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Have you ever wanted to eat a garden but thought, dirt’s not really my thing. This succulent cake is here to make your dreams true. It has 2 layers of rich vegan banana cake sandwiching a creamy peanut butter filling. It’s covered with vanilla buttercream and topped with vanilla buttercream succulents. Bring this garden cake to birthdays, garden parties, or any celebration.

This recipe makes a 9" round 2-layer cake (16 servings).

Table of Contents

(click the links below to skip to the section you’re looking for)

• Banana Cake Recipe
• Peanut Butter Filling
• Buttercream Frosting
• How to Make the Succulents
• Banana Split Toppings
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Ingredient Substitutions
• Nutritional Information
• Contact Me with Questions
• Similar Recipes

My mom loved plants so much she would rescue dead ones from garbage cans and bring them back to life. She was so proud of them. When I was in school, I had to think of a science fair project that wasn’t too sciency. I decided to play different styles of music to plants to see if they would grow differently. They do actually.

As an adult, I’ve always been too busy taking care of humans to have plants. My friends who don’t have children are SUPER into plants. This vegan birthday cake is for one of those plant-loving friends.

I usually make my cakes at night and then decorate them the next day so I’m not waiting around for them to cool. If you aren’t a night person, then start this cake early to give yourself plenty of time. It took me and a friend 2 hours to make all these cake succulents.

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Ingredients for an Easy Vegan Banana Cake Recipe

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• 1 cup (240mL/235g) nondairy milk
• 1 tablespoon (14g) apple cider vinegar
• 4 ripe bananas (~470g)
• 1 ½ cups (288g) organic sugar
• 2 teaspoons (9g) vanilla extract
• 3 cups (390g) all-purpose flour
• ½ tablespoon (7g) baking soda
• ½ tablespoon (6g) baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon (1g) of salt
• ⅔ cup (144g) oil

How to Make this Vegan Banana Cake Recipe

prep time: 20 minutes | bake time: 40 minutes | total time: 1 hour

Preheat Oven. Turn on the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Prepare Vegan Buttermilk. Combine 1 tablespoon (14g) of vinegar with 1 cup (240mL/235g) of nondairy milk in a liquid measuring cup or bowl. Stir it, and set it aside to curdle into vegan buttermilk.

Prepare Cake Pans. Coat 2 8" round cake pans using either a paper towel with oil on it, a silicone brush with oil on it, an oil sprayer. Iv’e even just used my hand with oil on it. Like a barbarian.

Mash Bananas. Whisk 4 peeled bananas (~470 grams of bananas) in a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer on high until creamy.

Add Sugar and Vanilla. Add 1 ½ cups (288g) sugar and 2 teaspoons (9g) of vanilla extract to the bananas while still whisking on high.

Combine Dry Ingredients. Sift 3 cups (390g) of flour, ½ tablespoon (7g) baking soda, ½ tablespoon (6g) baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon (1g) of salt into a large bowl. Whisk by hand to combine.

Combine Wet Ingredients. Pour the milk and vinegar mixture slowly into the banana mixture while the mixer is running. Then slowly drizzle in ⅔ cup (144g) oil.

Before the next step, make sure the oven is preheated. If it’s not, wait until it’s only 5-10 degrees away before continuing.

Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients. Add the dry ingredients, half at a time, into the wet ingredients, and mix the batter until smooth.

Scrape Bowl. Scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl with a silicone spatula after all the dry ingredients have been added. You want to dislodge any stubborn flour that might be hiding out. Mix only until no dry flour can be seen, and then stop mixing. Do not over mix in this step.

Divide Batter. Quickly divide the batter evenly into 2 round cake pans. Set the cake pans side by side on the same rack in the oven to get a more even bake.

Bake. Bake for ~40 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of both cakes. If it comes out clean, take the cakes out of the oven. If it doesn’t, bake them for a few more minutes and check them again. I baked mine for 42 minutes.

