Chaps Can Bake Too...

Spiced Banana Cake.

Left recently with a glut of over ripe bananas Management suggested I ought to try banana cake.
Not having made it myself before I settled on a Hairy Bikers recipe.
I've spiced it up a bit with extra cinnamon and cloves, and dispensed with the vegetable oil in favour of a little more butter.

Don't let the loaf tins fool you. It's actually a cake.

(The original had pecans in, but as my dearly beloved is lethally allergic to nuts I skipped them. If you're minded too you can add chocolate chips rather than raisins.)

Ingredients:

1. 5 or 6 very ripe bananas
2. 150g/5oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
3. 335g/11½oz caster sugar
4. 4 eggs
5. 450g/1lb plain flour
6. 2 tsp baking powder
7. 1.5 tbsp ground cinnamon
8. 2 tsp ground cloves
9. ½ tsp salt
10. 225g/8oz rasins

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease and line two medium (or three small) loaf tins.
2. Mash the bananas in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the mashed banana mixture until well combined.
4. Mix the flour, baking powder, ground spices and salt together in another bowl and lightly fold into the banana mixture. Add the raisins and fold together lightly.
5. Spoon the cake mixture into the loaf tins and bake in the oven for 1½ hours, or until risen and golden-brown. Check after one hour and reduce the oven temperature slightly if the loaves are browning too quickly on the top, or cover the loaves loosely with aluminium foil.
6. Leave the banana bread to cool in the tins, then turn out and serve in thick slices.

Goes perfectly with your tea on a Sunday morning.