Decadent Vegan Banana Cake with Irresistible Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting: Your Go-To Recipe for Moist & Fluffy Plant-Based Perfection

Discover the ultimate vegan banana cake, a true celebration of flavor and texture! This easy-to-make, incredibly fluffy, and moist banana cake is generously layered with a smooth, creamy chocolate peanut butter buttercream. It’s the perfect plant-based dessert for any occasion, guaranteed to impress every palate.

There’s a special kind of magic that happens when bananas reach that perfect stage of ripeness – those beautiful brown spots signaling peak sweetness and flavor. Lately, the weather has been so wonderfully warm that my bananas seem to ripen at an astonishing speed, often faster than my family can eat them. For me, once they develop those tell-tale black spots, they’re simply too soft to enjoy as a snack. However, this isn’t a problem, but rather an exciting opportunity! Overripe bananas are an absolute gift for baking, lending incredible moisture and natural sweetness to any confection. This abundance of perfectly blackened bananas provides the ideal excuse to whip up this spectacular vegan banana cake, crowned with a rich chocolate peanut butter frosting.

This recipe is truly a joy to make, straightforward enough for even novice bakers, yet yielding results that taste incredibly gourmet. The cake itself boasts a wonderfully light and fluffy texture, with the mashed bananas imparting an abundance of natural moisture that keeps every slice tender and delightful. The subtle hint of cinnamon perfectly complements the banana, creating a comforting and familiar flavor profile that’s universally loved.

But what truly elevates this dessert to extraordinary status is the buttercream. It’s light, irresistibly creamy, and bursting with a harmonious blend of rich chocolate and nutty peanut butter. These two classic flavors are a match made in heaven for banana, intensifying the cake’s natural sweetness and creating an utterly moreish experience. Each bite offers a perfect balance of sweet, savory, and fruity notes.

To add an extra layer of delight, I chose to decorate this beautiful cake very simply with crunchy banana chips and delicate chocolate curls. These toppings don’t just add visual appeal; they introduce a fantastic textural contrast, providing a satisfying crunch against the soft, yielding cake. It’s these thoughtful touches that transform a simple banana cake into a memorable treat.

Creating this vegan banana cake and its luxurious buttercream was an absolute dream, largely thanks to my new Kenwood Kmix stand mixer, kindly sent to me for review by JD Williams. This machine is an absolute powerhouse, making light work of everything I’ve thrown at it. Operating it is intuitive and smooth, and I’ve found myself reaching for it constantly since it arrived. Its robust performance truly streamlines the baking process, turning what could be arduous tasks into effortless steps.

Since welcoming it into my kitchen, this Kmix has been instrumental in preparing several of my favorite recipes. I’ve used it to create both the cake and buttercream for my vegan chocolate, orange, and almond cake, kneaded the perfect dough for my chewy focaccia, and even tackled a few other exciting recipes that are eagerly awaiting their blog debut!

The 1000W motor is incredibly efficient, handling dense bread doughs with impressive ease and maintaining high-speed mixing for extended periods without faltering. It’s a reassuringly heavy and solidly built mixer, reflecting its premium quality. The generous 5-liter capacity glass mixing bowl is another standout feature, accommodating large batches of batter or dough without any spills or mess. This robust construction and powerful motor make it an indispensable tool for any passionate baker, especially for recipes like this layered banana cake that require thorough mixing for both the cake batter and the voluminous frosting.

Flexibility is key in baking, and the Kenwood Kmix excels with its six speed settings. These range from a very slow, gentle stir – ideal for incorporating dry ingredients without overmixing – to a powerful, very fast speed that’s perfect for whipping up light meringues or fluffy buttercreams. This versatility ensures that you have precise control over your mixing, which is crucial for achieving the desired consistency in various recipes.

The mixer comes complete with essential attachments: a K-beater, a balloon whisk, and a dough hook, covering all your basic baking needs. An incredibly useful addition is the splash guard, which has saved my kitchen from countless clouds of icing sugar when making buttercream – a minor detail that makes a huge difference in tidiness and ease of cleanup.

Thoughtful design extends to storage as well; all the attachments fit neatly within the bowl, with the splash guard resting on top when the mixer is not in use. This eliminates the need to search for extra drawer space, keeping everything organized and readily accessible on your counter. Furthermore, the option to purchase additional attachments, such as pasta rollers, grinders, mincers, slicers, and fruit presses, significantly expands its functionality, making it a true kitchen multi-tasker.

In summary, I am absolutely enamored with this Kenwood Kmix. It’s user-friendly, incredibly versatile, and consistently performs exceptionally well. Its robust construction suggests it will be a reliable companion in my kitchen for many, many years to come. Beyond its impressive functionality, it boasts a sleek design that looks fantastic, making it a proud centerpiece on my counter rather than something to be tucked away.

How To Make Vegan Banana Cake With Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting:

(For a complete list of ingredients and detailed step-by-step instructions, please refer to the comprehensive recipe card below. This ensures accuracy and ease of following.)

