This tea-time favourite is moist, sweet, nutty and comforting – it's bound to be a hit with friends and family
Ingredients
For the loaf cake base
- 175g softened butter, plus extra for greasing
- 175g golden caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 140g self-raising flour
- 85g ground almonds
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 100ml milk
- 2 small, very ripe bananas
- 50g pecan, chopped, plus extra
For the icing
- 85g softened butter
- 100g icing sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Method
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Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease and line a 2lb/900g loaf tin with a long strip of baking parchment. To make the loaf cake batter, beat the butter and sugar with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. Add the bananas in a few chunks and beat in with the eggs, flour, almonds, baking powder and milk until smooth – the whisk will mash the bananas. Stir in the pecans, then scrape into the tin. Bake for 45-50 mins until golden, risen and a skewer poked in comes out clean. Cool in the tin, then lift out.
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Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla. Spread on top of the cooled cake and scatter with more chopped pecans