Vegan Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

I am officially in panic mode.  My mom emailed me a few days ago and said “OMG.  There is less than a month until we go to Singapore.  I need to lose four pounds– I gain weight every time I go home!”  I looked at my calendar, and sure enough, our flight is in less than 3 weeks.

My mom, brother and I go to Singapore every year or so.  My mother is a native Singaporean, and now that my grandparents are getting older, we’ve been much better about visiting on a regular basis.  I love Singapore … it’s steaming hot, bustling, and really different from my hometown.  The food is definitely the best part (okay, and the shopping too), and my mom and I have been known to gorge on durian, noodle soups, dim sum, roti pratha, and my mom’s favorite kueh.   My Singaporean family also tends to express their love through food- so during our visits we are always meeting relatives for lunch, dinner, supper, tea, etc..  That is really great for my taste buds and family bonding and all… but not so great on my waistline!  So, after reading my mom’s email, panic mode has indeed ensued.

So, here is my LAST dessert recipe until I leave for Singapore.  Seriously. The last.  My posts for the next few weeks will be all salads and oatmeal with fruit and lettuce wraps.  I can do this, right? Right.

This cake was surprising.  I actually decided to make this 100% vegan and used flax meal instead of the egg and it is delightful.  The peanut butter frosting is creamy and decadent and I doubt I will ever use another peanut frosting again.

I ate a slice of this for breakfast, but you could eat it as a snack, with tea or coffee or as dessert after dinner.  Now who wants a slice? Seriously… I gotta give this thing away before I ruin my Singapore diet.

Vegan Banana Cake

Makes one 9″ round or 9×9″ square cake

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup banana puree
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup water
4 teaspoons flax (can substitute 1 egg for non-vegan)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift the flour, powder, soda, salt (and flax, if using).
In a smaller bowl, combine sugar, maple syrup, banana puree, oil, water, and egg.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 9×9 baking dish (round or square). Bake for 20-24 minutes or until knife inserted comes out mostly clean.

Recipe from Pinch of Yum

Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting (I kid you not, the best peanut frosting in the entire world)

1/4 cup margarine, softened
2 tablespoons shortening
1/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon barley malt syrup or molasses, optional
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1 to 2 tablespoons rice milk or soy milk

Cream together the margarine and shortening at medium speed until smooth. Add peanut butter, barley malt syrup/molasses, and vanilla, and beat until very smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Beat in the sugar; the mixture will be very stiff. Dribble in rice milk a little at a time, beating continuously till frosting is pale tan and very fluffy.

Adjust the thickness of the filling by adding rice milk or more confectioners’ sugar in small amounts if necessary

Recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World