Chocolate and Banana Cake

This is without a doubt a childhood favourite. Many a year has it been my birthday cake, and it's particularly good for taking on picnics, or generally putting in a bag and taking anywhere due to the lack of icing/squidgy bits. Twice now Mum's made one and sent it down to London for me - that's how good it is!

Ingredients:

- 2 large, ripe bananas

- 1½ tsp vanilla extract

- 6oz/175g margarine

- 8oz/225g granulated sugar

- 10oz/275g self raising flour

- 1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

- 3 large eggs

- 4oz/125g plain chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 170°C, and grease your cake tin.

2. In a small bowl, peel and mash the bananas until smooth and mix in the vanilla extract.

3. Heat the margarine and sugar in a pan over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour and bicarbonate of soda. Beat in the eggs and mashed banana.

5. Chop up the chocolate, then quickly (so it doesn't melt too much) stir it in to the mixture before spooning the lot into your cake tin.

6. Bake for 1 hour, until a knife stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Voila. This cake is great warm or cold: if you eat it when it's not long out of the oven the chocolate will be gloriously melty, and if you wait 'til it's cooled you'll be greeted with fantastic chocolate chunks (often at the bottom, as they tend to sink). Either way it's awesome.