwintering spot in the garage, gave them a little drink and a feed and wished them well.  They're in a sunny, sheltered spot so hopefully might survive any frosts until the next visit when they can be restored to their proper place on the patio.  As I sat in the late afternoon sunshine I'll swear I could hear them stretching their stalks as they soaked up the warmth.

Being without a car was a challenge but luckily I live a ten minute walk from the village shop.  There I spotted a bunch of bananas which were past their best for 50p.  Irresistible!  And after a busy week I felt that me and my brother definitely deserved a cake.  A proper cake with icing and decorations.

The recipe is adapted from one in a book by Joanne Wheatley.  She covered hers all over with buttercream and decorated it with caramelised pecan nuts.  I just used what I had in stock so added some bronze sprinkles.  

I used a supermarket own brand flour, which I tend to buy when I'm here because it's so cheap, and, with sometimes long intervals between visits, I don't like the idea of leaving expensive flour that might go to waste.  I sifted it well (not such a chore) and it was perfectly good.  I also used the sugar I had in stock rather than the light soft brown sugar in the original recipe.  That was fine too, possibly adding to the caramel flavour.  My baking powder was a bit out of date but I decided to risk it rather than go out and buy a new pack.....which might then be left unused for some time.  It worked fine.

My icing sugar had gone hard because he who made and iced the Christmas cake hadn't closed up the paper packet!  I whizzed it well in the food processor but it still had some small lumps in it.  In actual fact they added to the crunch of the sprinkles on top and did not spoil what was a perfectly delicious cake.

It rose like a dream, looked very glamorous, had an excellent texture and tasted utterly divine.  Definitely a cake I will make again and it would probably be a good seller at a cake stall.  

Ingredients

For the cake

250g baking spread or softened butter

200g light muscovado sugar

3 large eggs, beaten

2 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed roughly with a fork

300g self raising flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

a splash of milk if needed

For the buttercream

150g spreadable butter, or softened butter.  I used Lurpak Spreadable.

300g icing sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 generous tblsp caramel spread.  I used Bon Maman confiture du lait

splash of milk

Method

Preheat the oven to 170° C / 150° fan / gas mk 3.  Grease two 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.

Put the butter/spread and sugar into a large bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon or hand held electric whisk until light and fluffy (I used my Kenwood stand mixer).

Add the beaten eggs roughly in thirds and beat in.  Add the bananas and beat in.

Fold in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.  Mix well to combine, adding a little milk if it seems very stiff, and divide between the prepared tins.  

Level the tops and bake for 30-35 minutes until done.  Cool in the tins for a few minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the buttercream, put the butter or spread into a large bowl and beat until soft.  Sift in the icing sugar and cinnamon and beat until smooth.  Add the caramel and beat in.  Add a splash of milk to make a soft, spreadable consistency.  (I used the food processor to make mine, blitzing the icing sugar first to remove lumps then adding the other ingredients.)

Sandwich the two cakes together with half of the buttercream and spread the rest on top.  Decorate with sprinkles of your choice.

Cuts into 8-10 generous slices.

DATE AND BANANA MINI MUFFINS

With my part used packet of chopped dates and a couple of tired bananas I hankered after making something quick and easy.  I have used this recipe for banana loaf before and followed the tips at the end of the recipe to add some chopped dates.  This time I made mini muffins instead.  They are a nice bite sized treat, easy to hand round to a group of people.

They were well risen, nicely spiced and not too sweet.  I think that a bananaphobe would have not been too challenged - they were very moreish and even Nick liked them!

There had been an unfortunate mishap with my brand new jar of English mixed spice the week before.  Hard tiled floors are not very forgiving, spice and broken glass went everywhere. On the advice of a friend I replaced it with a French equivalent called "quatre épices".  The spices are ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.  I looked up the ingredients of British mixed spice and they have a very similar composition although also include coriander, which I usually associate with savoury dishes. Curious! The French version worked perfectly.

