Fruity and moist, with the delicious, classic combination of banana and chocolate, what’s not to love? In our house, there are often a few over-ripe, brown bananas left in the fruit bowl and this is a great way to use them up. Not only that, but this cake is easy to slice up and eat out, slices wrapped in foil are great for picnics, in a lunchbox, or a breakfast treat on the go.
The number of slices you’ll achieve will vary depending on the tin dimensions, my tin was fairly shallow and long, so I managed 12 medium slices quite comfortably. If you used a deeper but shorter length tin, the same number of slices could be achieved by cutting the loaf into 6 slices first, then cutting each slice into 2 (otherwise the slices would be so thin they’d crumble into pieces).
As with all our recipes, tweak according to personal preference e.g. if not sweet enough, add extra sugar, if too sweet, add a little less. Feel free to leave your own hints, tips and recommendations in the comments section.
Makes approximately 12 slices
Ingredients
2 large ripe bananas
225g self raising flour
175g butter (salted)
175g demerara sugar
50g Robins and Sons chocolate chips
3 medium eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Equipment
Mixing bowl
Small side bowl
26cm x 10cm / 2lb loaf tin (greased)
Wooden spoon for mixing
Preheat oven to 1600C / 3200F
Method:
1. Beat together the butter and sugar.
2. Add the eggs one at time, ensuring each is thoroughly blended, the add the vanilla essence with the last egg.
3. Add the flour and mix thoroughly. At this point the consistency will appear a little thick, but do not be tempted to add milk or water.
4. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.
5. Fold the mashed bananas and ¾ of the chocolate chips, into the mixture (keep a few back to sprinkle over the top).
6. Pour your cake batter into the greased loaf tin, spread / level up the mixture.
7. Bake on the middle shelf of a pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes. Insert a wooden or metal skewer (or thin knife) into the the cake, if it comes out 'clean' the cake is done. If there is a lot of wet cake mixture attached to the skewer, put back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.
8. Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes, to make slicing a little easier.