Vegan passion cake

The Story
I first came across the recipe for this cake in my Ski Supertravel 'chalet girl's handbook' when I worked in the French Alps in the mid 1980s. It worked really well at high altitude and was an absolute favourite with our guests - and is a great way to use up over-ripe bananas and bendy carrots. Some of our family members have adopted a vegan diet, and we have grandchildren with dairy and egg allergies, so I have recently tweaked the recipe accordingly. The psyllium husk 'egg' gives the cake a deliciously squidgy texture.

Vegan passion cake

This is a delicious hybrid of carrot cake and banana bread. This bake is naturally dairy-free and I have replaced the eggs in the original recipe to make it suitable for vegans or anyone avoiding eggs. (If you are an egg-eater, feel free to replace the psyllium husk 'egg' with a hen's egg). Amazon and most health-food shops stock psyllium husk powder.
Servings 10
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 1 hr 5 mins

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3-4 ripe or over-ripe bananas (approx 250g)
  • 1 medium carrot, grated (approx 120g)
  • 100 g Demerara or other light brown sugar
  • 70 ml non-dairy milk
  • 70 ml vegetable oil
  • 50 g oatmeal or porridge oats
  • 200 g self-raising flour
  • 3 tsp mixed spice (or 1tsp each of ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp psyllium husk powder
  • 100 g sultanas
  • 75 g walnuts , pecans or pistachios (or a mix), roughly chopped

For the icing

  • 4 tbs icing sugar
  • Half tsp almond or vanilla extract
  • 25 g walnuts, pecans or pistachios, chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 160C (fan) and line a 1kg loaf tin with baking paper. In a mixing bowl, mash the bananas until they are almost a puree. Stir in the brown sugar and the non-dairy milk.
  • In a ramekin or mug, mix the teaspoon of psyllium husk powder with 3 tablespoons cold water. Stir until the mixture thickens, then immediately whisk into the banana mixture (if you hang around, the psyllium husk will solidify). Whisk in the vegetable oil.
  • Add the flour, oats, baking powder and mixed spice and stir until just combined. Stir in the sultanas and nuts.
  • Scrape the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top. Bake for 40 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 150C and bake for a further 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges completely clean - if you are in doubt, leave for another five minutes and check again. Leave the cake to cool before icing.
  • For the icing, put the icing sugar into a small bowl and add 1 - 2 teaspoons warm water until you have a drizzling consistency (if you add too much water, just add a little more icing sugar). Stir in a little of the vanilla or almond extract, then use a teaspoon to drizzle the icing over the cake. Top with the chopped nuts and serve with a freshly-brewed cuppa.