The quantity of mixture in the recipe made 48 mini muffins with some still some left over, so I made a few buns as well, which took a few minutes longer to bake.  Definitely a recipe worth remembering if you're short of time but want no shortage of flavour!

The very pretty little cake stand came from a brocante shop in a nearby village.  This place is actually an old barn stuffed with antique furniture, textiles, crockery and every imaginable kind of old or vintage household goods.  Prices are not as cheap as at the average village flea market but affordable.  This little cake stand was one of several that belonged to a huge set of matching crockery, a whole dinner service with numerous serving dishes, tureens and everything else that a large household might have.  The only item of it that I wanted (although all of it was gorgeous) was one of these with the pretty bird and flowers.  I think that had there only been one in the set the shopkeeper might have refused, but there were several so she was happy to sell me one.

Ingredients

3 very ripe bananas, about 225g peeled weight

3 large eggs

100g light soft brown sugar

150ml vegetable oil (I used groundnut oil)

275g self raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp baking powder

a handful of chopped dates

Method

Put the dates into a small bowl and just cover with boiling water.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°fan / gas mk 4.  Grease the holes of two mini muffin tins.

Put the peeled bananas into a large bowl and mash roughly with a fork.  Add the eggs, sugar and oil and whisk with an electric hand held whisk until well combined.

Add the flour, spice and baking powder and whisk again until just combined.  Stir through the soaked dates including the liquid.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tins.  I used a mini ice cream scoop so that they were roughly even.  Bake for 12-15 minutes until done.  (The larger buns took 20 minutes).  Cool in the tins for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Makes more than 48 mini muffins.

CHOCOLATE AND BANANA CAKE (with walnuts)

It was the usual story.  Three bananas in the fruit bowl, past their best and whispering "cake, cake" every time I passed by.

I fancied making a banana cake that I hadn't made before and the recipe comes from a little book called "Cakes and Slices".  It's one of those compilation cook books where no one person lays claim to the recipes. 

The cake was a bit of an ugly duckling (very craggy) but very easy and quick to make, and yummy all the same!  I took it to our walking group for the "debriefing" so was able to see how it cut and to taste a slice.  It was very good and I made a second one for a cake stall at a local event where it sold well.

Although it was in principle very easy, I've given it two stars in the faff factor as I find chopping chocolate and walnuts rather tedious!

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed

170g caster sugar

185g self raising flour

2 eggs

3 tblsp light olive oil or sunflower oil (I used groundnut oil)

3 tblsp milk

100g dark chocolate, finely chopped 

90g walnuts, chopped

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4.  Butter and line a 2lb loaf tin or use a paper liner.  A 20cm round tin would also work.

In a large bowl, mix together the banana and sugar.  Sift the flour into the bowl.  Add the eggs, oil and milk and mix well together.  Stir in the chocolate and walnuts.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Cool in the tin for five minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

BANANA, RUM AND SULTANA CAKE (with walnuts)

This is one of those recipes I've had my eye on for ages and with four small bananas looking unloved in the fruit bowl the opportunity came along.  Also, I had been chatting to one of the ladies that runs an English tea room at one of the local events every October here in France and she reminded me that I made a cake or two for them last year.  I’m still not eating much more than the occasional small slice of cake myself but it occurred to me that I could make a banana cake, freeze it, and bring it out for the designated day.

The recipe is Nigella Lawson's "banana bread" from her early book "how to be a domestic goddess" which I have very rarely used.  The banana bread appealed to me because it included rum soaked sultanas!  

I stuck to the recipe apart from using golden caster sugar instead of white and did my usual trick of making a couple of muffins from a little of the mixture.  This enables me to do a "quality control" check.  In other words I can taste the cake and make sure it is good enough to sell - otherwise donating a cake I have never made before can be a bit risky.  I also covered the cake loosely with foil for the last fifteen minutes of baking as it was already looking nice and brown - cakes that look over baked do not sell well at cake stalls I have found! 

