Cuca de Banana

Ingredients

• 500 g strong white flour
• 10 g fast-action dried yeast
• 80 g caster sugar
• 200 ml whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 80 g soft butter
• 1 tsp fine salt
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 5 ripe but firm bananas
• 150 g plain flour, for the crumb
• 130 g caster sugar, for the crumb
• 100 g cold butter, cubed
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp caster sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon, for the bananas

Before you cook

• Rub the plain flour, crumb sugar, cold butter and cinnamon between your fingertips until they clump into coarse gravel, then chill the crumb.
• Slice the bananas 1 cm thick and toss them with the cinnamon sugar.
• Butter and line a 30 by 20 cm tin.

Steps

1. Warm the milk until it is just blood temperature, then whisk in the yeast and a spoonful of the sugar.
2. Leave the mixture for ten minutes, until it foams.
3. Mix the strong flour, remaining sugar, salt and lemon zest in a large bowl.
4. Pour in the yeast milk and the eggs and bring the dough together.
5. Knead for eight minutes, working in the soft butter a little at a time, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
6. Cover the bowl and leave the dough to rise for one hour, until doubled in size.
7. Heat the oven to 180C.
8. Press the risen dough evenly into the lined tin with your fingertips.
9. Lay the banana slices over the dough in overlapping rows.
10. Cover the whole surface with the chilled crumb, right to the edges.
11. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the crumb is golden and a skewer pushed into the dough comes out clean.
12. Cool the cuca in its tin for 20 minutes before cutting it into squares.