RECIPE! Banana Split Cake

Oh. My. Goodness... were the words that croaked off of my tongue when I finished the inaugural piece of this fabulous baked sensation. I can't believe cake can be this good! Why wasn't my wedding cake this moist and delicious? I don't think I've ever had cake THIS GOOD. And it's vegan. This cake is even better than my super-moist pumpkin spice cake for the holidays... which is, incidentally, also free of animal products.

So if you're a non-veggie who honestly thinks you NEEEEEEEEED eggs, and NEEEEEEEEED milk and other dairy products to have delicious cake or other baked goods, I'm going to be frank. YOU. ARE. WRONG!!! This is the 21st century. You can make good food without the involuntary assistance of animals.

The cake... in all its vegan glory.

BANANA SPLIT CAKE (featured in The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes as "Banana Split Cupcakes", page 98)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil (I used Peanut oil)
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs soy yogurt (I used pureed silken tofu... measured to 6 oz. in a measuring cup... if you absolutely must... use 6 oz. plain Stonyfield organic yogurt.)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 8-oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (be careful here. your average chocolate chip has "milk fat" as one of its primary ingredients. I used Ghirardelli semi-sweet, they are vegan)
1/4 cup maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
1 1/2 bananas, in 1/4-inch slices


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8x8 pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, mix together oil, yogurt/tofu, sugar and vanilla until well-combined. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Gently fold in pineapple, chocolate chips, and chopped maraschino cherries. Add banana slices and mix carefully.

Spoon the batter into the pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm!!

Note: you can spoon the mixture into a muffin pan lined with 12 cupcake liners (preferably paper).


Store at room temperature.