Cool Cakes. Cool completely by setting the cake pans on a cooling rack. If you touch the bottom of the cake pan in the center, and it’s still warm at all, the cake isn’t ready to be assembled.

Chill Cakes. Remove the cakes from the cake pans if you haven’t already. Then chill them in the fridge, until you’re ready to assemble the cake. If you’re making them days in advance, wrap them in cling wrap to keep them fresh.

Ingredients for this Vegan Peanut Butter Filling Recipe

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• ½ cup (88g) vegan butter or margarine
• ¼ cup (50g) vegan palm shortening
• ½ cup (128g) peanut butter
• ¼ cup (60g) of nondairy milk
• 2 cups (240g) organic powdered sugar

How to Make Peanut Butter Filling for a 2-Layer Cake

prep time: 20 minutes

Whisk the Wet Ingredients. Whisk ½ cup (88g) vegan butter, ¼ cup (50g) vegan shortening, and ½ cup (128g) peanut butter. Use a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.

Add Powdered Sugar. Sift in 2 cups (240g) of powdered sugar, a cup at a time. Add up to ¼ cup (60g) of plant-based milk only if the frosting gets too thick.

Prepare Piping Bag. Transfer the filling to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton large round tip 1A and set aside until the cakes have cooled completely.

Assemble Cake. Pipe the peanut butter filling between the 2 cake layers. If the cakes aren’t flat on top, use a bread knife to slice the hump off the tops of both cakes before assembling. Put the cut side towards the bottom.

Frost Cake. Frost the entire outside of the cake by piping the remaining filling all over the outside of the cake. Use an offset spatula to spread it evenly.

Chill Cake. Chill the cake. I chilled mine for the amount of time it took me to prepare the frosting.

Ingredients for Vegan Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• ¾ cup (66g) vegan butter or margarine
• ¾ cup (145g) vegan shortening
• 2 teaspoons (9g) vanilla extract
• 5 cups (600g) organic powdered sugar

How to Make this Vegan Buttercream Frosting Cake Recipe

prep time: 20 minutes | frosting time: 10 minutes | total time: 30 minutes

Mix Wet Ingredients. Mix ¾ cup (66g) vegan butter, ¾ cup (145g) vegan shortening, and 2 teaspoons (9g) vanilla extract for 1 minute using an electric or stand mixer.

Scrape Bowl. Scrape the sides and bottom and of the mixing bowl with a silicone spatula and mix again until light and fluffy.

Add Powdered Sugar. Sift 5 cups (600g) of organic powdered sugar. Add the sifted organic powdered sugar to the mixing bowl, 1 cup at a time.

Mix Frosting. Mix for at least minute between each addition. Start the mixer on the lowest setting so the powdered sugar doesn’t fly everywhere and then gradually increase the speed to high. After mixing in the third and fifth cups, scrape the sides with a silicone spatula and mix again.

Frost Cake. Cover the entire outside of the vegan banana peanut butter cake with this frosting you just made. Spin the cake while smoothing out the icing with an offset spatula if you have one. If you don’t, use whatever you have.

Ingredients and Tools you need for Decorating the Succulent Cake

• wilton leaf green gel color

• wilton moss green gel color or Americolor Avocado Green Gel Color

• Wilton Delphinium Blue, Wilton Aster Mauve, and Wilton Juniper Green (this wilton gel color garden set has 3 of the colors you need)

• 10 of any combination of these: disposable piping bag or reusable piping bag

• wilton piping tips: 103, 4b, 16, and 352

How to Decorate the Vegan Cake with Succulent Plants

decorating time: 2 hours (for 2 people)

Divide Frosting. Divide the remaining white frosting into 6 bowls.

Color Frosting.

