Best Banana Cake

I blame the dessert obsession on Jonathan (and his entire family!). However, I post a lot of dessert recipes because it's a "food category" that is inevitably loaded with milk and eggs, so we nearly always have to make them from scratch if we're looking to keep things Amaris safe. I know I'm supposed to post dinner ideas, but I guess I'm lazy with it because we don't make many "casseroles" or complicated dishes, so I forget to post simple things. I'll get on it eventually. Anyhow, this is a superb banana cake. I have strayed away from the vegan cream cheese icing recipes because I just don't think it turns out quite as well, so that may not be appealing to some since "traditionally" banana cake is iced with cream cheese icing. We mainly use homemade butter cream varieties, or if I am short on time (and butter), we'll buy a tub of the premade stuff by Pillsbury-many, many of these varieties are made without milk products. They're soy-based. With that said...this cake is fantastic, and would've been gone within 2 days at our house if Jonathan didn't leave a knife in the cake box that he had used to mince garlic with...I cannot handle garlic butter cream icing. He, however, did not seem deterred...I maintain, the dessert habits of our house hold are entirely his fault.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 C all-purpose flour (I don't suggest "healthifying" this one with whole wheat flour. suck it up...dessert just isn't super healthful)
2 t baking powder
3/4 t cinnamon
1/2 t baking soda
1 C mashed ripe bananas (about 2 decent sized)
1/2 C vegan butter substitute at room temperature (I highly recommend Earth Balance Buttery sticks)
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
1 C soymilk (I may have used vanilla here, not sure)
2 t white vinegar
1 t vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350. Oil and flour 2 8-inch cake pans. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda in a bowl. In a separate, larger bowl, combine bananas and butter substitute, beat until creamy (either electric or by hand). Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Beat in soymilk, vinegar and vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined-don't overmix! Pour evenly into cake pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown, toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

This is the buttercream icing recipe I used:

1 3/4-2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C vegan butter substitute softened, but not at room temperature
1 t vanilla
a few teaspooons of non dairy milk to create the texture you're looking for

combine all ingredients and beat with electric mixer until fluffy, or throw it into a food processer (this is what the recipe suggests, though I have never done it...I go the electric mixer route). Note-I mess around with these quantities to create the texture and taste I'm looking for...so don't be too fussy about the exact measurements of ingredients here.

This icing is pretty firm, so I would suggest either making it right before you want to ice and eat the cake, or if you're making it ahead and refrigerating it (I usually do), let it set out at room temperature for a bit and then fluff it up (just by hand, with a spatula or something) before you start to ice the cake. Many of the vegan icing recipes don't hold up well for days on end, but this one was fine. We didn't refrigerate it either. You could try to use the cream cheese recipe I have posted with the carrot cake recipe...in which case you would be dealing with refrigeration.