Spiced sticky banana and ginger cake

Preheat the oven to 150°C/130°C fan/gas 2. Grease a 900g loaf tin well with butter and line with a sheet of baking paper.

Put 50g butter, 70g caster sugar 1 tsp of the black treacle and the ginger syrup in a small saucepan and heat gently until melted. Pour this mixture into the base of the tin. Slice the banana lengthways and lay the pieces cut-side down in the base of the tin, taking care as the syrup mixture will be hot. Put the rest of the butter and black treacle back in the pan (no need to clean it first) and heat gently until the butter has melted into the treacle.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, remaining 100g sugar, spices, 1 tsp of the chopped stem ginger and the bicarbonate of soda, then slowly pour in the beaten eggs and milk, followed by the remaining butter and treacle mixture, stirring all the time. Combine everything until really smooth then pour into the prepared tin, making sure this covers the syrup in the base. Bake in the oven for about 55 mins–1 hr or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool for at least 5–10 mins. Once cool enough to handle – carefully turn out of the tin and flip over, gently peeling back the paper to reveal the syrupy banana slices. Decorate with the remaining pieces of stem ginger.

Cook’s tip: The base caramel will be quite hot when it comes out of the oven so make sure you wait until it’s cooled before turning out.

Leftovers tip: Chop any used stem ginger into small pieces and add to porridge, or give cocktails a syrupy, spicy kick.