1. Tint bowl 1 light mauve using Aster Mauve.
2. Tint bowl 2 dark mauve using Aster Mauve. You don’t need as much of this color, so maybe only put half as much frosting in bowl 2 as you have in the other bowls.
3. Tint bowl 3 light green using Juniper Green.
4. Tint bowl 4 dark green using Juniper Green.
5. Tint bowl 5 blueish-green by mixing Sky Blue and Moss Green.
6. Tint bowl 6 dark leaf green by mixing Juniper Green and Leaf Green.

Prepare to Make Succulents. Follow these instructions to make each succulent. Use their recommendations, or follow the instructions below to make them the way I did. Or just do whatever your inner florist desires.

Make Echeveria. Use tip 103 for the echeveria using color 1 and color 3 (the one that looks like a cabbage with pink tips). Watch the video to see how to fill your piping bag for this one. Use tip 352 with colors 6 and 2 to make the dark green and burgundy echeveria plants.

Make Dark Green Cacti. Use tip 4b for the dark green cacti, and use tip 1 for the light mauve fuzzies. Top the cacti with color 2.

Make Light Green Plants Use tip 16 and color 3 for the light green plants that I invented in my mind.

Make Pink and Ice Blue Plants. Use tip 352 with colors 5 and 1 to make the pink and ice blue plants I also invented.

Optional Toppings

My friend Jessica requested a birthday cake resembling a banana split. So, I also made 2 drizzles, brought them on the side, and we drizzled them onto each slice. I’m including the recipes for those drizzles below, but you likely won’t need them.

Vegan Strawberry Sauce Ingredients

• 1 pound strawberries
• ¼ cup vegan sugar
• ¼ cup water
• zest from 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Vegan Strawberry Sauce Directions

Wash and slice strawberries

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat.

Stir for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Cool and store in the fridge for up to 5 days until ready to serve. You can also freeze it if you make it in advance, and just leave it on the counter overnight to defrost the night before you want to use it.

Vegan Penguin Coat Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• ½ cup vegan chocolate chips

Vegan Penguin Coat Directions

Combine both ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat or in a bowl in the microwave.

Stir until all the vegan chocolate chips are melted (or if using a microwave, heat in 30-second increments, stirring between each).

Remove from heat.

Store in a jar at room temperature until ready to serve it. If you don’t use it within an hour of making it, it will become too thick, so to get it to drizzle consistency again, just pop it back into the microwave.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I convert this recipe into a succulent cupcakes recipe?

For mini succulents, follow the recipe, but scoop the batter into cupcake tins lined with paper liners instead of cake pans. When you’re piping your succulents, make smaller ones so each cupcake can have a variety.

Can I use natural food coloring for natural-looking succulents?

I haven’t tried to use natural food coloring for this, but if you want to try, I recommend Exberry. They have a formula that is specifically for oil-based applications that will make a uniform color.

Can I transport this cake?

My recommendation is to freeze the cake before trying to transport it. That will increase your chances of the buttercream succulents keeping their shapes.

Since the succulents take so long to make, can I make them in advance?

You can make your succulents up to 3 months in advance, and keep them in a container in the freezer until you’re ready to make and decorate the cake.

