How to make Banana Cake

3 medium bananas, ripe if possible (approx. 400g / 14oz)

300g / 10oz self-raising flour

150g / 5oz soft butter

150g / 5oz Demerara sugar

2 medium eggs (at room temperature)

80g / 3oz walnuts or sultanas

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil

Cake Topping

125g / 4½oz full fat soft cheese

75 g / 2½oz butter

200g / 7 oz icing (confectioners) sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla essence

WHAT SPECIAL KITCHEN EQUIPMENT?
You will need the following for the banana cake:
1 large bowl to mix the ingredients
900g loaf tin (see picture below)
Small amount of greaseproof baking paper.

The butter must be soft. The best way to achieve this is to measure out the butter an hour or so before it is needed and leave it at room temperature. If this is not possible, break up the butter with a fork and beat it for a minute or so. If all else fails, put it in a bowl and float the bowl in warm water.
Turn the oven on, setting it to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.
Next, grease the loaf tin with margarine or butter, and line the tin with greaseproof baking paper. It's not essential to cover 100% of the tin but make sure that it lays as flat as possible on the inside of the tin.

Grease the inside of the loaf tin with margarine or butter, and line the tin with greaseproof baking paper. It's not essential to cover 100% of the tin but make sure that the greaseproof paper lays as flat as possible on the inside of the tin. This will help  to make a good-looking flat sided cake.

 

Peel the bananas and mash them with a fork until they are really mushy. It's easier if the bananas are ripe but not essential.Chop up the walnuts reasonably finely (click picture on beneath to enlarge). Sultanas can be used as an alternative if you have a nut allergy.

 

Place the butter and Demerara sugar into a mixing bowl and blend together with a fork. The idea here is to mix the two ingredients thoroughly and at the same time incorporate as much air into the mixture as possible. Mixing with a fork in a figure of eight shape will help to incorporate air into the cake mix.

 

Stir in the bananas and chopped walnuts or sultanas and mix thoroughly. Add one egg and sift in half of the flour. Mix thoroughly in a figure of eight. Add the remaining flour, egg and lemon juice then mix again in a figure of eight.Now the magic touch! Add the two tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil and mix thoroughly again in a figure of eight with a fork. The oil will keep the cake moist.

  

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin, smooth it level and place in the oven for 50 minutes. Go to the next step to make the topping.After that time take it out and test that it is cooked by piercing the cake with a fork and if it comes out clean it's cooked. If not cook for another 5 minutes and retest (see below).

Some people have commented that this banana cake takes 1 hour 15 minutes to bake so don't be concerned if it's the same for you. Different ovens and slightly different ingredients are probably the cause of this. Just keep checking every five or ten minutes. When you remove the cake out from the oven, take it out of the tin and place it on a wire rack or something similar. This will stop the cake sweating and getting damp - it really does make a difference.

Allow the cake an hour or so to cool down before icing it.

Make the icing by pouring the icing sugar, soft cheese, butter and vanilla into a bowl and mixing it all together with a fork.Spoon the icing onto the cake and spread it evenly with a knife. Pop a couple of cherries or walnuts on the top if you want to decorate it.