This recipe is as vegan as a cake can be that has honey in it. I don’t actually know any vegans who eat honey, but I’ve heard they exist. But don’t worry – honey could easily be swapped out in favour of agave nectar, or possibly even golden syrup, though I would be inclined to reduce the amount for that. There’s no dairy or egg to worry about, and in a pinch, you could probably just use sugar.
I must confess that this is not the recipe for the cake I currently have cooking in the oven. You see, I started making this based on a recipe from Less Meat, More Veg, but didn’t have enough bananas, so I replaced two bananas with 200g frozen raspberries, which I think will be lovely, but less unified in its flavour than the recipe below. The combination of coconut milk, sweet spices and banana makes me want to play with the Indian theme some more – not that I know anything about Indian cooking! Still, if I had mango puree or a really mild mango chutney I’d be tempted to swap out a banana for 100g of it, and if not, I’d be tempted to replace the chocolate with dried mango. Or pawpaw. Or maybe add some lime juice somewhere. Or go a bit Carribean with rum-soaked raisins, allspice, nutmeg and maybe a hint of chilli, just to be daring. Think of this, in fact, as a template for a lovely, nearly-vegan, banana bread with a tropical twist, and have a ball!
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3 overripe bananas (or 1 banana and 200g raspberries) 75g raw sugar 75g honey 240g light coconut milk 250g plain flour 1/2 tsp bicarb of soda 1/2 tsp cinnamon pinch of salt 1/2 tsp cardamom seeds, pounded in a mortar and pestle 1/2 tsp ginger (freshly grated, or dried and powdered) 100g dark, dark chocolate, chopped
