Chocolate, banana and cardomom cake

2 large, ripe bananas, weighing about 350g (12oz) unpeeled, or 225g (8oz) peeled
75g (3oz) dark chocolate 16 cardamom pods 225g (8oz) plain flour
1 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
75g (3oz) light brown soft sugar
75g (3oz) light muscovado sugar 110g(4oz) butter, melted 2 large eggs, beaten salt
(You will also need a 900g (2lb) loaf tin, greased and lined with baking parchment )

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180°C,350°F, gas mark 4. Mash the bananas to a pulp in a small bowl and set aside.
Chop the chocolate into chunks - you want the pieces to be quite a bit bigger than a bought chocolate drop.
Place the cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar and smash to extract the seeds. Discard the papery husks and grind the seeds to a powder.
Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.
Add the ground cardamom, sugars, melted butter and beaten eggs.
Beat the mixture until smooth, then fold in the mashed banana and chocolate chunks.
Place the mixture in the prepared loaf tin, then bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour. Test with a skewer - when it comes out clean, the cake is cooked. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out.