This vegan banana upside down cake is so delicious but so healthy, you can eat it for breakfast. With no gluten, grains, added fats or artificial sweeteners it can fit into most diets. Plus it takes no more than 10 minutes of hands-on time to put together, if that -- the batter comes together entirely in the food processor.
I've long been waiting to make and share with you this recipe for my vegan and gluten-free Banana Upside-Down Cake.
This is a dense, tender cake with a pudding-like texture that dissolves in your mouth in an explosion of banana-flavored deliciousness. And it couldn't be more gorgeous to look at, ensuring that your eaters are as impressed when they eat with their eyes as they are when they actually taste it.
The cake is naturally sweetened with maple syrup, and you need very little of it. There are 5 tbsp in the recipe, but you could even cut that down to 4 tbsp or a quarter cup.
The crumb is made of bananas and almond flour scented with vanilla and cardamom. The cake cooks on top of a layer of bananas laced with maple syrup, creating that beautiful, caramelized, glazed top when you turn it over after baking.
This is a small cake--I make it in an 8-inch skillet--and it yields 8 slices. You can easily double the recipe for a larger cake.
Needless to say, it is an extremely kid-friendly recipe as well. My boy loved it, and it will be one of my go-tos for an after-school snack from now on.
I hope you will make it soon for an afternoon treat or dessert--or even breakfast. Do be sure to let me know if you do by leaving a comment below, or by taking a photo and tagging me @HolyCowVegan on Instagram.
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What we love about this banana upside-down cake
- It has no gluten
- No grains
- No oil
- No artificial sweetener.
- It's delicious, packed with banana flavor.
- It has a moist, melt-in-the-mouth texture.
- It takes under 10 minutes to put together.
- The batter comes together entirely in the food processor.
- It's gorgeous.
Ingredients
- 3 bananas
- 2 cups of superfine almond flour. Superfine is important for the right texture to your cake.
- ½ cup nondairy milk (I used almond milk)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4-5 tbsp maple syrup (taste the batter. If the bananas are very sweet you can use less).
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ cup tapioca starch (corn starch would work too)
- ½ tsp cinnamon (you can use cardamom for a really lovely flavor)
Steps
- Start out by placing two bananas, roughly chopped, in the food processor bowl and pureeing them. The more ripe the bananas are the sweeter your cake will be, and the less maple syrup you will need.
- Once the bananas are pureed all you need to do is dump in the remaining ingredients and blitz them. Save one banana and 1 to 2 tbsp of maple syrup for the top of the upside-down cake.
- To make the top, spray the bottom of an 9-inch cast iron skillet or cake pan with cooking spray (you can skip the cooking spray if you want to avoid it, but it really helps with unmolding the cake).
- Pour one to two tbsp of maple syrup into the skillet or pan. Tilt the pan to make sure it spreads evenly across the bottom.
- Cut the remaining banana into thin slices. I made small horizontal slices but you could slice vertically as well.
- Arrange the sliced bananas on top of the syrup in a nice pattern.
- Dump the blitzed cake batter on top of the banana slices. Smooth the top.
- Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool on a rack for about 30 minutes before unmolding. Do this by running a knife around the edges, then place a dish over the mouth of the pan or skillet and flip it over quickly. Continue cooling the cake for another 30 minutes before you eat.
Gluten-free Vegan Banana Upside Down Cake
Equipment
- Food processor
- 8-inch cast iron skillet or cake pan
Ingredients
- 3 bananas (slice one banana and set aside. Break up the other two into large pieces for the food processor)
- 2 cups almond flour (superfine or finely ground)
- ½ cup nondairy milk (I used almond)
- 4-5 tbsp maple syrup (use less if the bananas are very sweet)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the two bananas cut in larger pieces into the food processor and puree them.
- Dump in the remaining ingredients in the food processor except the banana cut into slices and 2 tbsp of maple syrup.
- Blitz until a smooth batter forms. Scrape the sides and bottom of the food processor with a spatula if necessary to ensure everything is mixed in.
- Spray the bottom of an 8-inch cast iron skillet or cake pan with cooking spray. Pour in 1 to 2 tbsp of maple syrup (use 1 tbsp if you want a less sweet cake). Tilt the skillet or pan so the maple syrup coats the bottom.
- Arrange the banana slices over the maple syrup in any pattern you want. This will form the top of the cake so make sure you try and make it look pretty.
- Pour the cake batter over the banana slices and smooth the top with a spatula, if needed.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool on a rack 30 minutes. Run a knife along the sides to loosen the cake from the pan.
- Then, very carefully and using oven mitts, especially if you are handling a cast iron skillet, place a dish over the skillet or pan and flip it over quickly. This should unmold the cake.
- Let the cake continue to cool (in the dish) on a rack for at least 30 more minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Looking for more vegan desserts?
Love this gluten-free vegan banana upside-down cake? Check out more vegan and gluten-free desserts on Holy Cow!
Made this tonight and it was SO good!! It's really moist, perfectly sweet (doesn't leave you wanting more or give you that burning sweetness at the back of your throat) and everyone had a 2nd piece! A little note: don't use a springform pan - the maple syrup leaks out the bottom! It made a bit of a mess of the bottom of my oven because of the pan, but it was totally worth it. Thanks for the recipe! I'll be making this again and again (probably with thinly sliced apples on top instead of banana every once in a while)!
Hi, your recipe called for 8 and 9-inch pans. Which size is the correct one? Can I substitute tapioca starch to arrowroot powder? Thank you!
It doesn’t call for both at the same time. You can use an 8 or 9 inch pan, whichever you have. Or an 8 inch cast iron skillet. Hope that clarifies. Arrowroot should be fine.
Im making this for my niece and nephew in law. Doing strawberry and banana tops....well see how it works out 🤞
This should work over apples too?
I don’t have a problem with gluten or other grains but I do have issues with high fat. Have you tried oat flour vs almond flour?
Would It work without cooking g spray? Oiled cake pan instead?
Looks delicious !
Yes, oil would be just fine!
Ack! Just put this in the oven and realized I forgot the Tapioca! Well, let's see how this comes out. LOL
Could I substitute a different fruit, such as peaches or strawberry slices, rather than banana slices to pour the banana batter over?
Yes. Any soft fruit would work, strawberries or peaches would be great.
I'm allergic to almonds. What other flour can I use?
You could use a gf all purpose flour but you may need to change the quantity of liquid as it may absorb moisture at a different rate. Add half a cup of the nondairy milk and then add more if needed. The batter should be thick but pourable.
is there a substitute for the tapioca startch?
Corn starch would work just as well!
Can you use thawed out frozen banana for the two that go in the cake batter?
Yes absolutely!