It sounds quite outrageous naming a cake ‘best’ anything, but I truly think it is, and the empty cake tin in my house is a testament to that.

So here is. The best banana cake recipe. It started off with a recipe a while ago from BBC Good Food but I have tweaked it over time both on ingredients and technique, which I do think makes a difference and over all the lockdowns, this has made a perfectly light, fluffy, sweet (yet a tiny bit salty) banana cake.

If you have a go at this recipe and try it, why not give one of my other creations a try, such as my Yorkshire Tea Juicy Fruit Cake or my Carrot & Orange Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Both of which are equally scrummy.

3 x ripe medium bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

140g salted butter (plus a bit extra for greasing the tin)

140g caster sugar

2 large eggs

140g self-raising flour

100g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven 180c/160c /Gas Mark 4
Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment
Mash the 3 bananas and if you want them really smooth, use a whisk to blend them down even further.
In a clean bowl, cream the butter until pale and fluffy (this usually takes me about 5 minutes)
Mix in the sugar and mix for another 3 minutes.
Gradually add the eggs 1 by 1, along with the vanilla
Add a heaped tablespoon of the flour and whisk for a couple of seconds.
Remove the whisk and using a spatula, fold in the flour, ground almonds and baking powder.
Then add the banana and fold until well mixed
Spoon into the tin and bake in the oven for 50 minutes
Take out and check its cooked by putting in a knife and checking it comes back clean. If not, cover with a little foil so the top doesn’t burn and check it again every 7 minutes.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then move onto a wire rack

It should then be ready to eat! Store in an airtight container. Best eaten within a couple of days.