Banana bread… I always thought it sounded weird. The combination of bread and bananas seemed strange to me. (Well, maybe not that strange, since my mom used to eat mashed bananas with brown sugar on bread).
Because some bananas, 4 to be precise, were turning overripe, I decided to try this strange type of bread. The problem is that I never stop looking for recipes, so after some time searching I was loaded with recipes for vegan banana bread. I decided to go with the recipe with cacao from That’s So Vegan, but of course I altered a few things.
Guess what? I don’t understand why they call it bananan bread. Because everyone calls it like this, I did too, but eventually it’s a delicious cake that slightly tastes like banana. It doesn’t taste that banana-ey, the light sweet taste comes out in the right amount. And the cacao… is excellent company for the banana!
Layered Banana Bread (adapted from this recipe at That’s So Vegan)
Makes one bread
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
4 ripe bananas
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
Preheat your oven to 180ºC and lightly butter a rectangular baking pan.
Whisk together the canola oil and sugar in a large bowl. Let the vanilla soy milk and the apple cider vinegar curdle for a few minutes.
Mash the bananas into the sugar mixture and stir in the applesauce, vanilla soy milk and vanilla. Sift in the flours and the baking powder and mix. Don’t overmix the dough, it is better to stir with a fork or spatula.
Pour half of the batter into the buttered baking pan and mix in the cocoa powder through the remaining dough. Poor this onto the dough in the baking pan and put it in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour.
Tip: I always use an old knitting needle to see if the cake is done. This is more convenient then a toothpick or a fork because you can pierce to the bottom of the cake (without burning your hands ;)).
The Green Cuisine 