Prepare Your Tin and Oven: Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan/Gas Mark 4). Grease a 900g (2lb) loaf tin and line it with baking parchment, leaving some overhang on the long sides to make it easier to lift out later.

Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. This ensures the raising agent and spices are evenly distributed.

Cream Butter and Sugar: In a separate large bowl, using an electric mixer or a wooden spoon and some effort, beat the softened butter and light brown sugar together for about 3-4 minutes until the mixture is light, pale, and fluffy.

Add Eggs and Vanilla: Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. If the mixture looks like it might be curdling, just add a tablespoon of your flour mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Mix in the Bananas: Add the mashed bananas to the wet mixture and stir with a spatula until just combined.

Fold in the Flour: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Gently fold them together using a spatula. What works best for me is to scrape around the side of the bowl and fold the batter over the top. Stop as soon as you can no longer see streaks of flour. Do not overmix!

Fill the Tin: Scrape the batter into your prepared loaf tin and use the spatula to smooth the top.

Bake the Loaf: Sprinkle the demerara sugar evenly over the top of the batter. Place the tin in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 60-65 minutes.

Check for Doneness: To check if it's cooked through, insert a skewer or cocktail stick into the centre of the loaf. If it comes out clean, it’s ready. If there is wet batter on it, return it to the oven for another 5 minutes and test again.

Cool Completely: Let the banana bread cool in the tin for 10 minutes before using the parchment paper overhang to lift it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slicing it while it's still warm can make it crumble.