Lots of children love baking when on holidays. That was how I got started. And it is a great thing to be able to cook from scratch, to bake with butter, sugar and eggs, the traditional way.

That was the way our grandmothers did it – and it worked. It means you know what is going into your food. There are no additives, or emulsifiers, or thickeners.

This banana bread recipe is a great way for using up left-over ripe bananas.

You can, of course, leave out the peanuts. Instead, you could use fruit that is in season. Strawberries or blackberries would be nice. And grated chocolate works well with banana too.

This carrot cake with maple and orange frosting is baked with the same simple reliable technique. But here the vegetable oil gives great moistness. You can’t use sunflower or rapeseed oil, as it tastes too strong.

The little bit of orange zest gives a nice kick. Cinnamon is very much under-used and is great in a crumble or tart too.

The frosting, sweetened with the maple syrup, is an added bonus and works well with the natural sweetness of the carrots and the apple.

Banana bread with peanut butter frosting.

\ photo: Philip Doyle. Styling: Sharon Hearne-Smith

Banana bread with peanut butter frosting

Serves eight to 10

For the sponge

150g (5oz) butter, softened

150g (5oz) soft light brown sugar

2 medium eggs (at room temperature)

150g (5oz) self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 ripe bananas, mashed

For the frosting

25g (1oz) unsalted butter, softened

125g (4 1/2oz) icing sugar

50g (2oz) cream cheese

50g (2oz) crunchy peanut butter

handful of light salted peanuts, to decorate (optional)

  • 1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark four.
  • 2 Line a 1.2 litre (2 pint) loaf tin with parchment paper.
  • 3 Cream the butter and the sugar together in a large bowl with a hand-held electric whisk (or using a freestanding electric mixer). Then add one egg and half of the flour and beat well. Then add the other egg and the rest of the flour, along with the baking powder. Fold in the mashed bananas and then spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.
  • 4 Bake for one hour and, if you need to, you can cover with foil after about 25 minutes to stop the bread browning too much on top.
  • 5 To test if the bread is cooked, insert a skewer into the centre of the loaf and it should come up clean. Then leave the loaf to cool down completely in the tin.
  • 6 When the loaf is almost completely cooled down, mix together the butter and icing sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy.
  • 7 Then beat in the cream cheese until it is just combined and, finally, stir in the peanut butter.
  • 8 Once the loaf is cooled down, remove it from the tin and place onto a plate. Using a palette knife, spread the loaf with the peanut butter frosting and sprinkle the peanuts over it to decorate, if liked.
  • Carrot cake with maple & orange frosting

    Serves 10-12

    For the sponge

    350ml (12fl oz) vegetable oil

    Six medium eggs

    350g (12oz) soft light brown sugar

    250g (9oz) carrot, grated

    One small Granny Smith apple, grated

    350g (12oz) self-raising flour

    finely grated rind of 2 oranges

    1 tsp baking powder

    1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

    2 tsp mixed spice

    1 tsp ground cinnamon

    seeds of ½ a vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla extract

    For the frosting

    350g (12oz) icing sugar

    175g (6oz) unsalted butter, softened

    Seeds of ½ a vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla extract

    175g (6oz) cream cheese

    5 tbsp maple syrup

    Pared orange rind, for decoration (optional)

  • 1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas mark 6. Line 2 x 23cm (9in) springform cake tins with parchment paper. Place all of the sponge ingredients into a bowl and mix together well with a hand-held electric whisk (or freestanding electric mixer).
  • 2 Then divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cakes are spongy when touched, smell cooked and a skewer inserted in to the centre of each cake comes out clean. Once the cakes are cooked, remove them from the oven and leave to cool in the tins.
  • 3 When the cakes have cooled completely, make the frosting. Put the icing sugar, butter and vanilla into a bowl and mix it all together. Then stir in the cream cheese and maple syrup and beat until well combined and smooth. Using a palette knife, sandwich the cakes together with some of the frosting, then spread the remainder all over the top and sides, so that the whole cake is completely covered. Sprinkle over the pared orange rind to decorate, if using.