“The title of this recipe is as much of a mouthful as the cake itself. It’s like banana bread but covered with peanut butter icing and homemade honeycomb. I could explain further but I think that says it all. It’s not an awful mouthful to have, I suppose.”
Serves 8–10
Prep 30 mins, plus cooling
Cook 50 mins
For the honeycomb (makes 350g)
butter, for greasing
200g caster sugar
5 tbsp golden syrup (about 100g)
75g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the cake
100g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
175g soft brown sugar
2 medium eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 200g mashed banana)
225g self-raising flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
For the peanut butter icing
60g unsalted butter
60g smooth peanut butter
120g icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp whole milk
100g peanut honeycomb (see above), crushed
1. Start with the honeycomb, which you’ll need to make a few hours in advance. Lightly grease a large baking tray – preferably one with an edge, as once the magic happens, this stuff just travels. Line with baking paper.
2. Put the sugar and golden syrup into a medium-sized pan (on a medium heat) and allow to cook gently. Have a cup of water handy with a pastry brush in it. Occasionally brush down the inner edge of the pan just above the sugar, to wash away any sugar crystals and help stop the mixture from crystallizing. Once the sugar has melted, turn the heat up just a little and leave the mixture to bubble away until the whole thing turns a rich amber colour (145–150°C on a sugar thermometer).
3. As soon as it reaches this stage, add the peanuts and stir through. Now add the bicarbonate of soda and stir it in really well. The mixture will bubble and rise up. Mix well and pour into the prepared tray – it will spread of its own accord. Set aside and let it cool completely. This can take a few hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Grease the base and sides of a 20cm round loose-bottomed cake tin. Line it with baking paper.
5. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then mix in the mashed banana. Add to the butter and sugar and mix to combine well.
6. Add the flour and baking powder and fold in until you have a smooth cake batter. (As smooth as it can be with lumps of banana in it!) Pour the mixture into the tin and level the surface. Bake for 45–50 minutes.
7. Take the cake out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
8. For the icing, mix the butter and peanut butter until combined into a smooth paste. Add the icing sugar and milk, then whisk until light and fluffy.
9. Once the cake is completely cooled, smother it with the peanut butter icing. Take 100g of the honeycomb, crush it up roughly, and use it to decorate the top. In theory, that should leave you some spare honeycomb to eat before you even get to the cake.
Extracted from Nadiya’s Family Favourites by Nadiya Hussain
(Michael Joseph, Hardcover £20)
Photography by Chris Terry
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