Banana, Date & Walnut Cakes (Vegan)

Name: Banana, Date & Walnut Cakes (Vegan)
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Ingredients: 160g light spelt flour; 40g self raising flour; 20g ground almonds; 10g coconut milk powder; 1 tsp cinnamon; 0.25 tsp ground nutmeg; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 0.25 tsp salt; 250g dates, chopped (a mix of medjool and deglect noor is good); 60g walnuts, chopped; 350g banana, mashed; 1.25 tsp vanilla extract; 200g light brown sugar; 57ml sunflower oil (1/4 cup); 57g Flora plant butter (salted), melted (1/4 cup); 1 tbsp flaxseed, milled; 3 tbsps boiling water; 6 tbsps aquafaba; 20g pearl sugar; 20g walnuts, chopped

15 steps

Prep:1h 30minCook:50min

A light and fruity banana cake, rich with dates and walnuts - somewhere between banana cake and sticky toffee pudding. [Heavily adapted from a non-vegan recipe for "Sticky Banana, Date and Walnut Loaf" on "Australia's Best Recipes", submitted by user Sallymoo.] A note on inclusions: A mixture of medjool and deglect noor dates gives a nice blend of soft and chewier date pieces throughout the cake. The chopped walnuts could easily be substituted with chopped pecans or even omitted, though the nuts do help to lighten what would otherwise be a denser cake. Raisins or chocolate chips could also replace or be added in addition to the nuts, though the cake would start to lose its identity somewhat. The spice mix is down to preference, pumpkin spice or mixed spice could be used instead (1 1/2 tsps or to taste).

Updated at: Thu, 17 Aug 2023 10:32:23 GMT

Ingredients

15 servings

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180C, gas mark 4.

Step 2

Grease and line 3 x 5" deep round loose-bottomed cake tins (an 8" deep round tin would do, as might a 2lb loaf tin, but the baking time will alter). [NB. If your tins are not loose bottomed, ensure you have overlap on the liner to help lift the cakes out.]

Step 3

Chop dates and walnuts (for the cake) to a small size, as you desire, set aside. (Dates are often easier to cut using serrated kitchen scissors, rather than a knife.)

Step 4

Make a flax egg, by adding 3 tbsps of boiling water to the milled flaxseed and setting aside for 10 minutes to gel.

Step 5

Sieve the flours, ground almonds and coconut milk powder in to a large mixing bowl, add the bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices and ensure they are very well mixed.

Step 6

Add chopped dates and walnuts to the flour mix, taking a little care to ensure dates do not clump together, the flour will stop them clumping once they are coated - adding a little at a time and stirring helps.

Step 7

In a mixing bowl, place the sugar, oil, melted "butter", flax egg and aquafaba and beat with an electric whisk for a minute, until the sugar has dissolved completely in the liquid and it has turned a little frothy.

Step 8

Mash the bananas to a mostly smooth paste, add the vanilla extract and stir-in well.

Step 9

Add the mashed banana mix to the sugar, oil and "egg" mixture and whisk again for a short while to integrate them well and get some air in to the mixture.

Step 10

Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry and fold together until all the flour is well integrated, but as little mixing as possible.

Step 11

Spoon in to lined tins and level off, the batter is quite sloppy so be careful.

Step 12

Sprinkle additional chopped walnuts and pearl sugar over the top of each cake, evenly and gently tap down all over with the back of a spoon, so that the topping is not loose on top of the batter, but slightly submerged or at least stuck fast.

Step 13

Bake for approximately 45-55 minutes on a middle shelf in the oven. The internal temperature of the middle of the cake should be around 95C when cooked, or when the edges are just receding from the pan and a skewer/tester comes out essentially clean, or at least dry.

Step 14

Leave in tins for 10 minutes and then carefully remove and cool completely on wire racks. [If your tins are not loose-bottomed, it may be worth leaving the cakes in the tin for 20 minutes to become more solid before attempting to remove them.]

Step 15

Store in a tin, in a cool, dry place. Will probably last up to a week - note the banana flavour and banana bread texture will intensify over time, usually best left at least a day before starting the cake after baking.