Banana Bread

Baking is one of my favourite pastime but I've haven't made banana bread before. It's funny that they call it banana bread, it's not like you want to lather it in butter and make a ham sandwich with it. It's more like banana cake. I had a few bananas which were going a bit mank so I thought I'd put them to good use. 

Here's what ingredients you neeed

285g plain flour

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

110g butter plus extra for greasing

225g caster sugar

2 free-range eggs

4 ripe bananas, mashed

85ml buttermilk (or normal milk mixed with 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

And here's how you make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

4. Add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well. Fold in the flour mixture.

5. Grease a 20cm x 12.5cm/8in x 5in loaf tin and pour the cake mixture into the tin.

6. Transfer to the oven and bake for about an hour, or until well-risen and golden-brown.

7. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.