This is one of those things that I hadn’t planned on making, but the stars aligned. Matt posted something about a banana chocolate cake. I had three perfectly overripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl. Suddenly, there’s cake.

This is a beautifully simple cake from a French cookbook. Matt lovingly, painstakingly, translated the recipe (I would never have the patience).

The batter is thick. It’s moist thanks to the bananas and buttermilk. I was certain that with a tablespoon and a half of baking powder I was going to get that gross unbaked crater of batter in the middle of the loaf, but it baked up perfectly.

The result is a light cake. It has the flavor of banana bread but none of the heaviness. The crumb is tender and the chocolate chunks are a perfect addition.

• Banana Chocolate Cake (The National Baking Society)