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GF Chocolate Banana Cake

 

Gluten Free Chocolate Banana Cake 

This is a lovely, moist cake, which is sometimes hard to achieve with gluten free flour!  My friend Sarah made this recipe up when she was looking for a gluten free, dairy free, egg free cake. I’ve tweaked it a bit to make it healthier and Thermomix friendly. It’s also very easy to make nut free as well – just use rice milk instead of rice-almond (or your preferred milk), and grapeseed or light light olive oil instead of the macadamia oil. For a nut free icing, just use coconut cream instead of the almond milk, mixed with the chocolate and dates.

You can make this cake with or without eggs – the eggs make a lighter cake, but without eggs the texture is lovely and moist and fudgey. (The photos are of the cake made without eggs.)  It’s a very versatile recipe (see the variations at the end), and very quick and easy – just throw in ALL the ingredients and whiz it up. Perfect for birthday cakes and cupcakes!

Note: You can find fine sea salt and Dutch processed cocoa powder for this recipe in my online store!

 
 
GF Chocolate Banana Cake
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Ingredients
  1. 300g plain gluten free flour (I use Orgran flour)
  2. 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  3. 1 tsp baking powder (or 2 tspns if leaving out eggs)
  4. 2 tsp bicarb soda
  5. 30g raw cacao powder or organic cocoa
  6. 120g Rapadura
  7. 140g macadamia oil (or other light oil for nut free)
  8. 240g rice-almond milk or preferred milk for nut free (may need a little more if bananas are not very ripe)
  9. 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  10. 2 eggs (optional)
  11. 350g ripe bananas (approx. 3 large bananas - use 350-400g bananas if not using eggs)
Instructions
  1. Weigh into Thermomix bowl all ingredients and mix on speed 5-6 for 20 seconds, using spatula to assist if needed.
  2. Pour into two round cake tins, or 1 large springform tin, well greased or lined with baking paper. Bake at 180C for about 30 mins (or longer if in one large pan), until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Or you can bake in muffin tins for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Quirky Cooking https://quirkycooking.com.au/

The icing in the photos is made from raw dates, dairy free dark chocolate and almond milk. I don’t really measure it – I just chop up a couple of big handfuls of dark chocolate and drop into Thermomix bowl, add about 6 pitted raw dates and about half a cup of raw almond milk (made in Thermomix). I whiz it up on speed 9, scraping down a couple of times, then melt at 50C for 3 minutes, speed 2, or until smooth. Add some vanilla bean paste too if you like. If it’s too thick, add a little more almond milk. (Almond milk is just 100g blanched almonds ground up on speed 9, with 500g water and a dash of vanilla extract, blended for 1 minute speed 9.) If you need a nut free icing, you can use coconut cream instead of almond milk.

 
 

Variations: 

– Butter cake: leave out bananas, add 1 tsp vanilla extract, use 2 tsp baking powder instead of baking powder and soda, add a little more milk, and use 150g butter instead of oil.  (This version needs the eggs.) 

– Chocolate-coffee cake: leave out bananas, add 220g strong coffee and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

96 thoughts on “GF Chocolate Banana Cake

  1. serena says:

    Just made this (didn’t have any eggs on hand so didn’t use any) and made two loaf cakes and they are gorgeous! I had a heap of bananas to use up and this was just a bit more exciting for the kids than banana bread.

    thanks for a lovely recipe, Cottchick (name on TM forum)

  2. nicky says:

    my first attempt at a GF cake. think i put in a little too much liquid, omitted the egg – and mm, now i think about it maybe i kind of forgot to add the flour??! (blame it on sleep deprivation).

    So it looked nothing like yours. Can’t cut a solid slice, it is a pudding/yoghurty consistency. But quite delicious nonetheless – think I might try some in fridge/freezer! Look forward to trying again. I have some white wings gluten free SR flour. would it be worth using this and cutting down/out the baking powder?

