yummy chocolate and banana celebration cake

Chocolate and Banana Celebration Cake 

This is my 'go-to' cake if I want something easy, yummy and decadent. It's lovely and squidgy because of the banana, and I've never had an issue with it rising or going badly wrong (which makes me think it is probably a miracle cake). 

It's also dead easy to bake, which is a bonus, and a good way to use up bananas that have gone a bit too brown to be appealing. The picture above is me feeling jolly proud of myself after baking a feast for everyone. Cheesy grin and pinny not essential but encouraged!

This is based on a recipe from Viva's vegan cooking guides. Viva are an absolutely fantastic animal rights vegan living charity who do a lot of good work exposing animal cruelty and encouraging people into a vegan lifestyle. So check them out!

Serves 6 or more, depending on how much you can scoff. 

200g of plain flour
50g of cocoa powder
3 bananas - ripe!
130ml soya milk (or other non-dairy milk)
200g caster sugar
2 drops vanilla essence 
100g vegan margarine, melted

two 7 inch cake tins

For the filling

175g vegan margarine 
120g icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder (optional) 
splash of soya milk (only if the mixture is too dry)


1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

2. Put the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder in a bowl together. Sift if you can, and make sure this is a big enough bowl for all of the cake ingredients. 

3. In a separate bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until there's only small lumps and it's nice and squidgy. Add the soya milk, vanilla essence and sugar, and mix together

4. Melt the margarine over the heat in a pan or in the microwave until it's melted. Add that to the banana mixture

5. Pour the banana mixture into the dry ingredients bowl and mix thoroughly. 

6. Grease two 7-inch cake tins and pour roughly half the mixture into each. If you want to be clever about this, you could weigh the mixture, but I am not that clever

7. Cook in the centre of the oven for about 45 minutes - check it after 35 to make sure it's not burning.

8. While it's cooking, wash up and make the cream filling! Mix the margarine and the icing sugar together. Try not to choke in the icing sugar cloud this will produce. Keep mixing and mixing until the consistency looks smooth. Pop in the fridge. 

9. Let the cake cool on something without a firm bottom - like a wire rack- so it can breathe and let the heat out. Don't be tempted to put the buttercream on while the cake is even a little bit warm, because it will slide right off. Eat a bit of the buttercream to keep yourself occupied if needs be.

10. Use two thirds of the filling to spread in the middle - place the filling on top of one layer, and pop the other layer on top of that. Use the remaining filling for the top of the cake, and use any other decorations you fancy. 

11. Take pleased picture of yourself holding the cake 

Do you have a favourite cake recipe? Has anyone tried a vegetable cake, like beetroot or courgette?