Simply wonderful banana & raisin cake

Takes 1 hour 30 minutes, makes 2 cakes. This makes a wonderful dessert. Serve at room temperature or warm with a little whipped cream. You can easily halve the recipe if you want just one, but it freezes well and is the  perfect gift for a friend.

Topping

• 80g butter

• ¾ cup sugar

• ½ cup brown sugar

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 2 tbsp boiling water

Cake

• 5 firm bananas

• 1 cup pecan nuts

• 1 cup raisins

• 250g butter

• 1¼ cups brown sugar

• 4 large eggs

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 2¾ cups self-raising flour

• 1½ tsp baking powder

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

1. Grease two 21cm cake tins and line bottom with baking paper. Set aside.

2. Make the topping first. In a heavy frying pan melt the butter then sprinkle in both sugars.

3. Add the juice of the lemon and boiling water, bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes until mixture becomes golden brown and caramelised.

4. Slice bananas into thick, diagonal pieces and add to the caramel with the nuts and raisins. Cook over a high heat for 3 minutes to coat the ingredients with the caramel, then spoon this mixture into the cake tins. Smooth gently to cover the entire base of the cake tin and set aside.

5. Heat oven to 180°C. Cream the butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add buttermilk and combine well by hand.

6. In another bowl sift all the dry ingredients and add to cake batter very gently by hand.

7. Pour half of the mix into each cake tin. Smooth the top and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Check after 50 minutes – the surface should bounce back and a skewer should come out cleanly from the cake.

8. Let the cake sit for 5 minutes after baking. Using a spatula, gently separate the cake from the sides. Place a large plate over each cake and turn cake over so the topping is now on top.

9. Remove the cake tin and peel off paper.