Hey there! How are you?
I’m feeling really rested and refreshed after a weekend away without the children. More on that later this week but for now I thought I’d share this really easy vegan cake recipe that I made with my eldest daughter.
I love baking, I find it really therapeutic and since I realised that being allergic to dairy and eggs didnt mean I’d have to give up cake, its been brilliant. Vegan cake is the way forward.
Eldest has always loved to bake with me (cant think why) but now she’s at school its showing her how she can apply what she learns though literacy and numeracy. Reading the recipe and measuring the ingredients- well you get the picture.
We fancied making something new to us, we always end up doing chocolate cake or cookies so this time we didnt go down the chocolate route.
The recipe we used is from Ms. Cupcake: The Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town.
If you are a vegan you will obviously need to make sure your ingredients are suitable for vegans- I’m working here from my own basis which is Dairy & Egg allergy.
For vegan Strawberry & Banana Muffins you will need;
- 560g self raising flour
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp baking powder
- 250g caster sugar (I actually used granulated without any issue)
- 1 over ripe banana
- 350ml of your preferred non dairy milk. I used Alpro Almond unsweetened
- 320ml of sunflower oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 fresh strawberries- hulled and roughly chopped
For the optional vanilla glaze;
- 20g icing sugar
- 2 tbsp non dairy milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Assemble all your ingredients (we bought ours from our local Co-Op, which has a surprisingly large baking range) and equipment so they are to hand and you dont have to go searching for stuff halfway through. Such a pain! Set the oven to Gas mark 4/ 180 C /350 F.
Mash up your banana with a fork in the mixing bowl. So there are no large lumps- some small ones are are okay.
Add the sugar and oil and mix well, so the mixture resembles caramel. Add the milk and vanilla and mix.
Then using a sieve add the flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda.
And mix! Before its too combined add the strawberries and fold them in gently.
THAT’S IT.
Seriously, I told you it was easy. It took us about 20 mins max to make the mix.
Spoon into your American muffin cases (bigger than fairy cake cases) so they are about two thirds full.
Its at this point we realised that the batter was going to go way further than we expected, so we poured the rest into a loaf tin. This recipe makes loads- so if you wanted to half the measurements then go for it.
Pop onto the middle shelf in the oven and bake your cupcakes for about 25 minutes. The loaf will need 10-15 minutes longer. Use a cocktail stick to check they are baked through. If it comes out clean or with a crumb on then its done.
To make the icing- mix all the ingredients together and spoon onto the cakes once they’ve cooled a bit.
To be honest the cakes are sweet enough without the icing so I think this part is totally optional. When I make these muffins again I’ll not bother with the icing.
The verdict though…. Well tasty! Eldest said they tasted like strawberry jam and I have to agree. I’ve never baked using fresh strawberries before but certainly will in the future.
These cakes were light, so soft, and reminiscent of strawberries and cream tea- the banana flavour wasn’t overpowering and it gave a definite creaminess I haven’t experienced for a while.
These were a huge hit in our house and both the loaf and the muffins were gone in less than 48 hours!
susan earlam ~ horror author 
I would love your input