Thank goodness for bananas! If you are ever stuck for a quick dessert, reach for the bananas. You can bake them, fry them, braai them, turn them into delicious fritters or use them as the main ingredient in a lovely oven-baked pudding.

I was again impressed by the versatility of the banana after spending a few delightful days on the island of Madagascar. What those islanders do with bananas is just unbelievable. They even roast meat with bananas and it is delicious.

Anyway, back to our baked banana dessert for today. It's simple to make, inexpensive and equally perfect for a family treat or to round off a more formal dinner party.

To serve four portions of baked banana pudding you will need:

Ingredients

6 ripe bananas

50g butter

100g caster sugar

100g self-raising flour

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

Method

In a large mixing bowl mash the bananas to a coarse pulp

Melt the butter and stir in with the bananas

Add the cinnamon, sugar, egg and flour and mix well

Spoon the mixture into a 1-litre ovenproof dish

Place in an oven pre-heated to 180 deg. C and bake for 40 minutes or until the pudding is golden brown and starts shrinking away from the sides of the dish

This pudding is lovely with cream, ice cream or custard and is best served warm

For more fun you can grate chocolate over it, or mix a tipple of your favourite liqueur with cream and then scoop that over the baked dessert, or spoon over lightly crushed berries just before serving