Simple steps for making perfect banoffee muffins

1: To make the caramel sauce, gently melt the condensed milk, sugar, butter and golden syrup in a medium saucepan. Over a medium heat, stir continuously for 20 minutes until the sauce deepens to a caramel colour (from time to time, use a wooden spoon to scrape around the inside edges of the pan where the mixture might catch and burn). Set aside to cool.

2: For the banana muffins, preheat your oven to 180 degrees, or equivalent for fan oven. Line a deep muffin tray with large paper muffin cases.

3: Peel the bananas and place them in a large mixing bowl. If their skins were very brown to begin with they will be soft enough to blend, but if their skins were only slightly mottled, then mash the bananas briefly with a fork to break them down somewhat. Use a whisk to mix together the bananas, egg, sugar and vanilla extract until fully combined.

4: Next whisk in the sunflower oil.

5: Fold the sieved flour into the wet mixture, stirring until just combined with no flour pockets remaining (if you bought a ripe banana to garnish the muffins, you might decide to chop half of it up and fold it into the mixture).

6: Spoon the batter into the paper muffin cases, filling each muffin case to two-thirds full (if you use very large, tulip-style muffin cases, you may only get six muffins).

7: Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until well risen with a golden brown crust on top. Once baked, a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin should come out clean.

8: Remove the muffins from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

9: To serve as banoffee muffins, whip the cream and slice the ripe yellow banana. Drizzle each muffin with caramel sauce. Pipe cream on to each muffin and add a slice of just-cut banana.

Variation:

Add any filling that you like such as blueberries, nuts, chocolate or pear.