Vegan Banana Cake

Bread? Cake? Bread? Cake?

This was the debate going on in my head as I tried to determine what to call this banana deliciousness. I originally came up with this recipe while I was living in Maui. My friend, who was vegan, loved banana bread, but as it's traditionally made with eggs and butter he was unable to partake of it. Being the oh-so-compassionate *read always up for a baking challenge* person that I am, I took it upon myself to create a tasty vegan banana bread. I believe I have done just that (and I think the whole loaves that were consumed within the day they were made stand as proof).

Fast forward to this morning. 

I had not made this recipe since I left Maui in February. Now for those of you a little rusty on your geography, Colorado Springs is slightly higher in altitude than Wailuku, HI where this recipe was born. And for those of you unfamiliar with baking, altitude affects baking results. So as you can imagine, I was slightly nervous that this banana bread would be a giant flop.

As you can tell from the pictures, it came out just fine, if not just more cake-like. However, I am unsure if the cakiness (yes, I've decided that's a word) is more of a result of the altitude or the fact that neither Molly or I have a loaf pan anymore so I had to use two cake pans to bake it.

 It would have been totally awesome if i had a food processor and some cashews. Then I could have made some cashew cream to smear in between and on top of the cakes to make a layered banana cake. That would have been really tasty. But I'll just throw that idea out there for you guys to try and hopefully sometime in the near future I'll be able to make it too. 

Okay, I'm done rambling now. On to the recipe! 

Vegan Banana Cake

• 3 Ripe Bananas
• 1/3 Cup Coconut Oil, melted or at least softened
• 2/3 Cup Pure Cane Sugar (Date, Palm or Coconut are fine, too)
• 1/3 Cup Almond Milk (2/3 Cup for muffins or cupcakes)
• 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1 Flax Egg (1 Tablespoon Ground Flax seed dissolved in water)
• 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
• 1 Teaspoon Sea Salt
• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

Makes 1 loaf or 2 6-inch cakes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flax seed with 3 tablespoons water and set aside. In a medium bowl, use a fork to mash the bananas with coconut oil and sugar, mix well. Add flaxseeds, vanilla and milk, mix well. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add the dry mix to the wet and stir until just combined, do not over mix. Pour batter into loaf or cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed cleanly. 

One thing is for sure, this recipe has been tested at various altitudes and always comes out dense and moist. Whether you decided to make it a bread or a cake, I will leave that up to you.

So what would you call this recipe? Cake or Bread?

Have you had much experience baking at different altitudes?