Banana and chocolate cake with maple cream and crispy bacon

Method

• step 1

  Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and butter and line a deep 23cm springform cake tin. Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Slowly whisk in the buttermilk and oil until doubled in volume. Fold through the bananas, followed by the remaining cake ingredients. Pour into the tin and bake for 55 minutes-1 hour or until well risen and a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.

• step 2

  Put the bacon rashers on a baking-paper- lined tray and top with another piece of baking paper, followed by another tray. Cook the bacon in the same oven for 15-20 minutes or until really golden and crisp.

• step 3

  To make the maple cream, put the sugar and 4 tbsp water in a heavy-bottomed pan. Boil until the sugar melts and turns into a light-coloured caramel. Carefully add the bananas (this will also stop the caramel from overcooking). Bubble for a minute as the bananas melt, then add 100ml of the cream, stir and bring to a simmer.

• step 4

  In a small pan, bring the milk to a simmer then pour into a bowl and whisk with the cornflour. Pour back into the pan and cook gently, stirring, for 5 minutes until beginning to thicken, then add to the banana mixture and continue to cook until it thickens to a custard-like texture that is thickly coating the back of a spoon. Cool, then chill.

• step 5

  Whip the remaining double cream to soft peaks with the rum and maple syrup, then fold into the banana mixture.

• step 6

  Serve wedges of the cake with large spoonfuls of the cream and a bacon rasher or two on top.