Chocolate and Banana Bread

Turn your oven on to 180 degrees celsius for a fan oven or 200 degrees celsius for a conventional oven. Line a 1kg (or 2lb) loaf tin with baking parchment. Place a large glass bowl in a saucepan containing a cup of water. The bowl should be above the water, not touching it. When the water is simmering, place the chocolate, chopped into small pieces, in the bowl to melt. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon. Once the chocolate has melted take off the heat and place to one side to cool.

Peel the skins off of the bananas and mash them. I mash them on a plate using a fork. Place the butter or margarine and sugar into a bowl and cream together. I use a wooden spoon. Once you have creamed the butter or margarine and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time.

After you have beaten the eggs into the mixture, add the bananas and then the melted chocolate- be sure the chocolate is cool. Now sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into the bowl and fold into the mixture. Your mixture should be relatively smooth- the only lumps should be the banana. It might seem a little sloppy- that's ok.

Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. It shouldn't take longer than that. The mixture should be coming away from the sides a little and a cake tester in the middle of the cake should come out clean. Allow to cool for a while in the tin, then remove and place on a cooling rack.