• Line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment. Pre-heat the oven to 320F/160C/140C/gas 3.
• Mix the light muscovado sugar with the margarine or butter together until light and fluffy. Use either a hand whisk or a wooden spoon.
• Add the flour, milk, eggs, cinnamon and baking powder to the bowl. Mix until everything is well combined.
• In another bowl, lightly mash the bananas using a fork and then add these along with the dates and walnuts and stir them in well.
• Scrape the loaf mixture into the prepared loaf tin and put it in the oven for approximately 45 minutes.
• At this point check to see if the loaf is cooked through using a skewer. It may need longer - up to an hour. Keep checking every 5 minutes or so.
• Once the loaf is cooked through remove it from the oven and leave it to cool. After ten minutes remove from the tin and leave on a cooling rack until completely cold.

Making the Buttercream

• Sift the icing sugar (confectioner's sugar) into a bowl with the softened butter.
• Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and being to mix - slowly at first to avoid sugar clouds!
• Add a 1/2 teaspoon of water if the buttercream seems to be too stiff to spread out evenly on your finished loaf. Keep adding very tiny amounts of water until you reached the desired consistency.
• If the buttercream is too runny then continue to add icing sugar until it reaches a 'spreading' consistency.
• When the loaf is completely cold spread the buttercream on the top using a palette knife - make patterns with the tines of a fork if you wish and sprinkle a few chopped walnuts across the surface for decoration.