In honour of Veganuary and my love of all things cake, I decided to try a vegan cake recipe, because…cake…if cake needs to be justified to you, then we cannot be friends. Not sorry. 

I’ve always loved baking (actually,  I’ve always loved the moment after I’ve finished baking and get to eat the thing I’ve slaved over…that…that makes life worthwhile), but honestly…I’ve never quite felt comfortable with the idea of egg-free baking, and I can’t even explain why. I guess it’s just been drilled into me that baking involves eggs, and a cake without eggs is just a flat, dry mess and who’d want that? 

Well anyway, this was my very first attempt at vegan baking. No eggs, no milk, no butter…and…it turned out…much better than I anticipated. The banana bread rose beautifully, was actually moist and…I will more than likely make this again. I chose this recipe because I’m not 100% certain how to use a chia or flax ‘egg’, and this recipe has neither. 

Before you get into it, here’s a quick note:

I have NO idea how many calories are in this thing…!

I don’t think of edible things that way (sorry…?). But it’s safe to say, it’s probably not low calorie, or low fat, or massively healthy. It’s cake! It’s a treat. It’s not like you’re going to eat the entire batch by yourself (unless you are…not gonna judge)…so…let’s be sensible about it mkay? Great! Also…don’t judge my photography game, I know it needs work. I….know.

Let’s get into it.

Ingredients:

• 1+1/4 cup (approx 190g) of plain flour 
• 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 cup light browns sugar (approx 65g)*
• 1/2 cup of caster sugar (approx. 100g)*
• X2 very ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup of coconut oil (approx 80ml)
• Vegan butter to grease the cake tin
• A fan oven preheated to 175 degrees Celsius (Or 375 Fahrenheit…or…gas mark 5)**

*Note about the sugar…the lady who shared the recipe with me said half a cup of each as listed or…OR!...either 1 cup of light brown sugar and no caster, OR 1 cup of caster sugar and no light brown sugar. Brown sugar alone should make it moister, and caster sugar alone would make it extra sweet.

**if you’re not using a fan over reduce the cooking time by a couple of minutes.

Method:

1. In a large bowl mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and sugars together until well combined.
2. In a separate bowl mash the bananas with a fork (leave them a bit lumpy for a nice banana-y bite to your cake), add the cider vinegar, vanilla extract and coconut oil and mix well.
3. Add the banana mix to the flour mix and fold until combined
4. Transfer the mix to a well greased loaf tin, and cook on the middle shelf of the oven for about 40-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
5. Eat it!