I don’t know if I’ve told you before but I love Mary Berry. I’m one of those people who easily gets down or stressed and I find Mary comforting and calming in a ‘Nan’ kind of way. I think if I sought her out and told her I was feeling sad then she would give me a quick hug, tell me everything is going to be ok and bake me a delicious cake which we would eat on the patio with a pot of Earl Grey and maybe some cucumber sandwiches.

I can’t wait for her new show tonight – for me, her recipes exude a classic simplicity that can’t be beaten. There’s nothing worse than opening a recipe book after being tempted by maybe the worlds greatest foodporn photo only to find that you don’t even recognise half the ingredients let alone have them to hand in your kitchen cupboard!

For example, today I made Mary’s banana loaf cake. Actually I made two, because why not? The recipe is so easy, the ingredients so basic (and I don’t mean that in a bad way, definitely a good way) and the results are always perfect.

Most of my own recipes that I sell at markets are derived from a few recipes that I’ve learnt from and tweaked and built upon along the way until they are exactly how I want them to be. This one never gets tweaked.

(That’s a total lie. I add a very generous sprinkling of Demerara sugar to the top before baking – because who doesn’t want a sweet and crunchy crust on their banana loaf cake?!)

Anyway, the recipe is below, it’s from Mary’s Foolproof Cakes book, and is all over the internet if you want to read other peoples thoughts on it. I first read about it on http://www.queenofeverything.co.uk/

Happy baking!

Mary Berry’s Fabulous Banana Loaf Cake

Ingredients

175g caster sugar
100g soft butter
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk (I use skimmed because that’s just what I have)
2 ripe bananas, mashed up (don’t be scared. As long as they haven’t literally turned black on the inside or grown legs and started running away then use them!)
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
Some Demerara sugar
Preheat oven to 160degrees (mines a fan)

Dump everything in a nice big bowl, get ur mixer on and mix for a couple of minutes til it’s all beautifully combined.

Dollop the mix into a 2lb lined loaf tin (I use those liners you can buy instead of faffing with greasing etc. Life’s too short…)

Sprinkle with loads of Demerara sugar!

Bake for approx 1 hr in the middle of the oven. A skewer should come out clean when it’s cooked.

Then, scoff!! (And share if you’re feeling generous.)