After tasting the muffin I would have to disagree with Nigella's statement that "the alcohol doesn't pervade". I thought you most definitely could taste the rum! I had used some Kraken spiced rum as that was what was lurking on the booze shelf in the pantry and it worked really well. In fact the rum flavour was so noticeable that I wondered if I had put too much in! (I hadn’t.)

So consequently I have renamed this cake from the rather uninspiring "banana bread" because I think the flavour of the rum soaked sultanas, and the walnuts, made it rather special.  It's my favourite banana cake recipe so far!

(It would also be great if made entirely into muffins, probably at least a dozen I would think.)

Ingredients

100g sultanas

75ml rum

175g plain flour

½ tsp bicarb

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

125g unsalted butter, melted

150g golden caster sugar

2 large eggs

4 small very ripe bananas, or a total peeled weight of 300g, mashed

60g walnuts, roughly chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

First, put the rum and sultanas into a small saucepan, bring to the boil, turn off the heat and set aside.  Leave them for the sultanas to absorb the rum and plump up for at least an hour.

When ready to make the cake, put a paper liner into a 900g (2lb) loaf tin, or grease the tin well, and preheat the oven to 170°C / 150° fan / gas mk 3.

Put the flour, bicarb, salt and and baking powder into a medium bowl and mix together well.

In a separate large bowl, beat together the melted butter and the sugar.  I used a hand held electric food mixer but a wooden spoon would work fine.

Beat in the eggs one at a time then the mashed bananas.

Drain the soaked sultanas and add to the mixture with the walnuts and vanilla.  Stir well to combine.

Add one third of the flour mixture into the bowl and stir well to combine, then the rest, one third at a time.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and level the top.  Bake for 50-60 minutes.  Cover loosely with foil for the last 15 minutes if the cake is already looking nice and brown.

*I used a couple of spoonfuls of the mixture to make separate muffins, taking them out of the oven when cooked, after 25 minutes.

Cool in the tin.

Cuts into 10-12 slices.

BANANA, PECAN AND MAPLE SYRUP CAKE

This is a Be-Ro book recipe that I spotted in a Facebook group fairly recently and wondered why I had never noticed it before.  The reason is that it’s a new recipe in the most recent edition, which I very rarely use, preferring the book before. 

It sounded so good that I just had to try it.  

In the Be-Ro book it is baked in a loaf tin but the person who posted the picture had used a round tin, which I also prefer.  I have found that all recipes for a 2lb (900g) loaf tin bake perfectly well in an 8” (20cm) round tin instead.  You have to keep your eye on the cooking times and check sooner than stated.  Sure enough, my cake was done in exactly one hour which is less than the time in the recipe.  I also thought it was looking brown enough after 35 minutes so covered it loosely with foil.

It was interesting to see the quantity of bananas given by weight.  So many recipes just say "three medium" or "two large" bananas but how large is large?  This one states the weight of unpeeled bananas which is very reassuring.  

It’s a contender for my current favourite banana cake.  It had a lovely texture, a nice glossy top and just the right bananarish flavour.  The dried banana slices became chewy and I was glad I didn’t substitute walnuts for the pecans just because I always have so many windfall walnuts in stock!  A 100g bag is just right for the cake.  There’s no doubt the people at Be-Ro know how to write a good recipe and I preferred it to the other version that I made exactly a year ago, see here.  Sorry, James!

Ingredients 

For the cake

225g self raising flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

75g butter (I used Sainsbury's Buttersoft)

110g light soft brown sugar 

2 eggs, beaten 

450g bananas, weighed in their skins (exactly four small bananas)

75g pecans, chopped 

2tblsp maple syrup

For the topping

25g dried banana slices

25g whole pecans

1tblsp maple syrup 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160° fan /gas mk 4.  Grease and line the bottom of a 20cm round springform tin (or use a lined 2lb loaf tin).

First make the topping by simply placing all the ingredients in a small bowl and mixing together.  Set aside.  Peel and mash the bananas.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using a hand held whisk until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs in thirds with a little flour.  

