7 oz (200g) plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
4 ripe bananas
2 tbsp natural yogurt
5 oz (150g) butter
6 oz (175g) golden caster sugar
3 free-range eggs
(optional) a couple of handfuls of walnuts, coarsely chopped
What to do:
Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper - rub the tin with a little butter first to make the paper stick better. Preheat the oven to 325°F/170°C.
Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. I know this seems like a lot of salt, but it really brings out the flavour of the banana. Peel the bananas, put them in a basin and mash them to a pulp with a fork, then stir in the yogurt.
In a large basin or electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar till light and quite fluffy. Add two of the eggs, one at a time, beating them into the mixture, then add a couple of tablespoons of the flour - this is simply to stop the mixture curdling - then the remaining egg. The mixture should be thick and creamy. Scrape in the mashed banana and yogurt and then the chopped walnuts, then fold them into the creamed butter and sugar mixture.
Using a large, metal spoon - which is less likely to knock the air out than a wooden one - fold the flour, baking powder and salt into the butter and sugar, taking deep, firm, slow stirs. Scoop into the lined cake tin and bake for 1 hr 15 minutes.
The case will have risen and cracked slightly across the top.
The cake is ready when a thin metal skewer is pushed into the deepest part and comes out dean. Remove the cake from the oven and leave, still in its tin, for 20 minutes or so to calm down.Slide a palette knife around the edge of the cake and remove it from the tin, then place it on a plate to cool a bit, but do serve it warm - its flavour will be deeper
*** Banana cake alert!!!!
make sure you don't use really huge bananas! you want around 0.5l of banana:yogurt mixture (not 2 l as I had last time I made it - makes for very squidgy cake)