Ingredient Details and Substitutions

• Plant Milk: I used the 365 brand of soy milk from the refrigerator section at whole foods because it’s organic and cheeeeeeap. You can use oat, almond, or whatever’s in your fridge. If you don’t have the full amount of nondairy milk that this recipe requires, substitute any amount with water or water mixed with nondairy creamer. You can also mix and match different nondairy milks.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can replace it with lemon juice, lime juice, or white vinegar. You just need some sort of acid to interact with the alkalinity of the baking soda to make the cake rise.
• Bananas: I used 4 ripe bananas with small brown speckles. The riper the bananas are, the better. If you don’t have ripe bananas, you can use frozen bananas. Just let them defrost on the counter so the liquid comes out of them, and then just use the mushy bananas (not the liquid). You can then give the liquid to your dog. If you don’t have a dog, why don’t you? Kidding, but also kinda serious haha. You can use the liquid that came out of the thawing bananas to replace some of the nondairy milk in this recipe so you don’t have to waste it.
• Vegan Sugar: For the sugar in this recipe, you can use any number of sugars, as long as they’re vegan. Sucanat, coconut sugar, raw sugar, organic sugar, or any sugar that’s labeled vegan works. If you’re not sure if your sugar is vegan, you can contact the company and ask. Or avoid conventional white sugar or granulated sugar, and you should be ok.
• Vanilla Extract: You can replace the vanilla extract with vanilla powder or paste. If you use powder, just make sure you add it when you add the dry ingredients.
• Flour: I use all-purpose unbleached organic flour because it’s super cheap at Costco. If you’re making this cake with another kind of flour, please let me know how it went.
• Baking Soda: If you don’t have baking soda, you can replace the ½ tablespoon (7g) baking soda with another 1 ½ tablespoons of baking powder.
• Baking Powder: If you don’t have baking powder, you can replace the ½ tablespoon (6g) baking powder with another ½ teaspoon of baking soda.
• Salt: I use pink sea salt because it’s healthier, but you can use any salt you have. You can also omit the salt altogether.
• Oil: I recommend using safflower, sunflower, avocado oil, or coconut oil for baking cakes because those oils are made for high heat. However, you can use any other oil such as vegetable oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, etc. People even make cakes with olive oil, but I don’t recommend it.
• Vegan Butter: I usually use organic whipped Earth Balance because I like the flavor and the consistency. It always works great in every recipe. If you avoid soy, they make a soy-free version too. You can use other brands of vegan butter or margarine, but results will vary. Some brands of vegan butter don’t work well in my opinion.
• Vegan Shortening: I use Spectrum sustainable organic palm shortening because it makes me feel good.
• Peanut Butter: I use a variety of peanut butters. Costco has a 2 pack of organic creamy peanut butter for a good price. You can use this link to get 10% off any Peanut Butter & Co peanut butter. Or you can replace the peanut butter with almond or cashew butter. If you are making this for someone with a nut allergy, try replacing the peanut butter with sunflower seed butter.
• Vegan Powdered Sugar: Try to find organic powdered sugar to make sure that it’s vegan. Read more about which powdered sugar brands are vegan here.
• Food Coloring: I used wilton gel colors and americolors for this recipe, but you can look at my entire list of vegan food coloring for other options.

Nutrition Facts

This information is calculated assuming that the oil used in the cakes is avocado oil. It also assumes that a slice of cake does not include the optional toppings.

• Servings: 16
• Calories per serving: 672
• Calcium per serving: 59mg
• Cholesterol per serving: 0mg
• Dietary Fiber per serving: 2g
• Iron per serving: 2mg
• Potassium per serving: 180mg
• Protein per serving: 5g
• Total Carbohydrate per serving: 82g
• Total Fat per serving: 37g
• Total Sugars per serving: 58g
• Sodium per serving: 330mg

Comments or Questions?

If you make this vegan cake recipe, I would love it if you’d snap a pic, post to instagram, and tag me @vegandollhouse. It seriously makes my day/week/month!

Please message me (instagram or email) if you have any questions or feedback about the recipe.

Similar Recipes

If you like this succulent cake without dairy or eggs because of the peanut butter, check out some of my other vegan peanut butter recipes. My vegan chocolate peanut butter cupcakes are a rich chocolate cupcake topped with a creamy peanut butter frosting. There’s also a chocolate peanut butter cake that is decorated to look like tacocat, from the game exploding kittens.

If you like succulents, you might also like my cactus pâté.

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I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook. I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to purchase all organic ingredients. Therefore, I only specify organic on the ingredients that really matter to ensure that the item is vegan.

This post links to items I mention. If you click on one, you will go to a website (like Amazon) where you can buy the product. Sometimes, the store you purchase from (Amazon, Etsy, etc.) will pay me for referring you. This costs you nothing extra, and I would never recommend a product that I don’t use. These affiliate programs help me buy ingredients to create recipes for you. Read more about this in my privacy policy.

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