  3. Jo Whitton says:

    You forgot the flour?? Ha ha, that’s so funny!! Oh well, maybe it will be nice frozen 🙂 Get some sleep and try again – don’t let it beat you! 😀 Yes, use the gf SR flour and leave out the baking powder – that will work fine 🙂

  4. Ann-Maree says:

    Made this last night – had 3 bananas that just HAD to be used (I think they were 420g when peeled!), short on eggs so left them out – cakes came out beautifully, kids love ’em. Love using your recipes Jo (the cashew satay chicken/coconut rice was a hit a couple of weeks ago).

  5. Danielle says:

    Hi Jo,
    just wondering if I could make my own GF flour mix in the TM to make your GF Chocolate Banana Cake – also I’m wanting to leave out the chocolate and maybe add some walnuts – but my main concern was getting the flour right as your pic looks so light and delicious – I DO have eggs so could add if that would help
    Danielle

  6. Anonymous says:

    Awesome recipe. Read the post and had the cake in the oven 10 mins later. I have only licked the bowl but that tasted pretty good so I’m expecting cake to be great. Since we are not gluten, dairy or egg intolerant I did use all the ‘normal’ stuff

  7. Anonymous says:

    Hi Jo

    I just popped up the road to my friend’s place and we whipped up your delicious cake. It’s the first GF creation I’ve cooked and actually wanted to eat!! Thank you so much for sharing – it was great to have your recipe as inspiration to bake with my friend on such a cold winter’s morning. We had a lovely morning and we are pretty chuffed with how scrumptious the cakes turned out!

    Krystel

  8. Jo Whitton says:

    Oops, lots of replies to catch up on!

    Lydia, you can use any milk you prefer, it will work fine.

    Danielle, for sure you can make your own GF mix – I often use the one that’s in my gingerbread men recipe: http://quirkycooking.blogspot.com/2010/12/gluten-free-gingerbread-men.html
    And you can leave out the cocoa and add some cinnamon and spice and nuts instead – no problem! Just add the nuts at the end and chop on speed 5 for 4-5 seconds so they’re not too finely chopped.

    Anon: Hope you liked the cake!! 😀 So quick and easy, isn’t it!

    And Krystel, I LOVED your comment – baking with a friend is a wonderful way to spend a cold winter’s morning!!! I’m so glad you both enjoyed it 🙂 xx

    Jo 🙂

  9. Anonymous says:

    Hi Jo,
    Just made this delicious cake using normal flour, milk and coconut oil. I’m sugarfree at the mom so I took enough out for 6 muffins and then added the rapadura (about 80gms) to the rest of the mix. It’s just lovely!!!! I also LOVE your icing recipe, I don’t feel as guilty about my kids tucking into a piece of cake now!!!!
    Thanks again Jo – huge fan of yours 🙂

  10. Anonymous says:

    Hi Jo, any suggestions as to how I can make this into a vanilla cake without the eggs & dairy as my son is allergic. It doesn’t necessarily need to be GF as he can tolerate this. Thanks in advance. Bec

  11. Anonymous says:

    Hi Jo,
    Just wanted to say that this cake is so lovely – the texture is divine. Made some muffins out of the mix and omitted the rapadura altogether as I’m sugarfree at the moment. Still yummo!!!! Also used coconut oil – thanks for another winner.
    Tam xx

  12. Anonymous says:

    Hi Jo, I made this recipe into 2 cakes. One of them just crumbled when I got it out of the tin like it had collapsed in the middle. So not to waste and because I didnt have any cream or custard I made some icing and rolled the crumble into balls an put them in the fridge. YUMMO!!!!

  13. Jo Whitton says:

    Oops, so slow answering comments lately!

    Glad you guys are enjoying this recipe – what a great idea to make ‘cake pop’ balls out of this! Yummmm…

    And I love that you guys who are sugar free can enjoy it too, without the sugar. I must try that tonight – I have lots of bananas and am trying to really cut back on sugars.

