Chocolate, Banana & Maple Syrup Cake

Yet again I found myself with a bunch of over-ripe bananas that really needed using sooner rather than later. Sadly there was no flour or any other useful ingredients in the house, so my friend and I headed towards the local shop to hunt for provisions. Unfortunately their stock was rather limited, so some improvisation was needed. We secured a handful of ingredients, and set off for home. Once there I set to work, and soon we had cake to enjoy.

100g butter

40g corn-flour

100g ground almonds

60g cocoa powder

50g sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 eggs

4 ripe bananas (about 250g)

50ml maple syrup

Grease and line with baking paper a 22cm round baking tin.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Leave it to cool down while you sift the corn-flour, almonds, cocoa powder, sugar and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl. Stir carefully with a spatula. Add the butter and stir slowly until the mixture is even. Add the eggs and stir again.

Mash the bananas with a fork, and add to the mixture. Finally add the maple syrup.

Pour the mixture into the tin, and place in the middle of the oven on 180^oC. Bake for about 30minutes until a skewer comes out clean when you perform the skewer test.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin, then serve. It is delicious with some custard or vanilla ice cream.