A few years ago, my Mom and I decided to type out all the recipes that we’d been collecting on scraps of paper and file them in proper order. The only problem was that some crucial ingredients were left out in the transition to digital. We’re talking a Malva pudding that, in its new form, consisted only of dry ingredients and of course, a banana bread that had no bananas in it.

Try as we might, we could not replicate the recipe that my family had been using for as long as I could remember. So I can only think that there was another ingredient, besides bananas, that never quite made it across.

But, 15 years later (yes Mom, that’s how long its been) we have found a replacement! This recipe produces a banana loaf that is the perfect sweetness and is…I can’t say it. You know that word, the M word, that everyone hates? The one that makes you cringe? That one. Best served with a cup of tea and tons of butter, this banana bread is the business!

It is customisable, of course. You could add a tablespoon or two of cocoa, or some chopped nuts. But this is perfect as it is, so why mess with it?

INGREDIENTS:

175g cake flour

2 Tsp baking powder

1/2 Tsp bicarb

Pinch of salt

125 butter, melted

1 Tsp cinnamon

150g sugar

2 eggs

4 bananas (really ripe is best but even firm ones work well)

1 Tbsp vanilla essence

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C.

Combine flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl.

In a larger bowl, mix the melted butter with the sugar. Add in the eggs, one by one, followed by the bananas and vanilla essence.

Add flour mix to the banana mix gradually.

Pour mixture into a greased loaf tin and bake for 1 hour. This may need a bit of extra time though depending on your oven, so give it an extra 15 minutes if not quite cooked.

Let it cool slightly before slicing to avoid it falling apart- if you can hold out that long!