Perfectly moist, light and fluffy vegan banana cake loaded with banana flavor and topped with lemon frosting. Can be made as a sheet cake or a layer cake.
So banana cake. It’s similar to banana bread, but not the same.
This vegan banana cake with lemon frosting and walnuts, let’s not forget the walnuts, is so delicious I am struggling to find the words to describe it right now.
I absolutely adore banana bread already, which is why I’ve made vegan banana bread, vegan chocolate chip banana bread, vegan chocolate banana bread and vegan banana bread muffins!
But this was my first go at a vegan banana cake. And it came out incredibly well. Just a few small changes from a banana bread recipe to a banana cake recipe and you get light, fluffy cake rather than the slightly denser banana breads.
And this cake can be either a sheet cake or a layer cake!
Sheet Cake or Layer Cake?
I was inspired by Sally’s Baking Addiction (a non-vegan blog, but full of great baking tips) to go with a sheet pan version of the cake.
I love a good sheet cake, it’s great to feed a crowd, so if you need to get more slices out of it, it’s a great option! We have a delicious chocolate sheet cake and a vanilla sheet cake too.
However, you can also make this as a 2-layer 8-inch cake. It’s wonderfully good either way. So I’ll also include instructions for that in the recipe card (and there are some photos further down below).
The importance of ripe bananas
It’s very important that you use ripe bananas when you make this. They must be spotty! Don’t go using green bananas or even yellow bananas that don’t have any spots yet.
You want the spotty bananas, this is perfectly ripe which means they are at the perfect sweetness for your dessert.
The great thing about this vegan banana cake is I was able to use relatively little oil. Just a quarter cup of coconut oil for the whole recipe. And it was deliciously, perfectly, moist. The moistness comes from those bananas, the coconut oil, some homemade vegan buttermilk and the addition of some applesauce to the recipe.
Other than using them on top for decoration, I didn’t use walnuts in the actual recipe. But this would be a good addition if you fancy it. Just chop up some walnuts (about 1 cup should be fine) and add it to the batter right at the end.
How to make this as a layer cake
You can easily adapt this recipe to making a layer cake. The recipe stays exactly the same, you just divide the batter between two 8-inch cake pans.
Make sure your cake pans are sprayed with non-stick spray and cut out circles of parchment paper to line the bottoms of the cake pans.
Bake for 30 minutes.
The amount of frosting in the recipe is designed for the sheet pan version of the cake, so as you can see it is enough for the top and middle of a layer cake, but it’s not enough for the sides.
If you want to be able to frost the whole cake including the sides, then use the lemon frosting recipe from our vegan lemon cake instead.
You will love this vegan banana cake, it is:
- Perfectly moist
- Light and fluffy
- Loaded with banana flavor
- Topped with lemon frosting
- Simple
- Can be made as a sheet cake or a layer cake
Keep leftovers covered in the fridge where they will stay fresh for up to 5 days.
More vegan cakes!
- Vegan Carrot Cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan Red Velvet Cake
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Pound Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
I’d love to know what you think of this vegan banana cake. Any questions? Post them down below. We’d love you to also rate this recipe, it’s super helpful, thank you.
And you definitely should sign up to our email list while you’re here, you’ll get a free recipe ebook (awesome!) and you’ll stay updated with all our latest recipe postings!
Vegan Banana Cake with Lemon Frosting
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 15
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Perfectly moist, light and fluffy vegan banana cake loaded with banana flavor and topped with a delicious lemon frosting. Can be made as a sheet cake or a layer cake.
Ingredients
For the Vegan Banana Cake:
- 2 and 3/4 cups (344g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (200g) White Sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 2/3 cup (160ml) Vegan Buttermilk
- 3 Large Ripe Bananas (12.7 oz/360g peeled weight)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Coconut Oil
- 1 Flax EggĀ (1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal with 3 Tbsp Hot Water)
- 2 Tbsp Applesauce
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
For the Vegan Lemon Frosting:
- 3 and 1/2 cups (420g) Powdered (Confectioners) Sugar
- 1/3 cup (75g) Vegan Butter
- 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice (freshly squeezed)
For Decoration:
- Crushed Walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350Ā°F (180Ā°C). Spray a 9×13 sheet pan with non-stick spray and set aside. For layer cake instructions see notes*.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the white and brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix together.
- Prepare the vegan buttermilk by placing 1 Tbsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice into a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 2/3 (160ml) line. Allow to sit for a minute to curdle.
- Add the bananas, vegan buttermilk and coconut oil to a blender jug and blend briefly until combined. Don’t overblend or the bananas will start to oxidize.
- Pour the blended bananas, buttermilk and coconut oil over the dry ingredients and mix in.
- Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal with 3 Tbsp Hot Water and allowing to sit for a minute to become gloopy.
- Add the flax egg, applesauce and vanilla extract and whisk with a hand whisk to remove any lumps.
- Pour the batter out into the sheet pan and spread out evenly.
- Place into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check it at 30 minutes it might be perfectly done, I have had differing results in different ovens.
