Vegan Coffee Cake

Vegan coffee cake - this American style cinnamon coffee cake consists of a moist, fluffy vanilla cake with a cinnamon sugar swirl and crisp streusel topping.

It is easy to make with basic ingredients and very moreish! As the name indicates, it is best enjoyed with a cup of coffee!

This vegan coffee cake is the ultimate snacking cake. It is a soft, moist, fluffy vanilla sponge cake with a layer of cinnamon sugar running through the middle and a topping of crisp, buttery cinnamon streusel.

This is an American style coffee cake, which is not actually a cake that is flavoured with coffee as you might expect, but rather a cake that is served alongside coffee.

Coffee cakes are frequently topped with a layer of streusel (crumble), and may have a ribbon of cinnamon sugar running through the middle.

Ingredient Details:

Plain (all-purpose) flour: Just regular plain flour is best here. I do not recommend swapping it for wholemeal as that will make the cake too dense. I haven't tested this cake gluten-free.

Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda): You need to use both, they are not interchangeable.

Milk: Any variety of unsweetened non-dairy milk will work (except tinned coconut milk) but I like soy milk the best for baking as it has the highest protein content.

Vinegar: This reacts with the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to help the cake rise and give it a fluffy texture.

Yogurt: Vegan yogurt helps to make the cake moist and flavourful. Use a plain one, unsweetened if possible. I use soya yogurt but coconut yogurt will also work.

Olive oil: I like to use olive oil but you can swap it for another neutral oil if you prefer.

Vanilla: Extract is better than essence and you can also use vanilla bean paste.

Vegan butter: You will need a vegan butter/spread to make the streusel. Either block or spreadable is ok (but not a 'light' variety).

Sugar: I prefer to use caster or granulated sugar in the sponge, and light brown soft or muscovado sugar in the streusel and cinnamon sugar layer.

Cinnamon: The cinnamon sugar layer is optional, but very much recommended!

How To Make Vegan Coffee Cake:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Step 1: To make the streusel topping, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Add the butter and rub it in using your fingertips until no lumps of butter remain.

Step 2: To make the cinnamon sugar layer, mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.

Step 3: To make the batter, whisk together the yogurt, milk, oil, vinegar, caster sugar and vanilla extract then whisk in the cornflour, baking powder and soda, salt and plain flour.

Step 4: Pour half of the batter into a lined 20 cm square cake tin then scatter over the cinnamon sugar.

Step 5: Dollop over the rest of the batter and gently spread it out with a spatula or the back of a spoon. It will not want to stick to the cinnamon sugar so just gently coax it and try to lift the spoon/spatula as little as possible.

Step 6: Scatter over the streusel evenly.

Step 7: Bake for 35-45 minutes.

Top Tips:

As with all of my baking recipes I really do recommend using the metric measurements with a digital scale rather than the cup conversions. Cups are a wildly inaccurate measuring system and you will get far better, more consistent results using a scale, not to mention that it is also easier and less messy than cups!

Be careful not to over-beat the cake batter as that can make the cake tough. Just stir it with a balloon whisk until no dry lumps remain.

The cake is ready when it is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.

I bake this cake in a deep 20cm/8in square cake tin to make a tall cake as pictured, but it can also be baked in a 23cm/9in square tin.

If you want a smaller cake then a half batch of the recipe works well in a 2lb loaf tin.

If you like a really thick layer of streusel then make 1 ½ times the recipe.

FAQ's:

More Vegan Streusel Cakes:

• Blueberry crumb cake
• Vegan pumpkin coffee cake
• Vegan banana crumb cake
• Sweet potato bread with pecan streusel

If you tried this recipe let me know how it went! Rate it, leave a comment or tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess

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