Vegan Banana Drip Cake (with chocolate avocado icing)
This recipe is in my top three most-ordered cakes at Bee’s Bakery; it is honestly one of the best, and when we get an order in for it, I always accidentally-on-purpose make way too much batter. You really need super-duper, almost grossly overripe bananas for this recipe.
This recipe makes the base cake as shown in the image, which we then covered in sugar paste and added chocolate drips and dehydrated fruits.
MAKES TWO 20-CM/8-INCH ROUND CAKES
FOR THE BANANA CAKE
8 very ripe and blackened medium-sized bananas
350 g/12¼ oz/1¾ cup soft brown sugar
120 ml/4¼ fl oz/½ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla-bean extract
375 g/13 oz/3 cups self-raising flour
A large pinch of salt
FOR THE CHOCOLATE AVOCADO ICING
100 g/3½ oz super-ripe avocado (around 1 whole one)
50 g/1¾ oz/¹⁄³cup cocoa powder
75–100 ml/2½ –3½ fl oz/¹⁄³–½ cup maple syrup (depends on the wetness of the avocado, and how sweet you like it)
40–50 g/1½ –1 ¾ oz/¼–¹⁄³cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate pieces for extra crunch
FOR THE VEGAN BUTTERCREAM
500 g/1 lb 1⅔ oz/2 ¼ cups soft, non-dairy spread (or vegetable margarine)
600 g/1 lb 5 oz/4 ¾ cups icing (powdered) sugar
1–2 tsp vanilla-bean extract
⅓ tsp yellow paste/gel food colouring (use a vegan brand)
Preheat your oven to 160°C/350°F/gas 4, and line two 20-cm/8-inch round baking tins with good-quality parchment paper.
Mash, beat and whisk your bananas together with the sugar, until they are smooth with absolutely no lumps, lighter in colour and a little bubbly in texture – this should take about 10 minutes by bicep, or 5 minutes in a food mixer. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla, and beat until well combined.
Next, add in the flour and salt, and mix until combined, ensuring no lumps.
Pour your mixture into the tins, spreading the mixture evenly, all the way to the edges, and make a slight well in the middle to ensure the cake rises evenly.
Bake for around 30–35 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean and the sponge bounces back when pressed.
Meanwhile, prepare your chocolate and avocado icing (or another frosting of your choice). Throw all the ingredients into a blender and blitz until combined and add more maple syrup if it’s not sweet enough for you. When cool, remove the cakes from the tin, trim off any knobbly bits so the tops are nice and flat, then layer them up with a thin layer of buttercream. Once you’ve stacked the layers up, ice the sides and top in your favourite style and add chocolate drips or other frostings or decorations as you like.
This recipe is adapted from Bee’s Adventures in Cake Decorating by Bee Berrie.
