Banana cake

Arriving back from DC, I found a pile of bananas on the point of turning totally inedible. Drastic action was needed, and I scoured my recipe books for some way of using them up. One option was banana muffins, but the problem with muffins is that they go stale so quickly. Delia Smith offered me a loaf with bananas, but I lacked all the ingredients. I modified it, and it turned up trumps. This is a lovely treat. It keeps for a long time and is very little bother.

4 ripe bananas
150g pecans
pinch of salt
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
225g plain flour
zests of 1 orange and 1 lemon
110g butter
120g prunes and dates, chopped
175g light brown sugar
2 large eggs

As always, everything needs to be at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 180C, then roast the pecans for 7-8 minutes until nice and toasted, then chop them up quite small. I actually chopped them before roasting, and nothing bad happened (although I imagine they would be more prone to burning like this).

Mash three of the bananas, and chop the other one very finely - you could probably just mash them all. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl and add everything else apart from the fruits and nuts. Whisk just until the flour all disappears, no longer. Then fold in the fruits and nuts. You might need more milk (I didn't) if the mixture doesn't fall off a spoon reasonably easily.

Butter a large loaf tin, and pile in the mixture. Sprinkle with sugar if you want. Then cook for a good hour, probably a bit more, enjoying the wonderful smells that will emanate from the oven. The cake will be bouncy on top.

This cake keeps for a good long time, and is wonderful with virtually anything, from cheese to ice cream.