*Achieving the best possible results truly depends on following the recipe instructions closely. As always, I cannot stress enough the importance of using gram measurements with a digital scale rather than cup conversions. Cup measurements, especially for baking, are notoriously inaccurate and can significantly impact the final texture and consistency of your cake. For guaranteed success, always opt for grams.*

Begin the cake preparation by combining your dry ingredients. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the sifted plain (all-purpose) flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Mix these on a low speed until they are just uniformly combined. Sifting the flour beforehand helps to aerate it and prevent lumps, ensuring a smoother batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the mashed overripe bananas (the riper, the better for sweetness and moisture!), light brown soft sugar, sunflower oil, unsweetened plant milk (soy milk works wonderfully here for richness), white wine vinegar, and vanilla extract. The vinegar reacts with the bicarbonate of soda, helping the cake to rise and achieve its fluffy texture, while the oil contributes to its incredible moistness.

Now, carefully add the whisked wet ingredients into the stand mixer bowl with the dry mixture. Mix on a low speed until the ingredients are just combined. It’s crucial not to over-mix at this stage; overmixing can develop the gluten in the flour too much, resulting in a dense, tough cake rather than the desired light and fluffy texture.

Divide the luscious batter evenly between your two prepared cake tins. Bake them in the preheated oven until they turn a beautiful golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the very center of the cakes comes out perfectly clean. This indicates they are thoroughly cooked through. Allow them to cool in the tins for a short while before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely, ensuring they firm up properly before frosting.

To prepare the dreamy chocolate peanut butter buttercream, start by whisking together the dairy-free margarine (preferably a solid stick variety for better structure) and vegetable shortening until the mixture is smooth and creamy. This combination helps to create a stable and wonderfully textured vegan frosting.

Next, gradually add the sifted icing (powdered) sugar to the margarine and shortening mixture. Begin mixing on a low speed to incorporate the sugar without creating a dust cloud, then increase the speed to high and whisk vigorously until the mixture is well combined and becomes light and fluffy. Remember to utilize your stand mixer’s splash guard during this step to keep your kitchen spotless!

For the grand finale of the buttercream, whisk in the cooled melted dark chocolate, rich cocoa powder, smooth creamy peanut butter (it’s important to use a firm, not runny, natural peanut butter for the best consistency), and a splash of vanilla extract. These ingredients transform the buttercream into a deeply flavored, indulgent frosting that perfectly complements the banana cake.

A Word On Vegan Buttercream: Troubleshooting Tips

From experience, I’ve found that vegan buttercream can sometimes be a bit more temperamental and prone to splitting compared to its dairy-based counterpart. To help combat this, I typically use a 50/50 ratio of solid dairy-free butter substitute (the kind that comes in a stick, not a tub, for better consistency) and vegetable shortening. Even with this precaution, it can still occasionally split. But don’t despair! A split buttercream is often salvageable with a few clever tricks.

If you encounter a split buttercream, here are my tried-and-true solutions, in the order I recommend trying them:

1. **Chill and Re-whip:** Place the entire bowl of buttercream in the fridge for one to two hours, or until it becomes quite firm. Once chilled, return it to your stand mixer and re-whip it on a high speed. This change in temperature often helps the fats re-emulsify and brings the buttercream back together into a smooth, cohesive consistency.
2. **Introduce Melted Chocolate:** If chilling and re-whipping alone isn’t enough, try adding a small amount of cooled, melted chocolate. Chocolate contains soy lecithin, a natural emulsifier, which can work wonders in stabilizing a split buttercream. Add it slowly while whisking on a medium speed.
3. **Add More Icing Sugar:** As a last resort, whisk in a tablespoon or two of extra sifted icing sugar. The additional dry ingredient can sometimes help absorb excess liquid and bind the mixture together.

By following these steps, you should be able to rescue your buttercream and achieve that perfectly smooth, pipeable consistency needed for decorating your magnificent vegan banana cake.

More Delicious Vegan Banana Recipes:

If you find yourself with more overripe bananas (or simply can’t get enough of this amazing fruit!), here are some other fantastic vegan banana recipes from my kitchen you might enjoy:

• Fluffy vegan banana pancakes – Perfect for a weekend breakfast!
• Banana porridge with blueberry compote – A warm, comforting start to your day.
• Banana bread cinnamon rolls – Two classics combined into one incredible treat.
• Vegan Biscoff banana bread – An exciting twist with caramelized biscuit flavor.
• Vegan chocolate banana bread – For the chocolate lovers!
• Banana nut muffins – A delightful and easy-to-make snack.
• Vegan chunky monkey ice cream – A refreshing, no-churn dessert.

If you tried this absolutely delicious vegan banana cake recipe, I would be thrilled to see your creations! Please consider tagging @domestic_gothess on Instagram and using the hashtag #domesticgothess to share your baking success with our community!

I was generously sent the Kenwood Kmix stand mixer for review purposes, but please be assured that I was not compensated financially for this post, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own, reflecting my genuine experience with the product.