The best banana bread recipe (vegan)

I have never liked bananas.
In my baby book, detailing the beginnings of my life, my mum wrote the following:

My favourite food: Most food
Foods that I do not like: Bananas

Both comments remain true to this day. If for some reason my life depended on eating a banana I could attempt a really under ripe, green tinted bitter tasting specimen, but the minute they get a speck of browning? Forget it. I buy bananas with the best will in the world, intending to convince myself of their vitamin filled energy packed goodness. Every time, without fail, they end up just sitting there.

So, what to do with them?

This recipe has been a blessing and a curse. It provided me with the most delicious use for these overripe fruits that would otherwise cause my stomach to churn, but the recipe is so good I now deliberately let the bananas go to ruin and end up eating loads of cake.
Ok, I lied. Having to eat lots of cake would probably be my favourite curse ever.

The good news is, you can have your cake and eat it and be gentle too. This yummy recipe is vegan. I'm vegetarian, but trying to learn about and enforce limitation on my animal product use and consumption all the time. This has been an important part of my gentle living quest so far and my diet is predominantly vegan now.

I am under no illusions about the healthiness of this cake though - it's a squidgy, moist, sweet, indulgent banana based treat that would have King Louie jumping for joy.

See, told you!

Here's the recipe. It's originally from the BBC Good Food website and their member who submitted the recipe has my eternal cake loving thanks. It's so beautifully simple to make and was a real hit at a friend's birthday tea party recently. If you are vegan, it's a good one for showing just how great cakes can be without dairy and eggs.

Banana Bread recipe (vegan)

Ingredients:

• 225g Plain flour (if you use self-raising flour, reduce this to 2 heaped tsp)
• 3 heaped tsp Baking powder - don't heap if you loaf tin is small...as I found out
• 100g Brown sugar
• 3 tsp Cinnamon (or Mixed spice)
• 3 large very ripe bananas, mashed
• 75g Vegetable or Sunflower oil (weight)
• 50g Dried fruit or nuts (optional) - I usually add dairy free chocolate drops
  
  You could also add 3 tablespoons of peanut butter...just saying.

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees Celcius.
   
2. Mash the peeled bananas with a fork. Mix well with oil and sugar.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and cinnamon, and combine well.
4. Add any additional ingredients.
   Now's your chance! Add chocolate and peanut butter, quick!
5. Baked in a greased and lined 2lb loaf tin for 20 minutes, before checking.
   Cover with foil, if the loaf cake is browning.
   Bake for another 40 minutes (approximately).
6. Allow to cool a little before slicing. It's delicious freshly baked but even yummier when it goes gooey the next day! She is soooo right.
   
   
   There you have it! Here's some pics of the one I made yesterday...

Hope you enjoy making and eating it. In the interests of kindness to your fellow humans, you could even share some with family, friends, colleagues, strangers - anyone! Remember: everybody loves cake.

Please let me know how it goes if you do! :)