Soft, tender banana cake is an absolute classic and even better topped with an indulgent cream cheese icing. It’s also a great way to use up very ripe bananas that you think are a bit too soft to eat.

Ingredients: (Serves 8)

For the cake:

• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 eggs
• 175 ml/6 fl oz vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 300 g/10½ oz light brown sugar
• 150 g/5½ oz self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

For the icing:

• 200 g/7 oz cream cheese
• 85 g/3 oz icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Method:

Preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Grease a 20-cm/8-inch round cake tin, then line the bottom with greseproof paper.

Roughly mash the bananas in a large bowl, then beat in the eggs. Stir in the oil and milk. Break up any lumps in the brown sugar, then stir it into the banana mixture until well combined. Sift the flour and spices over the mixture, then fold in.

Tip the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 1 hour until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth and creamy, then spread over the cooled cake.