Banana And Almond Cake

Ingredients

• 4 ripe bananas, about 500 g peeled weight, divided
• 3 eggs
• 150 g plain flour
• 100 g ground almonds
• 100 g granulated sugar
• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 2 tbsp maple syrup, for brushing
• Vanilla ice cream

Method

1. Heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3. Grease a deep 23cm springform tin with a little olive oil and line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Drop 350g of the peeled bananas into a food processor. Crack in the eggs, then add the ground almonds, flour, sugar, baking powder, olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
3. Blitz for 30–40 seconds until smooth and pale, scraping down the sides once. The batter should pour in thick ribbons.
4. Tip into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula.
5. Slice the remaining banana lengthways or into rounds and arrange across the surface; press in lightly so they sit proud of the batter.
6. Bake for 45 minutes, until deeply golden, springy in the centre, and a skewer comes out clean. If it's colouring too fast at 35 minutes, tent loosely with foil.
7. Pull from the oven and immediately brush the top generously with maple syrup so it soaks into the warm crust. Leave to settle for 10 minutes.
8. Run a palette knife around the edge, release the springform, and slide onto a wire rack. Serve warm with cream or ice cream, or cool fully for a denser, fudgier crumb.