Step 1

Begin by preheating oven to 160°C for standard heating oven, 150°C for fan-forced oven. I can’t stress enough how important it is to have an efficient oven when it comes to baking. So if you intend to bake regularly, please invest in an oven thermometer so that you know the exact temperature your oven heats up to.

Step 2

Next, grease and line a 10" X 10" X 3" square baking pan or 11" round pan. Grease first, line with baking paper and then grease again.

Step 3

Add 5 large eggs to a large deep mixing bowl.

Step 4

Add 1 cup of sugar. Feel free to cut this amount by a tablespoon or two if your bananas are very very ripe. Ripe bananas have alot of sugar in them.

Step 5

Add 1 teaspoon of banana flavoured essence.

Step 6

Peel about 5 large bananas to get 400g of bananas. Use very ripe bananas. The stronger they smell, the better. You can cut the bananas into large pieces if they are too long for the bowl.

Step 7

Add the bananas to the egg and sugar mixture. Beat at low speed for one minute and then at maximum speed for 14 minutes.

Step 8

Let the machine whisk the mixture until it resembles whipped cream. If the mixture is still runny or wet, whisk some more. It should be white, stiff and non-dripping.

Step 9

While the egg and banana mixture is being whisked, prepare the dry ingredients.

Step 10

Sieve 2 & 1/2 cups of plain flour into a bowl. Add 1 & 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. Add 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.

Step 11

Prepare 200g of vegetable oil – about 2/3 cup and 1/4 cup.

Step 12

Transfer the whisked egg-banana mixture to a large bowl/pot if necessary.

Step 13

Add the flour mixture in 3 parts to the egg-banana mixture. Fold the flour mixture into the egg-banana mixture with your hands. Use large folding movements. Do this step in 3 parts. Don’t add all the flour at one time.

Step 14

When the flour mixture has been folded into the egg-banana mixture, add the vegetable oil. And fold that in as well. If you have chopped walnuts, add them here too. I liked my cake with no nuts.

Step 15

Pour the batter into the greased and lined baking pan.

Step 16

Bake at a pre-heated oven of 160°C for standard heating oven, 150°C for fan-forced oven for 55 minutes or until the cake turns golden brown. A cake pick or satay stick should come out clean when placed into the centre of the cake. A cake pick or satay stick should come out clean when placed into the centre of the cake.

Step 17

Place a cake base or plate over the baking pan and invert the cake over. Peel the baking paper away from the cake.

Step 18

Use a cooling rack and invert the cake again. Let the cake cool on the cooling rack. If you are in a dry or cold environment, place a clean towel over the cake as it cools so that it would not dry out too quickly.

Step 19

Best served warm.