Banana cake- vegan with date caramel
This Banana and Caramel Cake is easy to make, plus it's vegan and has a delicious lemon buttercream and thick caramel centre.
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 280 ml almond milk ( or any non dairy milk) 1 cup + 1 Tbspn
- 20 ml apple cider vinegar 1 Tablsp
- 450 kg flour 3 cups
- 2 teaspoon baking powder 12 gm
- 1 tsp baking soda 7 gm
- 350 gm caster sugar 1 3/4 cups
- 220 gm nutlex or non dairy butter 1 cup
- 1/2 teasp salt 2 gm
- 240 gm banana, mashed 2 large
- 30 ml vanilla extract 1 1/2 Tablsp
Date Cramel Filling
- 200 gm dates
- 125 ml water 1/2 cup
- 60 gm golden syrup 3 Tblsp
- 125 ml coconut cream 1/2 cup
- 1 tsp salt, flaked to taste
Lemon buttercream
- 250 gm nutlex 1 cup
- 325 gm icing sugar 2 1/2 cups
- 10 ml vanilla extract 2 teaspoons
- 20 ml lemon juice + zest 1 Tbsp
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
Cake
- You will need a 23-24 cm (9 inch) cake tin for the cake pictured. For a slab cake choose a 23 x 23 extra deep (9 x9 in). Preheat the oven to 160C (320 F).
- Measure the non-dairy milk and add the vinegar stir well and let this stand until it separates. Should the milk not appear to curdle add another tablespoon. Peel and mash the banana in a bowl and set aside
- Cream the nutlex, vanilla and sugar until it is light and fluffy. This will take 8 to 10 minutes. Best to use a mixer if possible to get the airiest texture
- Weight the flour and whisk in the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and set aside
- Add the mashed banana into the creamed mixture and mix in well, scraping down and mixing again. Add 1/2 of the flour mix and half of the buttermilk and mix well. Add the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk and scrape down before mixing well.
- Divide the batter between two paper lined greased tins. Bake the cakes for 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake skewer comes out clean when inserted. When cooked turn out and cool.
Caramel filling
- Chop the dates. This will remove any seeds and help them break down more rapidly when cooked. Put the dates, golden syrup, and coconut into a pot and heat gently stirring and crushing the dates as they cook. To get an even smoother texture the mixture can be put into a food processor or blender. Set aside. The mixture can be made a head and chilled. Add salt to taste
Lemon Buttercream
- Put the non dairy butter into a bowl of a mixer. Beat with the paddle until light. Add the vanilla, salt and lemon zest and mix again.
- Gradually add the icing sugar. You made need more or a little less depending on your taste. Finish with the lemon juice and mix well
Applying buttercream
- Put the date caramel into the centre of the cake leaving a border around the outer circle of the cake ( approx 5 cm thick). I pipe a circle of buttercream around this circle and then put the second layer of cake on top.
- Use the rest of the buttercream to cover the cake and decorate however you like.
Notes
Making non dairy buttermilk: It is made by measuring the milk and then adding vinegar and letting it sit until it looks curdled. If you wanted to make dairy buttermilk you would do it in the same way.
Lemon Buttercream: The cake pictured has a double recipe of buttercream. This is so the cake can have a thick coating inside and out and leave enough to put some decorations on the top if needed.
Using non-dairy butter. Nuttlex is often the best "butter" to use. It can be expensive, so you can also find non-dairy margarine in some supermarkets. Aldi has a great one (sunny-vale- 1 kg). It's inexpensive and does the job.
When completing a cake I like to take off the browned crust. This can be done with a small paring knife. This is entirely up to you though. I also sometimes like to make a lemon syrup to paint onto my cake for extra flavour too ( 1 cup of sugar to 1/2 cup of lemon juice+ 1/2 cup of water, just melted together then painted onto the cake)