Plate expectation: Passion fruit and banana drizzle cake

This is the perfect cake for ripe bananas and, apart from the passion fruit, makes great use of store cupboard ingredients.

The passion fruit has to be one of the most intensely and enticingly scented of all fruits. Although not exactly a local food, good quality imports are conveniently in abundance when northern hemisphere summer fruits are out of season.

They are found in UK shops all year round, but if you are looking for ripeness and quantity, then June through to September is best. Passion fruit are rich in vitamins A and C and are a good source of potassium and iron, while the seeds are high in fibre.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C fan/180°C/gas mark 4. Line and grease a 1kg loaf tin.
2. Beat the margarine, sugar, flours, baking powder, eggs and banana together.
3. Stir in the nuts and transfer to the prepared baking tin.
4. Bake for 1¼ hours, or until a skewer comes out clean.
5. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin then lift out and cool on a wire rack.
6. Mix the icing sugar with most of the passion fruit juice to make an icing that will drizzle easily.
7. Pour over the cake before serving.

Ingredients

• 75g soft margarine
• 100g light brown muscovado sugar
• 130g plain flour
• 75g wholemeal flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 4 very ripe bananas – mashed up
• 75g walnuts – toasted and roughly chopped

Icing:

• 150g icing sugar
• 4 passion fruit – halved, and seeds and pulp removed

Garnish: Sprigs of fresh mint

Makes: 1 loaf. Preparation time: 20 Mins. Cooking time: 1 1/4 hours