Banana cake

Another sweet treat – this yummy Banana Cake makes a lovely pud if you serve it with custard, but it’s just as nice with a coffee mid-morning. Make it whenever you have bananas that are too ripe to eat. Cream together 225g butter (take it out of the fridge to come to room temperature for an hour or so before you start) and 225g soft light brown sugar - I’m lazy, so I do this in the food mixer. Beat in 3 large eggs, then stir in 3 ripe bananas (mashed with a fork) plus a little vanilla essence. Fold in 285g self-raising flower, 1 tsp mixed spice, a pinch of salt and half a tsp baking powder. Stir in enough milk to give a fairly loose but not runny mixture. Line a 22cm round baking tin with baking parchment, spoon in and bake at 170C (fan oven) for 50 mins until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Turn out of the tin and serve warm or cold. It will keep in an airtight tin for about 5 days. If you want to then serve it warm, slice it up and give each slice a go in the microwave on High for 20 seconds.

HANDY TIP: If you forget to get butter out of the fridge in advance and it’s too hard to cream with sugar, this Mary Berry tip works well: Cut the butter into big cubes and put them into a bowl of lukewarm water. Leave for 10 minutes then drain the water away. The butter will now be ready to cream