plant-based BANANA CAKE
🌱🍌 Grandma Sita’s plant-based banana cake is quick and easy to make, fun to do with kids, and it even helps you to save brown bananas from the bin. You can also store it portioned in the freezer whenever you need a piece of cake. Grab your brown bananas – and ready, set, bake!
- INGREDIENTS
Our note: following the cups method for measurement units, we discovered that the volume of the cup is always the key, you don´t have to weigh the ingredients. A cup has the same volume of ingredients (liquid or dry) as a glass or a mug.
DRY
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unrefined cane sugar
1/2 cup fair-trade chocolate chips
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp sugar-free vanilla baobab powder by Social Vanilla
A pinch of salt
WET
300g brown bananas (4 medium approx.)
6 tbsp veggie oil (any neutral-flavored)
Our note: If you can use bananas from the Canary Islands in Spain, your cake will be much tastier, these Atlantic bananas have a unique flavor and aroma. More about it here: platanodecanarias.es
- METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 180 Âş C. Oil and line the base and sides of a bread pan or square cake tin with baking parchment.
Our note: well, standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It´s the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want, you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: sifted flour, baking powder, baking soda, unrefined panela cane sugar, cacao nibs, and salt until well mixed.
Our note: we always sift the flour for muffins and cakes. Sifting helps to combine the flour with any dry ingredients.
3. Peel and chop the bananas. Mash them with a fork or a blender until pureed. Add veggie oil, oat drink, and vanilla extract. Combine all banana puree and wet ingredients till smooth texture.
Our note: you can use plantains instead of bananas, you should add more sugar (to taste).
4. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything slowly with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the mix into the bread pan. Arrange the banana slices around the cake decoratively.
6. Bake it for around 40 minutes or until browned.
Our note: Don´t open the oven, you can always leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.
7. Remove the bread pan from the oven. Leave it to cool for a while. Carefully, peel off the paper and cool a bit on a wire rack. Drizzle some maple syrup over the cake, especially over the banana slices (optional).
8. Serve as is or with a scoop of vegan ice cream, vanilla, or chocolate flavor.
👵💛 Grandma Sita’s tips:
*Brown (overripe) bananas are a fantastic ingredient since they have more sugar than their green counterparts, they add a subtle sweetness to your cakes and other sweet treats.
*Brown (overripe) bananas can also replace eggs in some recipes and work especially great in cake and muffins. To use bananas as a substitute for eggs, replace one egg with one overripe banana puree (mashed).
*Grandma Sita has put together her best plant-based recipe ideas with brown (overripe) bananas for you to try. Check it out here 
http://www.sita-nena.com/7-ideas-overripe-bananas/