Stir in the remaining flour and the other ingredients and spoon into the tin.  Level the top and spoon the topping ingredients over the top.  Pour over any residual syrup.

Bake for about an hour, covering loosely with foil after 35 minutes.  (The recipe gives a longer time of one and a quarter hours in a loaf tin.)  Cool in the tin.

Cuts into 10-12 slices.

BANANA AND APRICOT CAKE

I have been meaning to have a second go at this cake for some time.

You can see the first time I made it and where it was not a success if you read here.  The recipe comes from the Trex website (see here) and I had made the cake as per instructions using Trex.  There were lots of good things about it but I felt it would probably be much better if made with butter.  

It was when I saw a bunch of bananas reduced to 20p just before Christmas that I thought it was time I had another try at the recipe.  Bargain.  One week later they were just right for baking with!

I was also keen to use my new Christmas cake stand.  Also a bargain.

Now I know I have more than enough cake stands already but......this one is so pretty and when it was reduced in price on the Lakeland website I thought one more wouldn't do any harm.  (I have also created a second storage place for my large collection!)  You can see it here but it's back up to full price!

I needed a few other things from Lakeland (don't you always?) so I placed the order paying extra for next day delivery, not holding out too much hope of them actually arriving in time for Christmas.  

My luck was in!  The parcel arrived the following evening but........I was hugely disappointed to find that the cake stand was faulty.

"How can that be?" I hear you say.  Well it was wonky.  Wonkiness is a common fault with cake stands.  It only takes the pedestal to be glued slightly off centre on the base of the plate and you end up with a bit of a slope.  

I'm not too fussy about a slight slope.  After all, very few of my cakes are actually perfectly level and nobody ever seems to notice a slight wonkiness but this one was miles out.  Well over half an inch across the plate.  (I know this because my other half insisted on getting out his spirit level and measuring it!)

I phoned Lakeland first thing the next morning and spoke to a very nice lady.  I have to say that Lakeland's greeting message is probably the most polite and friendly one I have ever heard.  The lady was very understanding and quick to offer a refund.  When I said what I really wanted was another cake stand she said she would despatch another and to keep the faulty one.  On Christmas Eve my replacement arrived so I hot footed it to the Hospice shop where the wonky original was received gladly.  It was priced and on sale by the time I left the shop.  Hopefully someone who doesn’t mind a cake stand a bit of a slope would have got an even greater bargain for displaying their Christmas cake.

In the end I used Stork block baking margarine not butter.  I also made the whole thing in the food processor.  It had one of those smiley face cracks when it was done.

I decorated it with the cream cheese frosting, banana chips snapped in half and chopped apricots as suggested in the recipe.

I don't think it rose as much as the last time I made it but it was yummy!

Definitely a cake recipe worth the tweaking!

Ingredients

For the cake

225g self raising flour

a pinch of salt

100g block margarine, chilled and cubed

100g soft light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 medium very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed

50g chopped dried apricots

1 tblsp milk

For the topping

50g softened butter

50g icing sugar, sifted

zest of ½ a lemon

100g cream cheese

a few dried banana chips and chopped apricots to decorate

Method

Grease and line the base of a 20cm round springform cake tin.  Preheat the oven to 180C / 160 fan / gas mk 4.

Sift the flour and salt into a food processor.  Add the margarine and pulse until fine breadcrumbs appear.  Add the sugar and pulse briefly to combine.

Beat the eggs and vanilla together.  Add to the food processor and process to mix in.  Add the mashed bananas, apricots and milk and process again until mixed together.  Add more milk if the mixture seems a bit stiff.

Transfer to the prepared tin and bake for 50 - 60 minutes until done.  Cool in the tin.

To make the frosting, beat the butter, icing sugar and lemon zest together.  Beat in the cream cheese.

Spread over the top of the cake and decorate with the banana chips and choppe apricots.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.