Banana Gingerbread (Vegan)

Banana gingerbread - this delicious vegan loaf cake is the best of both worlds! A banana bread gingerbread hybrid, it is sweet, soft, sticky and incredibly moreish!

It is easy to make and a great way of using up a couple of overripe bananas.

I wasn't sure whether to call this banana gingerbread or ginger banana bread as it sits very squarely between the two and either name would fit!

To make it I combined my vegan ginger loaf cake and easy vegan banana bread recipes to create a hybrid that is incredibly good if I do say so myself.

This loaf cake is soft and moist and a little bit sticky, like all good gingerbread should be. Flavour wise it is rich and spicy, but the fruity banana still comes through nicely.

It is incredibly moreish and is lovely with a cuppa, but I bet it would also be amazing served warm with custard for pudding!

What Do I Need To Make Banana Gingerbread?:

Bananas: I recommend weighing out the banana for the best results. 220g is around 2 large bananas. Make sure that they are very ripe, with lots of brown spots.

Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour. I don't recommend swapping it for wholemeal, it will make the cake too dense.

I haven't tried making this cake gluten-free, but I suspect that it would work ok with a gluten-free flour blend plus ¼ teaspoon xanthan gum if the flour doesn’t already contain it.

Milk: You can use any kind you like but it should ideally be unsweetened and soy milk is best as it has the highest protein content.

Brown sugar: Dark brown soft or muscovado sugar adds a lovely treacle flavour. You can use light brown instead, but do go for dark if you have it.

Treacle: I use black treacle but molasses will also work.

Golden Syrup: If you weren't already aware then golden syrup is vegan friendly! Lyle's is the most well known brand, but supermarket own is absolutely fine and is what I use. See below for details.

Oil: Any neutral flavoured oil will work, I use olive.

Baking powder and soda: Make sure that you use both, they are not interchangeable.

Spices: Ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg add loads of spicy, warming flavour.

Vinegar: This reacts with the raising agents to help the cake rise. I use cider vinegar but white or red wine vinegar is fine too.

WHAT IS A SUBSTITUTE FOR GOLDEN SYRUP?:

Golden syrup is a very common baking ingredient in the UK; it has a buttery caramel flavour and the texture of honey (Lyle's Golden Syrup is vegan friendly). It can be tricky to get hold of elsewhere, though apparently lots of stores in the US have it in the foreign foods section or you can get in online. You can also try making your own!

There isn't really a good substitute for it as it is very unique, but if you aren't able to get hold of any and don't want to make your own then you can swap it for agave, light molasses or corn syrup instead.

How To Make It:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Mash the bananas really well then whisk in the sugar, treacle, golden syrup, oil, milk and vinegar.

In a separate bowl, sift together the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Tip the dry ingredients into the wet and stir with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain.

Pour the batter into a greased and lined 2 lb loaf tin and bake for 1 hour until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Top Tips:

All of my recipes are developed using grams, and as with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup coversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

For the best results, please weigh out the banana, golden syrup and treacle (and everything else for that matter!). I really can't stress enough how much better baking by weight rather than volume is!

Make sure that you don't over-beat the batter as that can make the cake tough. Just mix it until no dry lumps remain. I recommend stirring it by hand with a balloon whisk.

For even more ginger flavour you can add a couple of handfuls of chopped crystallised (candied) ginger to the batter before baking.

This cake would be lovely topped with a simple lemon glaze.

HOW TO STORE IT:

The cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for around five days. It also freezes well.

MORE VEGAN LOAF CAKE RECIPES:

• Vegan malt loaf
• Vegan ginger loaf cake
• Vegan golden syrup cake
• Vegan orange loaf cake
• Vegan Earl Grey tea loaf
• Easy vegan banana bread
• Vegan pumpkin bread
• Vegan lemon drizzle cake
• Vegan marble cake
• Vegan carrot cake loaf
• Vegan Biscoff banana bread

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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