Today I come here with an amazing recipe for a vegan banana chocolate cake. In fact the original recipe was neither vegan nor it was a banana cake. Funny isn't it, when it starts out as something and ends up totally different nevertheless ending up awesome. Many of the recipes I blog here follow that pattern.
In my previous post I mentioned about the Taste of Home website for a huge collection of baking recipes and how I like to linger around there. Another website I often visit is Weight Watchers. Whether your New Year's resolution is to lose weight or not I think it is always better to look for healthy meal ideas and what better place to look for than Weight Watchers. They have a good collection of dessert, baking recipes too. I have tried a couple of recipes from that site as well with some tweaks here and there and have liked it very much.
The following vegan chocolate banana cake recipe too is my version of the Dark Chocolate Cake recipe in that site. The chocolate cake recipe is egg free already. All I did was to substitute a cup of pureed sauerkraut with a cup of pureed banana and made it vegan by substituting canola oil for the melted butter.
I also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour. What is sauerkraut? I too was not aware of such a thing until I saw it mentioned in the cake recipe. I understand that it is fermented cabbage pickle in laymen terms. For detailed information check this sauerkraut recipe, which has detailed instructions with pictures.
As for my vegan chocolate cake with bananas, it came out very well. One of the reason I chose to bake this cake was, I recently purchased a bundt pan and was waiting for a chance to use it. I saw that this chocolate cake recipe too used one and was egg free too. Another reason being, I had very ripe bananas at home which I didn't want to throw it away.
So I decided to use it in this recipe and I'm not regretting it at all. Initially I was thinking that it is going to taste more like a vegan banana cake instead of a vegan banana chocolate cake because of the bananas. Surprisingly, the flavor of bananas in the cake is very mild. The cake was moist, had a very good texture; neither dense nor crumbly, perfect for decorating for birthdays and anniversaries. The only change I would make in that case is to use butter instead of canola oil to give it a rich taste.
Recently I had some overripe bananas at home and wanted to bake cupcakes using it. I already have a plain vegan banana cupcakes recipe here in the blog. I also was in the mood for chocolate flavor. So used this recipe and baked it as vegan banana chocolate cupcakes and it's not a surprise that it turned out great!
If you tried this Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
💌 Save This Recipe!
We'll email this recipe post to you, so you can come back to it later!
We will also add you to our email list. Unsubscribe at any time.
Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- 1 and ⅓ cup Granulated Sugar (See My Notes #2)
- ⅔ cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 and ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
Wet Ingredients:
- ¼ cup Canola Oil
- 1 and ½ cups Hot Water
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Bananas Mashed or Pureed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350F/180C for 15 minutes. Spray a bundt pan with non stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients and keep it aside.
- I pureed 2 small size bananas with little water to measure 1 cup of puree.
- To the flour mixture add the canola oil, hot water and vanilla extract; mix well.
- Now add the pureed bananas and blend thoroughly.
- The cake batter is quite watery. Pour the batter in the prepared pan and bake for approximately from 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The original recipe mentions 55-60 minutes, but mine was done after 45 minutes itself.
- At this stage I did see some cracks on the cake. Move the bundt pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for 10-20 minutes. Place a baking sheet on the pan and slowly invert the pan holding the sides of the sheet to remove the cake from the pan. Then carefully transfer the cake to the wiring rack and let it cool completely before you frost. I didn't frost mine.
My Notes
- The original recipe used all purpose flour but we did not realize that the cake was made with whole wheat pastry flour. The cake had a wonderful texture; moist but not sticky and not gritty. This can very well be a birthday cake; but I would use butter in that case.
- You could also increase the quantity of sugar to 1 and ½ cups if you are not frosting this chocolate banana cake. You could also sprinkle some chocolate chips instead. Since I wanted to make a vegan cake I did not add any. I prefer mild sweetness so the 1 and ⅓ cup was perfect.
- The cake was surely moist but I felt that it did not taste rich. The original recipe uses ½ cup of melted butter for the fat which I replaced with ¼ cup canola oil and some mashed bananas. So I think we could use ¼ cup of melted butter or margarine instead to give that richness. If you want to use entire ½ cup butter, you can reduce the quantity of mashed bananas to ¾th cup.
- Update: I did try this recipe once again with all purpose flour and melted butter and it was definitely rich and good enough to qualify for a birthday cake.
- The next time I try this recipe I'm going to use cooked beet puree instead of mashed bananas. I'm pretty sure that its going to be so good.
Nutrition
Check out these delicious cake recipes as well:
Clara says
I'm trying this tomorrow! I've been craving chocolate cake
and this one looks great. I'll be back for sure.
jeanne says
Wow! I was searching for an eggless cake for my daughter's 2nd birthday as she is allergic to eggs. This was one of the first I found and was by far the best. I didn't have the pastry flour or canola oil and used melted butter and plain flour instead. I baked it in a 9x13inch pan for 45 mins and topped it with fresh cream and strawberries. It turned out perfect! It was tasty and moist and everyone complimented it so much so that I was asked to make it again not even a month later for my nephew's birthday. Again it was a hit! Can't wait to try out some more of you delicious recipes!
