Dirty Monkey cake

So called after the ship from our Pirate Murder Mystery game. This is a recipe that I adapted from a wholemeal banana loaf.

8oz plain flour (or 7 oz and 1oz of cocoa)

3tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

1/4tsp nutmeg

4oz butter

5oz brown sugar

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas (good for using your brown ones)

2oz chopped nuts

Sift flour (and cocoa) baking powder salt and nutmeg. Beat together butter and sugar. Whisk egg and fold into butter mixture. Peel and mash bananas and add to above mix (will be sloppy by now). Sift flour again, over the mixture, a little at a time. Add nuts. Bake approx 40 mins - 1 hour on moderate heat (about gas 4) or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 mins before turning out to cool. Store in foil - improves in flavour if left for a day.

I made this in a round cake tin (double quantities) on Thursday to be iced Friday. I used 2 tubs of ready made buttercream (because I was being lazy). I used one tub to fill the cake (split into 3 layers). I added yellow colouring to the second tub and covered the cake in it. I decorated with sugar flowers and a monkey with a tree drink stirrer that we got in Cyprus in a bar - I love to appropriate things! I made the treasure chest out of a bounty bar with the top cut off and half a cocktail stick to hold the lid open. Finally I put on a couple of gold covered chocolate coins.

I was really pleased with how it turned out. The only things was that it was a bit sickly with all the alcohol we had had!