So, Simon’s been in contact with me a lot lately (to tell you the truth, he never seems to shut up, even though it’s been almost a year and a half since his and Dec’s story was published). We were talking, and he let it slip that he’s been cooking. I knew he had learnt to master the humble soup while Declan was recovering from his knee operation, but this was something new.

I’m not becoming domestic, Simon said to me in an email. But sometimes if I really want to get my way about something it’s much easier to manipulate Dec if I bribe him with something his mother has been using since he was a kid. And that thing is banana cake.

Apparently banana cake is the God of Football’s achilles heel. Well, besides Simon of course.

It’s easy to make, Simon said. And it always gets a good result. He refused to elaborate any further.

Wholemeal Banana Cake

125 g butter
175 g brown sugar
2 eggs
2-3 large mashed bananas (Simon recommends 3 if you like it moist)
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
2 teaspoons warmed milk
225 g wholemeal SR flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and bananas, then the bicarb (dissolved already in the milk). Add flour and beat well. Cook in 180 degree (centigrade) oven until skewer comes out clean (approx 30-40 mins).

Eat heartily, and use it to bribe your loved ones!

Some extra Simon Murray tips, however: I always add cinnamon to the mix, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract can help. But Dec was extremely disappointed the first time I made it, because it didn’t have the crunchy topping that his Mum always makes. Bloody big baby. So I rang her, and she gave me the secret. All you do is rub butter into flour and cinnamon until it becomes flaky and almost like tiny little balls, then add to the top of the mixture when you’ve poured it in the cake tin. It does make it nicer, but don’t tell Dec I said that, because after he complained I almost never made it again.

I have made this recipe myself and I happily endorse it.