A rather virtuous & moreish vegan banana cake

I love this banana cake recipe. Why I should be so surprised that it's moist, moreish & totally delicious & what a banana cake should taste like is beyond me. I guess because I think a cake is usually helped along by a generous dose of sugar! However this definitely disproves that theory. Healthy, wholemeal, vegan, processed sugar free, low fat and packed with oats too. 

If you feel this recipe is just a step too far into healthiness you could always add a cream cheese or (throwing all caution to the wind!) a peanut butter icing. Both would be a tasty addition but I personally don't think this recipe needs it. 

For all my cake baking experience it is still something of a mystery to me and I am always surprised when the chemical reactions have done their thing and something edible appears. I am much happier with a savoury dish - where I can add a pinch of this or that and more often than not create without thinking too much. Using my mental back catalogue of flavour & ingredient combinations. 

Baking involves me having to concentrate - which can be a struggle for my butterfly mind. You have to weigh things out and measure! But a good lesson in mindfulness I am sure. Your mind cannot wander too far off the present moment to be a successful baker, and being in the 'now' is something I am always aiming for - in life as in baking...
Let me know what you think, and also if you have any of your own tried and tested favourite banana cake recipes.

Bon appetit and I hope you enjoy. I think it's delicious. Great with a cup of tea, on picnics, for a healthy snack whilst out and about and for packed lunches. Also a great food for cyclists - who we all know only cycle so they can eat more cake. I am of course only basing this on personal cycling experience! This recipe does however have a good combination of slow and fast release energy with the combination of dried fruit and oats. 

A rather virtuous & moreish vegan banana cake

a rather virtuous and moreish vegan banana cake recipe

recipe adapted from: Oaty Banana Cake by The Vegan Society

preparation time:5-10 minutes

cooking time: approx 50-60 minutes

cooking hints & tips: 

• you can add chopped nuts to the recipe if you would like - just add your choice of nut (about 75-100g) when you add the dry ingredients. 

• a great way of using up ripe bananas - cutting down on waste food is always a good thing.

ingredients:

360g ripe banana

115g raisins/sultanas

115g wholemeal flour

115g oats

90ml oil (I used rapeseed)

60ml cold tea/water

1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

method:

1. preheat the oven to gas 5/190c and grease and line a 2lb loaf tin
2. mix and mash the banana with the raisins, then add the oil and tea/water. You can do this by hand or give it a quick whizz in a food processor
3. fold in the flour, oats, cinnamon and baking soda and spoon the cake mix into your prepared tin.
4. bake for 50-60 minutes. It's done when a skewer comes out clean
5. leave for 10-15 minutes in the tin before turning our to cool on a wire rack. Leave to cool completely before slicing and eating. Enjoy!

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