Banana cake

Use very ripe bananas with plenty of brown spots: they mash easily and bring more sweetness and banana flavour. Peel and mash them with a fork; measure the amount your recipe calls for rather than adding extra, which can make the cake heavy.

Insert a skewer into the centre; it should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. If the top is browning before the middle is done, cover it loosely with foil and continue baking.

Once completely cool, keep banana cake in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days. For longer storage, wrap individual slices well and freeze them; thaw at room temperature or warm briefly before serving.

Serve it plain with tea or coffee, or add a spoonful of yoghurt, whipped cream or nut butter. Walnuts, pecans, cinnamon and dark chocolate are popular additions to the batter.

Yes. Thaw them completely, drain off excess liquid, then mash the fruit and use the measured amount required by your recipe. Frozen bananas become very soft, so they are easy to mash but can add more moisture than fresh ones.

Usually, yes: a neutral oil can replace melted butter, though the cake will have a softer texture and less buttery flavour. Use the quantity specified by a recipe that gives an oil substitution, as butter and oil are not interchangeable spoon for spoon in every recipe.

The names overlap, but banana bread is usually baked in a loaf tin and sliced, while banana cake is often softer and baked in a square or round tin, sometimes with icing. Per 100 g, banana bread has 298 kcal compared with 243 kcal in banana cake.