Let Them Eat Cake

I have my older brother (much, much older - yes, he reads this) visiting this weekend so there won't be much sewing done. But there will be cake eaten so I thought I would share the recipe.

The banana cake that I make is based on a recipe out of the Fanny Farmer Cook Book (I know, snigger away). Like a lot of recipes I tweaked this one. The cook book recipe is good, but I like mine better. If I didn't I would have returned to their recipe obviously.

Ingredients -

4 ozs butter (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup mashed banana (about three medium sized bananas and I don't mash mine, I just chuck them into the mixer and let it do the job for me)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup crème fraiche (or sour cream)
1/2 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut (optional, but it is nice with the bananas)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Butter and flour a 9" square tin, or just line it like I do.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in the bananas and beat the hell out of it if you haven't pre-mashed them like me. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix. Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl then dump into the butter mixture in one go. Mix well, giving the bowl a scrape to make sure it is all incorporated. Add in the crème fraiche and the coconut, and mix until it is all blended.

Place the batter in the prepared baking tin. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until a tooth pick poked in the middle comes out clean.

Have your first piece while it is still warm, like I did. Promise you won't regret it. Hope you like it as much as we do.

Susan