To make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F. Grease an 8″ round cake tin, line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Put the bananas in a blender with the bourbon and blend until smooth. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the flour, bicarb, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, set aside.
4. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined between each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
5. Alternate gently beating in the flour mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour.
6. Add the banana mixture and stir to evenly disperse.
7. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and immediately place in the freeze for 45 minutes. Then remove from tin, and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the candied bacon

1. Fry the bacon in a frying pan until done, but not crispy. Remove from pan and pat dry with paper towel to remove excess grease.
2. Keep the grease in the pan and add the brown sugar and bourbon, return to a medium low heat and when mixture starts to bubble add the bacon back in. Spoon mixture over bacon to make sure all is coated. Drizzle the honey over the top. Cook until bacon has a shine to it, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove from pan and place on a chopping board to cool. Reserve all the liquid in the pan.

To make the fried bananas

1. Slice the bananas evenly.
2. Add the reserved bacon liquid to your frying pan with the butter and whiskey, heat on medium low until it starts to bubble.
3. Add bananas in one layer and sprinkle with caster sugar. Cook both sides, about 2 minutes each side, until they’re a deep caramel colour and softened. Remove from pan and leave to cool. Reserve any liquid in the pan.

To make the peanuts

1. Place the peanuts in a food processor and blitz 1-2 times to roughly chop. Add the chopped peanuts to your frying pan with the reserved banana/bacon liquid and 1tsp of bourbon. Stir to coat all the peanuts and cook for 3 minutes. Spread out on a piece of parchment paper and leave to cool.

To make the peanut butter SMBC

1. Wait until the cake is cooled before you start on the buttercream.
2. Add the egg whites and sugars to the mixing bowl of your mixer and whisk together. Place bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat eggs to 70C/160F, whisking all the time. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, test the eggs by taking a little between your fingers – they’re done when they’re hot (but not too hot to touch) and you can’t feel any sugar when you rub them between your fingers.
3. Attach bowl to your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and whip the egg whites on a high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and the outside of the bowl is cool to touch. The egg whites may be ready before they’ve cooled down, if that’s the case just turn the mixer down to low and let it run until the outside of the bowl is cool to touch (the sugar will stabilize the whites so you don’t have to worry about over whipping here).
4. Turn the mixer down to low and add the butter one piece at a time (leave about 3 seconds between each addition), until all is added.
5. Turn the mixer up to medium and whip until smooth, the mixture may curdle at one point but keep whipping and it’ll come back together. Once smooth, beat on high for 1 minute.
6. Add the peanut butter and beat on medium high speed until evenly combined.
7. Use buttercream immediately.

To assemble the cake

1. Cut the banana cake in half and place the bottom half on your serving plate. Spread generously with the buttercream, then place fried bananas in one layer over the top. Sprinkle a few of the peanuts over too. Spread over more buttercream.
2. Place the top layer of cake over the top, then cover the top and sides with a crumb coat (a thin layer of buttercream all over). Leave in the fridge or cold place at least 30 minutes.
3. Spread the rest of the buttercream all over the cake, saving some for piping if you wish.
4. Chop up the candied bacon into small pieces and sprinkle over the top, along with the peanuts.
5. Store in fridge.