OK folks here goes...
I've agreed to make a banana cake for one of the girls at works birthday....

I think I've frightened them by telling them of my 'expertise' at liver cake...erm and I'm ashamed to say that liver cake is all I've baked in years..
or perhaps that's a good thing??

Help anyone have any recipe's for a lovely banana cake??
That isn't too hard to make and will taste scrummy - not asking for much am I?? LOL..

Has to feed at least 9 people..

Ideal for using up bananas that you've kept for a bit too long.

4oz butter or margarine
6oz sugar
8oz self raising flour
2 eggs
2 large or 3 medium, very ripe bananas

Heat the oven to gas mark 4; 180C
Grease a 2lb loaf tin.
Mash the bananas with a sturdy fork.
Cream the butter and sugar together and mix in the eggs
Mix together the two yellow sludges you now have.
Mix in the flour.
Scrape into the loaf tin and bake for 40 minutes then lower teh temperature to gas mark 2; 150C and cook for a further 30 minutes.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/banana-cake-pecan-crumb

This is James Martin's recipe - it's very good :-)

BANANA CAKE

Ingredients:

4 Large ripe bananas
250 g Self-raising flour
200 g Caster sugar
125 g Butter, softened
3 Eggs, medium
3 tbsp Golden syrup

METHOD:

1.Pre-heat the oven to 170C/340F/Gas Mark 4.

2.Peel and put the bananas into a food processor and blend for 10 seconds to break them up.

3.Add all the other ingredients and blend again for 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend again for a few seconds to mix everything in.

4.Spoon the mixture into a greased loaf tin and spread evenly.

5.Bake in the oven for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours until well risen and firm to the touch. At this point you might insert a small knife to test the cake, and if it is pulled out clean and the tip is not wet, then it¹s ready.

6.Remove and leave to rest for 10 minutes before turning out of the tin and placing on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm with a toffee sauce.

Enjoy!

I love banana cake ...... do you do take aways?

I made a banana cake for my work a couple of weeks ago. Iced it with Duncan Hines Vanilla icing and the best part WHITE CHOCOLATE sauce....made simply in a glass bowl over a boiling pot of water. 2 bars of green and black white chocolate....about 150 -200 ml of HEAVY cream....added once the chocolate melts and whisked until very smooth.....then I used a cheese grater to grate 1/4 of a bar of galaxy and white chocolate as a topping...it was soooo good...Everyone had several pieces...so simple yet impressive.

edited to add: put the grated chocolates on the cake BEFORE the sauce and if possible make sure it is warm. It can be made ahead of time and then warmed in the microwave. If it isn't warm it is the consistency of of softened butter.

Nigella's banana bread is a bit of a staple in this house, K - dead easy, never failed me yet, and always goes down a treat.

M.

I dont have any ripe banana's but I want to make it tonight - just have the craving after reading this thread :-D  - will normal banana's do?

They should be fine if they are soft enough to mash up. If they are too green you might have a lumpy cake - and the greener ones don't tend to have as much flavour for cooking.

Yummy, this will be going on my to do list!

1 cup All-Bran  (I use supermarkets own brand)
1 cup Dark Brown sugar
1 Cup Milk
(Always use same size cup) I use a teacup-not a mug-fits in loaf just right
Soak overnight
Add 1 cup S/R Flour
2 ripe Bananas mushed
Place all ingredients in a well greased 1lb loaf tin in middle of oven (place piece greaseproof or foil loosley on top-stops top burning)
150c for one hour-place knife in middle should come out abit googy

You can add fruit-cherries-grated orange peel-whatever you fancy.

A good all round cake to have in the tin-you can put butter on if you do the fruit one-yum yum.

Thank God for 24 hour Tesco's,
Had a disaster, cooked 2 x 2llb loaf tins of Banana cake just incase one didn't turn out so good....

Left in for 1 1/2 then after 10 mins turned out and left on racks to cook over night.
For some reason or another woke up about 4am and decided to slice cakes up to see...
DISASTER not cooked properly :'(
So mad dash to Tesco's as hadn't got enough ingredients to do another cake....

2 x 2lbs loaf tins again this time been cooking for almost 2 hours at 170 degrees and not cooked yet!! ARRGGHH
Gotta leave for work no later than 8.45am....

Thankfully bought shop cakes as back up but still gutted as I don't think my homebaked ones will be ready intime...
I think I now know why I don't bake ARRGGHHHH

Oh no! What a shame!
Surely they'll be cooked by the time you leave for work. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. If they start to brown before you take them out of the oven you can put foil on them to stop them browning further.

I don't think we've made it  :(

Oh well 4 Banana cakes not cooked fully - the birds will like them :)

Thanks for all the help - shop bought cakes it is then....

Well that really is such a shame after all your efforts.
Maybe you could slice them up, cover them in custard, pop them in the oven and have them for pudding.

Is your oven playing up K.? Seems a very long time to be in the oven and not be properly cooked.

M.

Well apparently the 'undercooked' one tastes really nice.
The one cooked for two hours is um quite crumbly so perhaps the under cooked one isn't
undercooked??

The girls at work very charitably said they thought it was the banana's and not 'undercooked'.
They said Banana's don't go spongy/bread like. and that with that amount of narna's no wonder :)

But then as the only cake I bake is liver cake....I wouldn't have a scooby doo!!

Don't know which recipe you used, but it is quite a moist cake. Would have thought it would be a banana brick after 2 hours though LOL.

M.

But then as the only cake I bake is liver cake

Hmm  wonder who thats for lol ? ;)

I've never made this before, but thought it sounded nice and your recipe seemed v. easy.  Tried it on Sunday, wow, it was lovely!!  We had some warm with toffee sauce.  MMMMMM.  Thank-you.

Yup you guessed it LOL...

You know after doing a total of 16 narna's and 4 cakes I can't face my own slice of narna bread/cake.. :o
LOL

I'm shattered after whizzing into Tescos at 4.45am and being back at home for 5,30am...2nd set of cakes baking at 6.20am.

Althou most people who've tasted from either batch said very nice....
Don't think I'm cut out to be a baker LOL