🌱🍌 Looking for an easy vegan banana cake that helps you waste less? Grandma Sita’s recipe is soft, naturally sweet and a delicious way to give your brown, overripe bananas a second life instead of sending them to the bin. With simple everyday ingredients and plenty of banana flavour, it’s the kind of homemade cake that is easy to make and even easier to share.
👩🍳💚 It’s also a lovely recipe to make with children. Mash the bananas, mix the ingredients, get your hands involved and watch a few simple ingredients turn into a delicious homemade cake. And if you have more ripe bananas than you can use, simply peel and freeze them for another bake.
♻️ For Grandma Sita, good baking is all about making the most of what we have. Those bananas that are too brown for the fruit bowl can be perfect for baking, adding natural sweetness, moisture and plenty of flavour to your cake.
🍌✨ So grab those ripe bananas, preheat the oven and let’s turn them into something delicious — less waste, more flavour, the Grandma Sita way!
- INGREDIENTS
Dry ingredients
1½ cups plain flour
⅓ cup unrefined cane sugar
½ cup fair-trade chocolate chips
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp sugar-free vanilla
A pinch of salt
Wet ingredients
300 g brown bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
6 tbsp vegetable oil (any neutral-flavoured oil)
Grandma Sita´s note: If you can use bananas from the Canary Islands in Spain, your cake will be even more delicious. These Atlantic-grown bananas have a unique flavour and aroma. Find out more at Plátano de Canarias.
- METHOD
1. Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a loaf tin or square cake tin and line the base and sides with baking parchment.
Grandma Sita’s note: A standard 8½ × 4½-inch loaf tin is a good size for this amount of mixture. If you want to make a larger cake, simply multiply the ingredients according to the size of your tin. Baking tins come in many different shapes and sizes, so choose one that suits the amount of mixture you are making.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. Sift the plain flour into a large bowl and add the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, unrefined cane sugar, chocolate chips and a pinch of salt. Mix everything together with a wooden spoon.
Grandma Sita’s note: Always sift the flour when making cakes and muffins. It helps to remove any lumps and distribute the dry ingredients evenly.
3. Prepare the bananas. Peel and chop the bananas, then mash them with a fork or blend them until smooth. Add the vegetable oil and mix until well combined.
Grandma Sita’s note: You can use plantains instead of bananas, but as they are less sweet, you may want to add a little extra sugar to taste.
4. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Pour the banana mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Add the plant-based drink and vanilla, then gently mix everything together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter.
5. Fill the tin. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top. If you like, arrange a few banana slices on top for decoration.
6. Bake the cake. Bake for around 40 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Grandma Sita’s note: Try not to open the oven too early, as this can affect how the cake rises. If it needs a little longer, simply leave it in the oven for a few extra minutes.
7. Cool and finish. Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for a few minutes. Carefully remove the baking parchment and transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool further. If you like, drizzle a little maple syrup over the top, especially over the banana slices.
8. Serve and enjoy! Serve the cake as it is, or with a scoop of vegan vanilla or chocolate ice cream for an extra special treat. A simple cake, a few ripe bananas and a little imagination — that’s the Grandma Sita way!
👵💛 Grandma Sita’s tips
- 🍌 Use really ripe bananas: Brown, overripe bananas are perfect for baking. As they ripen, they become sweeter, softer and more flavourful, making them ideal for adding natural sweetness and moisture to cakes, muffins and other sweet treats.
- ♻️ Give brown bananas a second life: Don’t throw away bananas just because their skins have turned brown. Overripe bananas are one of Grandma Sita’s favourite ingredients for baking, and freezing them is another easy way to save them for later.
- 🥣 Bananas can replace eggs in some bakes: Mashed banana can be used as an egg substitute in certain recipes, particularly denser cakes, muffins and quick breads. A common guide is around ¼ cup (60 g) of mashed banana for one large egg, although the result can be slightly denser and will have a noticeable banana flavour.
- ❄️ Freeze bananas before they go too far: If you have more ripe bananas than you can use, peel them, place them in a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze them for another bake. This is a simple way to reduce food waste and always have bananas ready for your next banana cake.
📗 Did you know?
🍌 Bananas become sweeter as they ripen. As bananas mature, their starches break down into simpler sugars, which is one reason very ripe bananas work so beautifully in baking. Their soft texture also makes them easy to mash into cake and muffin mixtures.
🌱 Bananas can be a useful egg substitute. Mashed banana can help add moisture and structure to some baked goods, especially recipes where a little extra banana flavour works well.
🧒 Banana cake is a great recipe to make with children. Mashing ripe bananas, mixing the ingredients and watching the cake rise are all simple kitchen jobs that can make baking a fun family activity.*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.
🗑️ A little food-waste fact
🍌 Brown bananas are not food waste — they are baking gold! Bananas are often thrown away once their skins become heavily speckled or brown, even though they can still be perfect for cooking and baking. Turning them into banana cake is a delicious way to use food that might otherwise end up in the bin.
❄️ Freezing is another easy way to prevent waste. If you know you will not eat your bananas in time, freeze them before they become unusable. That way, you can save them for smoothies, banana bread, cakes or other recipes later.
♻️ Give your bananas a second life
🌱 For Grandma Sita, zero-waste cooking starts with looking at ingredients differently. A banana that is too brown for the fruit bowl can be exactly what you need for a delicious homemade cake. So don’t judge a banana by its skin! Use it, freeze it, bake with it and enjoy every last bite — less waste, more flavour, the Grandma Sita way!