Looking for some easy Autumn baking recipes to fill your kitchen with warm, toasty aromas? Well look no further because I have the perfect bake for you! This vegan coffee cake is absolutely delicious and include all the best Autumn flavours! As a hobbyist baker, my favourite type of desserts of those that require the least effort but have the biggest payoff and this coffee cake is no exception. This dairy-free, nut-free and completely vegan coffee cake comes together within a couple hours and is a guaranteed crowd pleaser!
Coffee cake is traditionally served with coffee and sometimes doesn’t actually contain any coffee but I like breaking traditions! This cake is PACKED with coffee because I love it!
If you’re not a fan of coffee then not to fret – check out my other recipes here!
Baking tips:
This vegan coffee cake is fairly foolproof as it’s all done in one cake tin! However, I know I’ve made some silly mistakes on easy recipes before so here are some tips and tricks to make sure your cake is picture perfect!
1. Do follow the recipe as described! There are some unorthodox techniques such as reverse-creaming but I promise they all work! I tested this cake half a dozen times and loved it every time.
2. Make sure all your ingredients are room temperature. It also helps if the brewed coffee is warm as ideally we want a warm batter when we put the cake in the oven. This allows the cake to cook more evenly.
3. Don’t skip the sea salt. I know it seems odd adding salt to desserts but when all the elements are sweet, you need a pinch of salt for balance.
4. I use a cake strip for most of my 8 inch cakes. Cake strips essentially wrap around the tin in the oven and prevent the edges from cooking too quickly. This in-turn prevents doming for perfectly flat even layers!
5. Do use a baking tin with a removable bottom is possible! This can be a spring-form pan or a loose-bottom. It is *possible* to use a regular cake tin but you’ll have to turn it upside down and careful drop onto a plate which could cause breakage.
6. The coffee ribbon is entirely optional but I think it’s rather fun! It’s another way to pack in more coffee flavour and make the visual more appealing.
7. Feel free to get creative with your streusel topping! I love the crunchy texture of this recipe but you could also add some oats, different spices or even some nuts!
If you’re in the UK, I’ve provided a list below with some of the key ingredients I’ve used…
Ingredients:
- My go-to vegan block butter is the one from Naturli.
- For the plant milk, I used Alpro soy milk but you can use another other of the plant milks such as oat or rice if you need to be soy/nut free!
For this recipe you’ll need:
- 8-inch springform/loose-bottom cake tin
Vegan Coffee Cake
This vegan coffee cake is a simple yet punchy all-year-around family favourite and I hope it will be yours too! No one can resist the coffee aroma, crunchy streusel and tender vanilla cake hidden underneath!
Ingredients
- 380g plain flour
- 280g caster sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 120g vegan butter, room temp
- 120g vegetable oil (or canola)
- 140ml non-dairy milk (I use soy)
- 80ml strong brewed coffee
- 1 tbsp espresso powder
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp sea salt
- Coffee Ribbon:
- 50g light brown sugar
- 2 tsp espresso powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- Streusel topping:
- 80g plain flour
- 60g caster sugar
- 50g vegan block butter, diced
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- ½ tsp mixed spice (or cinnamon)
- pinch of salt
Directions
- Step 1 Pre-heat the oven to 180C and generously butter the bottom and sides of an 8 inch cake tin. Optionally, place a disc of parchment in the bottom.
- Step 2 Combine all the coffee ribbon ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Step 3 In another bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients minus the butter. Add the cubes of vegan butter and toss to coat. Use your fingertips to smash the butter into the dry ingredients until no large chunks remain. Set aside.
- Step 4 Now onto the main cake – combine the flour, espresso powder, baking powder and sea salt in a large bowl and set aside.
- Step 5 Add the room temperature butter with the caster sugar to a stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Pour in the vegetable oil and continue to whisk until it’s fully incorporated. After about 5 minutes the mixture should be light and fluffy.
- Step 6 In a separate bowl, add together the non-dairy milk, brewed coffee, vanilla and apple cider vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes to curdle.
- Step 7 Add the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar mixture and mix thoroughly until it resembles wet sand. This is called the reverse-creaming method. Coating the baking powder in fat slows down the reaction and creates a more tender crumb.
- Step 8 Once it is completely homogenous, slowly pour in the wet ingredients, scraping down the sides to make sure the ingredients are fully incorporated.
- Step 9 Mix for a further 30 seconds and then pour half of the batter into the lined cake tin (roughly 600g).
- Step 10 Sprinkle in the coffee ribbon ingredients, distributing as evenly as possible.
- Step 11 Gently pour in the remaining batter to cover the coffee ribbon layer. I use a tablespoon to carefully plop small amounts of batter all over the cake to keep it even.
- Step 12 Once all the batter is added, smooth out the top and then sprinkle on the streusel crumb topping.
- Step 13 Place in the oven to bake for 55 minutes.
- Step 14 At 45 minutes, cover the cake in aluminum foil if the streusel is browning too quickly.
- Step 15 After 55 minutes, poke the cake with a skewer to make sure it is cook all the way through and then remove it from the oven. If it is not fully cooked, bake for a further 10 minutes.
- Step 16 Take it out of the oven to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the cake tin to cool completely.
- Step 17 Serve with a sprinkling of icing sugar.
