Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake

Vegan chocolate banana cake - this easy vegan triple chocolate banana cake is moist, chocolatey and very moreish! It is great plain, or make it even more indulgent by topping it with a peanut butter chocolate ganache! Eggless and dairy-free with NO weird egg replacers.

This vegan chocolate banana cake is a more indulgent way to use up your brown bananas than banana bread!

It consists of a rich, moist chocolate banana cake filled with chocolate chips; and if you want to get even more chocolatey then you can go all out and top it with a creamy peanut butter chocolate ganache as well.

It is very easy to make and makes a great snacking cake if you leave it plain, or a more indulgent dessert if you top it with the ganache.

What Do I Need To Make Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake?:

Bananas – the more ripe and brown they are the better!

Light brown soft sugar – brown sugar gives the banana cake flavour and extra moisture, but it will still work well with white sugar if you don’t have brown.

Neutral oil – for the cake you can use a neutral flavoured oil such as sunflower, vegetable or canola oil, or use melted coconut oil or melted vegan block butter. All of these options work well. (Oil might give a sliiightly more moist texture than butter but both are good. The one in the photos was made with sunflower oil).

Plain flour – I like this vegan chocolate banana cake best made with regular plain white flour but you can also swap about a third of it for wholemeal flour if you like. Or replace the plain flour with white spelt flour.

Cocoa powder: I use dutch processed cocoa powder (which is just ordinary cocoa powder for those of you in the UK). Cacao powder should also work fine.

Non-dairy milk – soy milk is best for baking as it has the highest protein content but any variety will work (except tinned coconut milk).

Cider or white wine vinegar – a little bit of vinegar reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to help the banana cake rise. You could swap it for a teaspoon of lemon juice if you don’t have vinegar.

Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda – these are the raising agents that make the banana cake light and fluffy.

Vanilla extract– I like to add a dash of vanilla extract for extra flavour but you can leave it out if you don’t have it.

Salt – I find that the flavour of most baked goods is enhanced by the addition of a little bit of salt.

Chocolate chips - these are optional but highly recommended!

For The Ganache:

Dark chocolate - I used a blend of Bournville and a 70% dark chocolate. The darker the chocolate, the richer and less sweet the ganache.

Full fat coconut milk - because we are adding extra fat in the way of peanut butter, it is better to use coconut milk rather than cream.

Creamy peanut butter - use a smooth, rather than crunchy peanut butter. It needs to be the creamy kind, not the natural sort.

How To Make Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake:

(For ingredients and full instructions see the recipe card below)

Mash the bananas very well with a fork then add the light brown soft sugar, sunflower oil, non-dairy milk, vinegar and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.

Place the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a greased and lined 23 cm / 8 in square cake tin and spread it level.

Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes until it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

How To Make Peanut Butter Chocolate Ganache:

To make the ganache, finely chop the dark chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl.

Place full fat coconut milk, creamy peanut butter and a pinch of salt in a saucepan over a low heat and stir until melted and just coming up to a simmer, do not let it boil.

Pour the hot liquid over the chocolate and leave it to stand for five minutes. Don't stir it until the five minutes is up!

Stir gently until it is melted and smooth.

Leave the ganache to cool and firm up, this can take several hours. You can pop it in the fridge to speed it up but check it frequently and give it an occasional stir. It can go from not-quite-set to solid quite quickly so keep a eye on it.

If the ganache does become too firm; place the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (don’t let the base of the bowl touch the water). Stir for a minute or so until it softens up. Remove the bowl from the heat before it has fully softened to the right consistency as the residual heat from the bowl will continue to melt the ganache.

What To Do If Your Ganache Splits:

Ganache can be a little tricky, if it gets slightly too hot or if the balance of fat to liquid isn't quite right then it can split into a greasy, oily mess.

The good news is that if this happens it's very easy to fix!

All you have to do is gradually stir in recently boiled water or hot milk, a little at a time, until the ganache becomes smooth again.

Top Tips:

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them. A gram is always a gram, but a cup won’t always measure out the same amount.

Weigh out your banana for the best results; they vary in size a lot and adding too much will make the cake gummy, too little and it will be dry.

Don’t over-mix the batter as that can make the cake tough, just mix it until no dry lumps remain.

The cake is ready when it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.

This vegan chocolate banana cake will keep in an airtight container at cool room temperature for up to five days. If it is hot out I recommend storing it in the fridge.

Can I Freeze This Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake?:

Yes, any leftover cake can be frozen in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to three months. Allow to defrost at room temperature.

More Vegan Banana Recipes:

• Fluffy vegan banana pancakes
• Banana bread cinnamon rolls
• Easy vegan banana bread
• Vegan chunky monkey ice cream
• Banana porridge with blueberry compote
• Vegan chocolate chip banana bread
• Vegan biscoff banana bread
• Vegan banana crumb cake
• Vegan banana scones
• Vegan banana cake with peanut butter chocolate frosting
• Vegan banana blondies

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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