Afternoon tea is a great British tradition undergoing something of a revival at the moment.

Start with good quality tea, made from tea leaves rather than bags, the way your grandmother used to do it.

Then add some finger sandwiches   cucumber, smoked salmon and egg mayonnaise make a great selection.

Cut the crusts off and keep them dainty.

There is also usually a selection of cakes, such as classic Victoria sponge, Bakewell tarts or scones.

For something more unusual, fruit breads are an excellent way of using up fruit such as those bananas that don’t get eaten in time.

Banana Bread

• 125g butter, softened
• 175g golden caster sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 280g plain flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of salt
• 120ml milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ripe bananas
• 100g walnuts, chopped
• 100g white chocolate, in small pieces
•  teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and then slowly beat in the eggs.

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, vanilla extract and milk and mix well.

Gently fold in the bananas, walnuts and chocolate until evenly mixed.

Pour into a greased and lined loaf tin and bake for one hour.

 This is equally delicious as apple bread   just replace the bananas, nuts and chocolate with an equal quantity of chopped Bramley apples.

Alternatively try a 300g mixture of dried berries and cherries (soak the fruit overnight in orange juice before using).

Fruit breads keep well so make in advance and store in an airtight container.