This is one of the easiest and most rewarding cakes you can bake. It has the added advantage of being good household economy. We've all bought a bunch of bananas and then a week later been left with overripe fruit that is not entirely appetising to eat, unless you are a very small child. It is also satisfyingly mucky in it's construction; if you enjoyed making mud pies or crashing about in puddles then this pushes all the same buttons. Mashing banana with a fork is simple enough, but it seems to fulfil some primeval urge. Or it's just me. The cake itself is delicious, having all the advantages of a fruit cake without being a fruit cake (I speak as someone who doesn't actually like eating fruit cakes.) and makes your house smell like some centre of domesticity and capability, and why let anyone think otherwise. I will admit that this recipe comes almost verbatim from Nigella Lawson's 'How to be a Domestic Goddess'.
Ingredients
100g sultanas
75ml recently boiled water
175g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp bicarbonate of powder
0.5 tsp salt
125g butter, melted
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs
300g very ripe banana, mashed
23x13x7cm loaf tin, lined.
Preheat oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3
Put the sultanas in a bowl with the hot water and leave to stand to plump them up. This can be done an hour or two in advance for really nicely plumped up fruit. However if, like me, you're not that organised then you can leave them to soak until you need them.
Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a bowl and mix together. In another, larger bowl mix the melted butter and sugar together until well blended, add the eggs one at a time, again until well blended and then add the mashed banana and mix. Drain the sultanas then add them to this liquid mix. Then add the flour mix into this. You can either do it all at once or in two batches, it depends on your level of patience.
Pour this mix into the prepared loaf tin, scraping the bowl out thoroughly, then place in the oven for 1-1.25 hours. Use a skewar or cake tester to check whether it is ready (if it comes out clean it's ready, if cake mix adheres to it, give it longer).
Once it is cooked, leave to cool in it's tin. Then eat with glee.
Variation
In the original recipe, there was also 60g of chopped walnuts added at the same time as the sultanas, but I have an absolute hatred of walnuts. With the soaking of the sultanas Nigella uses bourbon or dark rum which is fine, but not something I have in the cupboards but feel free if you do.
Ingredients
100g sultanas
75ml recently boiled water
175g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp bicarbonate of powder
0.5 tsp salt
125g butter, melted
150g caster sugar
2 large eggs
300g very ripe banana, mashed
23x13x7cm loaf tin, lined.
Preheat oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3
Put the sultanas in a bowl with the hot water and leave to stand to plump them up. This can be done an hour or two in advance for really nicely plumped up fruit. However if, like me, you're not that organised then you can leave them to soak until you need them.
Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt into a bowl and mix together. In another, larger bowl mix the melted butter and sugar together until well blended, add the eggs one at a time, again until well blended and then add the mashed banana and mix. Drain the sultanas then add them to this liquid mix. Then add the flour mix into this. You can either do it all at once or in two batches, it depends on your level of patience.
Pour this mix into the prepared loaf tin, scraping the bowl out thoroughly, then place in the oven for 1-1.25 hours. Use a skewar or cake tester to check whether it is ready (if it comes out clean it's ready, if cake mix adheres to it, give it longer).
Once it is cooked, leave to cool in it's tin. Then eat with glee.
Variation
In the original recipe, there was also 60g of chopped walnuts added at the same time as the sultanas, but I have an absolute hatred of walnuts. With the soaking of the sultanas Nigella uses bourbon or dark rum which is fine, but not something I have in the cupboards but feel free if you do.
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