    Bec, re a vanilla cake without the eggs, I would suggest making it the same as the chocolate cake without eggs, but leave out the cocoa… it will of course have a banana flavour though. Not sure how to get around that as the banana makes the texture! See how you go.

    Jo x

  14. renben says:

    Hi Jo,
    Thanks so much for all your hard work and research of which we are all benefiting!
    We are also trying to be ‘sugar free’ at the moment. could you use rice malt syrup, as this is ‘allowable’?
    Thanks

  15. Jess says:

    Thank you so much for this yummy recipe! We are gluten, egg, dairy, nut and soy free so I am making this for my little girl’s 1st birthday tomorrow. I have made it a few times before and I love that even people without allergies or restrictions enjoy it!

  16. Carly R says:

    Made these tonight and because I am trying to do the #bodyspringclean I left out the rapadura, used 100g of coconut oil instead of macadamia oil, used 450g of banana and added a tiny bit of stevia. They are yummy but only very slightly sweet so I probably could have put a little bit more stevia in. I also didn’t have any gf flour so used spelt instead.

  17. Jo Whitton says:

    Oops, lots of comments to catch up on!!

    Scone: Yes, just use your mixer – might need to chop the bananas up a bit before adding in, depending on your mixer. 🙂

    Carly: That sounds good! Was it still soft with coconut oil?

    Jess: So glad you like it! 🙂

    AnneMarie: I’m not sure, haven’t tried it with almond flour – should do, but may need to use more flour.

    Renben: Yes, try the rice malt syrup instead of the rapadura, but you may need to leave out a banana so it’s not too wet a mixture.

    Jo x

  18. Kristina says:

    Have made this for my daughters birthday cake along with the ganache/icing suggested. Only change I made to the icing was to add some Rapadura ’cause I only had 4 dates left. We’re going to have the cake this arvo but I couldn’t resist a little slice off the side (surely no one will notice a bit gone from the side of a round cake!!!). This cake is a keeper.
    Oh yeah I did it in one spring form pan and it took about 50-60 mins to cook
    Thanks again Jo 🙂

  19. Anne Marie Keightley says:

    This is in the oven but I have no idea if it will work. I used almond flour as I had no gf but it is lighter than flour but I stupidly just used the same amount. I know now I should have weighed out some bread flour and whatever cup measurement that was and just used the same amount. It was so much it was too much for the thermomix and I had to just keep pouring in the liquids

  20. Anonymous says:

    I made this yesterday without a TM and it worked perfectly. I used a combination of coconut flour and GF flour and added a bit more almond milk because I know coconut flour can be a bit dry and it was perfect. The ganache especially was amazing – I used two packets (200g in total) of Lindt dark choc, four dates, a small tin of coconut cream, some almond milk and a little bit of honey as the choc was 70 per cent cocoa… to die for! Cooked it in a large springform pan for 45-50 mins…

  21. Anonymous says:

    I just want to say that this is by far the most delicious cake I’ve made for my little boy that can’t eat gluten, dairy or eggs. THANK YOU!

  22. Jo Whitton says:

    Glad you liked it Kristina and others! It’s amazing, isn’t it? I love hearing about all your little tweaks and experiments – awesome! That’s how I cook. 🙂

    Anne Marie, did it work for you with almond flour?

  23. Anonymous says:

    Hi I just wanted to say this is a gr8 cake and icing is divine. I made mine with 100g almond meal / 100g quinoa flour / 100g potato flour – to make up the 300g flour and the cake texture was perfect ! I also only used half the amount of bananas as that is all I had, however next time will use the full banana amount…thx gretta

  24. Cassie says:

    Have you ever made this in a flavour other than chocolate?
    We have celebration cakes at school (that parents need to provide) and it has to be dairy, egg, nut & wheat free, so this cake is perfect… BUT we’re not allowed to have any form of chocolate at school – not even raw cacao! Would you have another flavour you would recommend, and what would you use for the icing that would hold up to not being refrigerated and stored at school

  25. Maxine Brown says:

    I can’t wait to try this! I want to try using coconut flour though. How much would I use? And would I use extra milk to counter the dryness? Thanks 🙂

  26. Anonymous says:

    Hi Jo, Im so excited to make this (and teach the girls at work that healthy eating can be yummy!).
    I was thinking of adding raspberries into the cake, do you think that would work? If so, what quantity would you suggest?

