Vegan Banana Cake

4.98 from 49 votes

This vegan banana cake is moist, light and fluffy and loaded with banana flavor. Can be made as a sheet cake or a layer cake. Topped with a delicious lemon frosting.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Baking, Cakes, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Calories: 376kcal

Author: Alison Andrews

Ingredients

For the Vegan Banana Cake:

2 ¾ cups All Purpose Flour (344g)
1 cup White Granulated Sugar (200g)
½ cup Light Brown Sugar (100g)
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
⅔ cup Vegan Buttermilk (160ml) 1 Tbsp lemon juice + soy milk up to the ⅔ cup line
3 Large Ripe Bananas (360g) peeled weight
¼ cup Coconut Oil (60ml)
1 Flax Egg 1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseed Meal with 3 Tbsp Hot Water
2 Tbsp Applesauce
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Vegan Lemon Frosting:

3 ½ cups Powdered Sugar (420g)
⅓ cup Vegan Butter (75g)
2-3 Tbsp Lemon Juice freshly squeezed

For Decoration:

Crushed Walnuts

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a 9x13 inch 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 lemon juice into a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the ⅔ (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.
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 briefly with a hand whisk to remove any lumps.
Pour the batter out into the prepared 9x13 pan and spread out evenly.
Place into the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Place the whole sheet pan onto a cooling rack and leave it to cool completely before frosting.
Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until perfectly thick and smooth. If the frosting is too thick, add the remaining lemon juice a drop at a time until you get the right consistency.
Frost the cooled cake, and decorate with crushed walnuts.

Video

Notes

Bananas. If you have a food scale then it will be most accurate to weigh your bananas. If you don't have a food scale then this works out to around 1 and ½ cups (packed) of mashed banana.
Make a layer cake. You can make this cake as a two layer 8-inch cake or a two layer 9-inch cake. The recipe stays exactly the same. Just pour it out into two 8-inch cake pans or two 9-inch cake pans that have been sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F. The frosting is enough to frost the top and middle but not quite enough to frost the sides. If you want enough to generously frost the whole layer cake including the sides, then you can use our vegan lemon buttercream frosting recipe instead.
Storing: Keep your cake covered at room temperature where it will stay good for 2-3 days or store it covered in the fridge for 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
Freezing: It's also freezer friendly for up to 3 months. Let it thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.

Nutrition