This Banana Bread Cake {with gluten-free option} is a healthier cake recipe you can feel good about. A double layer cake with a naturally-sweet Vegan Coconut Frosting.
You’ll love this healthier cake with gluten-free option!
Hi Everyone, how is your month going? We are full-swing into the spring season which means celebrations and definitely cakes in our future.
We do not need to fully give up on our health goals from New Year’s though, right?
This Banana Bread Cake with Vegan Coconut Frosting offers naturally sweet options (or you can use traditional sugar). It also offers banana in the form of banana bread for the cake layers. I love having a double layer cake that I can feed my family and myself, totally guilt-free. We can truly “have our cake and eat it too”.
Let’s talk about the vegan coconut frosting!
For the frosting, we have a vegan coconut frosting which is just as delicious as it’s counterpart – and guess what? It’s naturally sweet and dairy free with the use of coconut milk. Why not get all those healthy fats too while we are at it?
This vegan coconut frosting is so much more than just frosting. After you make it, if you chill it, it can be eaten like a mousse or used like whipped cream for other desserts. You could add fruit and berries and make an endless number of delicious desserts. So versatile!
A Gluten-Free Option:
I even give you a gluten-free option for our gluten-free friends! I recommend Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour for this recipe.
This cake has it all! It’s delicious and it’s unexpected in the form of banana bread (many people’s favorite comfort food) now turned cake.
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour, or the same amount all-purpose flour or cake flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, preferably aluminum free
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, preferably Saigon cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 eggs, large, I used farm fresh eggs
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup wildflower honey
- 3 mashed medium ripe bananas
- 2 13-14 oz cans full fat coconut milk (I like Thai Kitchen brand), chilled for 24 hours
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or substitute 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Open 2 cans of coconut milk, spoon out the solid milk cream on the top, into a large mixing bowl. You can either save the clear coconut water for a smoothie or other recipe, or discard.
- In the large mixing bowl, add vanilla and maple syrup, and using a hand held electric mixer, mix the ingredients until fully blended and smooth.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease both 6" cake pans, set aside. Add 2 rounds of parchment to the bottom of the cake pans to help it come out of the the pan better. Grease over the parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg).
- You can mash the bananas by hand using a large fork or potato masher. I prefer to use a blender (or food processor would work too) to get the bananas puréed. This should only take a few moments on the purée or liquefy setting of your blender.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, puréed banana, sugar, and oil. Add the eggs to the flour mixture and stir until combined. It's okay if it's a little lumpy. Spread the batter into the cake pans, divided evenly.
- Bake for 22 minutes to 27 minutes. You can check if it's done by inserting a knife or toothpick into the center and it should come out clean if it's done. When it's done, let the cake cool in the pan about 10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. You can use a bread knife to cut the rounded tops off the cake layers so that the layers are level. Make sure the layers are completely cool before cutting or frosting.
- Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting in a thin, even layer on top of the first layer and then add the 2nd cake layer. Add more frosting to the top and sides. Spread the frosting in an even layer until completely covered. Chill the cake for at least a half hour to firm up the frosting. Enjoy!
Notes
Home Chef Tips: 1. You will need 2 round cake pans (6 inches diameter x 2 inches high). 2. In place of the maple syrup and honey you can sub 1 cup granulated white sugars. 3. Give the cake time to firm up in the fridge by chilling for at least 1/2 hour. If you have one, use a cake carrier to store it in so that it does not dry out in the fridge. 4. If you have a cake spinner and either a cake decorating comb or bench scraper with a flat edge you can easily get this "naked cake" look. 5. An offset spatula is perfect for applying the frosting.

We hope you enjoy this Banana Bread Cake with Vegan Coconut Frosting from SoFabFood Home Chef, Sara from Life’s Little Sweets, as much as we do. If you love this recipe, be sure to visit our Dessert Section for more like it. For daily recipe inspiration, like us on Facebook and follow us on Pinterest. Enjoy!
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