    Thanks so much 🙂 Sheriden.

  27. Karen - Jersey (island off UK) says:

    I made this last weekend for my son’s 2nd birthday. I am wheat intolerant and have really started making an effort to change my diet as I get the usual stomach ache/bloating etc and fatigue from eating wheat. I don’t own a thermomix yet but am madly saving for one after finding out about it from a friend a couple of months ago. I used my food processor instead and it came out beautifully. Tastes delicious and the 2 year old can’t get enough of it! Thank you for your blog, I find your enthusiasm for food inspiring.

  28. Megan says:

    This may seem like a silly question, but for the butter cake version, do you just leave out the cacao/cocoa, or do you need to substitute something back in?

  29. Anonymous says:

    I have a friend who is not too keen on bananas and in GF and dairy free. Do u think you could use raspberries instead of banana? TIA Em x

  30. Michelle says:

    I just put this in the oven but realised I forgot the bicarb. Will it still work? I used gf self raising flour and added baking soda too

  31. Olivia says:

    Made this yesterday (son has a dairy allergy) with just a mixer and hand blender. The dates were a challenge to get smooth with a hand blender but I did manage it. The cake was so moist and delicious, and nothing was too sweet – yum!

  32. Anonymous says:

    What a lovely recipe. Really nice cake. My daughter loved it and she is really fussy about GF. I used a mixture of coconut, buckwheat & rice flour, plus coconut oil as I didn’t have anything else. Thanks, love your recipes 🙂

  33. Nikki says:

    Hi Jo, I’m about to make this for my daughters 1st birthday to accommodate for a friend who has allergies to gluten and eggs. Do you think this would freeze ok? I’m hoping to make a start on it tonight ready for the weekend. thanks!

  34. Babycarrot says:

    Hi Jo, your recipe looks delicious. I was wondering if you think that I could use 150g Organflour and 150g almond meal instead of 300g of Organflour on its own? thanks 😉

  35. Elena says:

    Hello Jo, this looks delicious. I would like to make this tonight, but do not have any bicarb soda, do you think it will work anyway? Should I add more baking powder?

    Also, I am thinking of halving the amounts and making only one cake as it is 2 of us and I only have 2 bananas, do you see a problem with this?
    Cheers! Elena

  36. Kyrasmummy says:

    I’m a naturally ditzy baker and every year I have to take a healthy cake into school for my daughters birthday celebration – and every year I do something wrong in the rush!! Hoping this year I can make it a few days ahead so if I mess up I can start again 🙂 so – does anyone know how far ahead I can make this?

  37. Lauren says:

    I made a batch of choc banana (including eggs) & a batch of banana (egg-free) muffins for tuckshop. This recipe is so simple & delicious. I gave a small taster to my hubby & kids first. Hubby’s response was, ‘they’re better than those healthy ones you make’. I stood and watched him devour it for a moment while considering if I should tell him what’s in his muffin … ?

  38. Helen says:

    OMG just made this as cupcakes and they are light and fluffy and delicious!
    I did egg free, almond free, so used rice milk, 400g banana with the 2 teaspoons of baking powder and I wanted to cut out some sugar but wasn’t sure how it would go with also not using egg. So I used half the rapadura (60g) and 60g of rice malt syrup. The cupcakes still just took the 15mins to cook. Delicious!
    Thanks Jo for such a yummy, versatile recipe ?

  39. Kietta Allen says:

    sorry for silly question but for the coffee version is it 220g of instant granules or liquid brewed coffee? thanks

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