Thank you very much for the feedback Jeanne. I'm so happy that your daughter was able to have the cake and everybody else liked it too. Actually I too tried it with all purpose flour and melted butter later and loved it as well. I will update this inforamtion in the recipe too.
Kay says
Hi Madhuram,
Is there a difference placing the tin on the lower/mid/upper rack of the oven? which level will give the baking the best result?
Middle rack is mostly preferred Kay. But if you have to bake 2 sheets of cookies or 2 cake tins, then it would be the middle rack and the lower rack. Even then it is advisable to shift racks halfway through baking to ensure that everything is evenly baked. So while baking 2 cakes at a time, place one tin on the middle rack and the other tin not directly under the first tin, but away from it. This may not be possible with cookie sheets though. But in both cases move the sheet/tin in the middle rack to the lower rack and vice versa after 50% baking time. The upper shelf is usually used for broiling because it is pretty much close to the heating element.
Maman A Droit says
Great recipe! I made it as cupcakes for my son's first birthday and it made about 2.5 dozen cupcakes, 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes worked pretty well. I love that it's not too sweet, doesn't have eggs or milk, and has whole wheat and fruit in it-perfect for a baby and yummy & healthy for mommy too!
Thank you very much for trying the recipe and for the feedback. I too am going to follow your tips and try it as cupcakes the next time.
marwah says
i tried this recipe it was grate, my grand Mather love it 😉
Dee says
I've been searching for a good recipe for an eggless cake for a couple's 25th anniversary. Most of them were either dry or heavy. This one is the best so far. I made half the quantity in an 8in cake pan with half the quantity. I used melted butter. The cake turned out moist, fluffy and delicious. Dark and rich looking on the inside. Taste is exceptional. A faint hint of banana which goes pretty well with the chocolate flavor. I used one banana that wasn't very ripe (about half cup and with no liquid added to it)I topped it with melted chocolate. Yum! Thanks Madhu.
You're welcome Dee. I too like this cake very much for the reason that the flavor of banana is not too pronounced.
Krithiga says
Hi Madhuram,
I tried your eggless Dates cake as my first baking exp and it came out very well. Thanks to that effort , I want to try this one. I don't have a Bundt pan so would just use 1/2 your recipe on my regular square 8x8.
I have couple questions reg this recipe :-
1. Can i omit the cocoa and make a regular banana cake ? (nothing against cocoa...just don't have any with me at the moment)
2. Can i substitute cocoa with say Ovaltine (which I happen to have ?
3.After the cake (any cake not this alone) comes out of the oven, should it rest in the pan i baked before i take it out ?
Thanks ,
Krithiga
Krithiga you can try halving the recipe or if you have a 13x9 inch pan, you can go with the same measurement. If you don't have cocoa, substitute the same amount of APF. You can try ovaltine too. I have tried it in frosting instead of cocoa but not while baking. Yes any cake has to be rested in the pan (the pan preferably placed on a cooling/wire rack) for 10 minutes.
Vina says
I just tried this cake using wheat flour, 1/2 cup butter, 3/4 cup banana, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar instead of regular sugar, and 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips. Baked in a 9X13 pan for 30 minutes. It came out great! I needed to bake a cake for a friend's birthday, and I didn't have eggs! Didn't taste banana-y! Definitely impressed!
Thanks Vina.
pictures of trees says
Hey there. my dad let me know about your website a few weeks ago. and I just like it. I'll be subscribing! Right on!
Sapna says
Hey but where do i find this whole wheat pastry flour????
This kind of flour are sold by the name of whole wheat flour itself or just by the name whole wheat flour or 100% whole wheat flour can somebody please guide me????And i stay in Los Angeles in which store i will be able to find this flour..I tried checking in Trader Joes but couldnt find it 🙁
Sapna, whole wheat pastry flour is different from whole wheat flour. The pastry flour is made from soft wheat so has a finer texture but it is as nutritious as the regular whole wheat flour. I'm sure that you will be able to find it in Whole Foods and organic/health food stores.
Madhuri says
Wow!! I just cannot stop drooling!
I love the colour, texture, shape...all of it. Im an admirer of your blog and keep visiting often; love all your recipes, although I must admit I dint ever leave any comments before now. Happy Pongal to you and your family!
Love
Madhuri
Thank you very much Madhuri.
mahimaa says
oh wow!! gorgeous cake. looks very very delicious. lovely pics too. thanks for sharing. i am delighted to receive an entry from cake/cookie expert 🙂
Usha says
The cake looks fantastic, just perfect ! I have never combined banana with chocolate flavor, sounds interesting .
Belated New year wishes to you and your family, have a wonderful 2010 !
ruchikacooks says
Very rich color and looks so moist..grabs the attention as soon as I came here..must be yummy.
simplyfood says
Your cake looks amazing will surely try it.
jayasree says
What a lovely cake.. Pretty design and perfect color. As you suggested I might try with beet puree.