- Place the whole sheet pan onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter and lemon juice to the bowl of an electric mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until perfectly thick and smooth. If your frosting turns out too thick, add more lemon juice a drop at a time until you get the right consistency. If it turns out too thin, add more powdered sugar until it reaches the right thickness.
- Frost the cooled cake, and decorate with crushed walnuts.
Notes
*Nutritional information is for 1 slice of 15 including frosting and crushed walnuts.
*Recipe adapted from my Vegan Banana Bread.
*To make this cake as a 2-layer 8-inch cake, the recipe stays exactly the same. Just pour it out into 2 8-inch cake pans that have been sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper and bake for 30 minutes at 350Ā°F. The frosting is enough to frost the top and middle but not quite enough to frost the sides. If you want enough to frost the whole layer cake including the sides, then you can use the lemon frosting recipe from our vegan lemon cake.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 15)
- Calories: 376
- Sugar: 50.8g
- Sodium: 236mg
- Fat: 8.7g
- Saturated Fat: 3.7g
- Carbohydrates: 72.5g
- Fiber: 1.8g
- Protein: 3.5g
Keywords: vegan banana cake
I made this cake for my sonās birthday. He is vegan, but my husband and I are not. We absolutely loved it! It was so delicious and beautiful! My husband said ā this is now my favorite cake! The combination of lemon frosting and banana cake was so good. I didnāt have applesauce but my bananas were very large so guess I didnāt need the applesauce cuz it was moist and perfect. Thank you
So glad it was a success! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi! I’m hoping to make this cake today but since I don’t want to go to the grocery store, is there a substitute for vegan buttermilk? Thanks!
Hi Sara, the vegan buttermilk is homemade, so it’s just a mix of lemon juice with soy milk. If you don’t have lemon juice on hand, you can also make it with vinegar. Hope that helps!
Wonderful! I used self raising flour in place of plain flour and baking powder (because it was 10pm and the shops had shut) and added an extra banana in place of applesauce. Still worked out delicious and moist. Thanks so much!
★★★★★
Wonderful! Thanks Emma! š
Made this cake using Gluten Free flour and it was delicious. Light and moist. Top recipe! thank you.
★★★★★
So glad to hear that Sylvia! Thanks so much for the wonderful review. š
I was so impressed by this recipe. To tell the truth, I usually just slump ingredients together with a ratio flour, sugar, fat 1/3 each, and it turns out pretty well. This time, I needed some guidance to ratio and frosting. Didn’t really sift the flour, added a teaspoon cardamom and half a teaspoon nutmeg and used pretty black bananas and some extra in placement of applesauce. Added half a cup walnuts. Turned out so juicy and fluffy at the same time!
★★★★★
So glad it turned out well. Thanks for the great review Ida! š
I have a question if I may? Can I use Almond Flour instead of all purpose flour? Iām eager to make this cake..š„°
Hi Rashida, unfortunately that wouldn’t work well, if you want to make it gluten-free then I recommend using a gluten free all purpose flour blend. š
I did not have applesauce instead added 2 tablespoons smashed bananas puree. And cut down some sugar. It worked well!! Made this for my mum’s birthday, she was delighted.
★★★★★
So happy to hear it was a success! Thanks so much for sharing and the great review. š
All the way from South Africa, made this banana cake today for my vegan son. Will absolutely make it again. A winner! Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
★★★★★
Awesome Eurika! So glad it was a success! Thanks for the amazing review. š
Hi,
Iād love to make this, but cut out or swap out some of the sugar. Could I add some extra bananas for sweetness?
Hi Suzie, I would try just reducing the sugar, no other changes and see how it goes! We have had other readers try this with certain recipes and it has worked well. š
Super moist and absolutely delicious! Will be making again!
★★★★★
Awesome! So happy to hear! Thanks for the awesome review. š
I made this banana cake recipe. If my teenage grandaughter says it’s good, then it’s perfect. I used egg replacer powder and a half cup of club soda instead of the flax egg. Club soda because my late mother used it in her delicious vegan cakes. Half of it has been eaten up by non vegans. Thank you for this sweet tooth recipe. It did the trick even without the frosting.
★★★★★
Thanks so much for sharing and your wonderful review! I must definitely try club soda! š
Hello, I accidentally came across your site and I just loved the recipe hence I am cooking it now. As I am watching my cake rising gently in the oven, I got carried away with your site and I just read your previous reply from Golly mentioning club soda. Apologies for my intrusion but what is Club soda? Regards, Nina
Hi Nina, it’s carbonated water. Hope your cake came out great! š
This is so tasty…I’ve been making it about once a week (not for our kids, but for my hubby since he loves cake!) My cakes don’t turn out to be as fluffy as yours (I use the fluff with a spoon method as I measure & level the flour). I noticed that you sift the flour, should I sift the 2 & 3/4 c of flour or sift until I have 2 & 3/4 c?
★★★★★
Hi! So glad you enjoy the recipe! Thanks for the awesome review. To answer your question, measure the flour with the spoon and level method as you are doing and then sift it after that. š
can I use self-raising flour for this recipe instead?
Hi Jacey, self raising flour contains salt and baking powder, so it doesn’t work well as a direct swap for plain/all purpose flour.
Delicious, thanks!
★★★★★