Vegan Coffee Cake
By America's Test KitchenPublished on September 12, 2019
Time
1¾ hours, plus 3 to 4 hours cooling
Yield
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Streusel
½ cup pecans, toasted¼ cup packed (1¾ ounces/50 grams) organic brown sugar ⅓ cup (1⅔ ounces/47 grams) all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ⅛ teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled2 teaspoons waterCake
1¼ cups (6¼ ounces/177 grams) all-purpose flour 1¼ cups (8¾ ounces/248 grams) organic granulated sugar ¾ cup (4⅛ ounces/117 grams) whole-wheat flour 1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon 1¼ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ¾ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons coconut oil, cut into 6 pieces1 ¼ cups unsweetened almond milk 4 teaspoons lemon juice 1 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extractBefore You Begin
A bit of melted coconut oil and water were the perfect binder for a nutty topping that crumbed perfectly into sturdy nuggets on top of our cake.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch springform pan. Place pan on rimmed baking sheet. Process pecans and sugar in food processor until finely ground, about 10 seconds. Add flour, cinnamon, and salt and pulse to combine, about 5 pulses. Add melted oil and water and pulse until oil is fully incorporated and mixture begins to form clumps, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer streusel to bowl. Using your fingers, break apart any large clumps (streusel should have fine, sandy texture); set aside.
- Process all-purpose flour, sugar, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in clean, dry food processor until combined, about 10 seconds. Add oil and pulse until mixture resembles fine meal, five to eight 5-second pulses. Add almond milk, lemon juice, and vanilla; pulse until dry ingredients are moistened, 4 to 5 pulses. Scrape down sides of bowl. Continue to pulse until mixture is well combined, 4 to 5 pulses. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top. Let batter rest for 15 minutes.
- Starting at edges of pan, sprinkle streusel in even layer over batter, breaking apart any large clumps that may have formed. Bake on baking sheet until center is firm and skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove sides of pan and let cake cool completely, about 3 hours. Slide offset spatula between cake and pan bottom and carefully slide cake onto platter. Cut into wedges with serrated knife and serve.
for the streusel
for the cake
Time
1¾ hours, plus 3 to 4 hours coolingYield
Serves 8 to 10Ingredients
Streusel
Cake
Ingredients
Streusel
Cake
Ingredients
Streusel
Cake
Why This Recipe Works
Most vegan coffee cakes we encountered were either dry and cottony or dense and sticky. We set out to make the ultimate vegan coffee cake—flavorful and tender yet with enough structure to support a nutty spiced topping. For simplicity and less cleanup, we used our food processor from start to finish to make both the nutty topping and the cake batter. Substituting vegan products for the dairy elements of the cake was easy, and after testing our way through a roster of vegan egg substitutes, we found that the best substitute was none at all! Our eggless coffee cake was tender, but it needed more lift. So to ensure a fluffy crumb and a cake that rose properly without eggs, we increased the leavener and liquid in our working recipe by a small amount. We also found that using both all-purpose flour and a hefty amount of whole-wheat flour gave our cake great structure and a rich, hearty flavor. A final trick: Letting the cake batter rest in the pan for just 15 minutes before sprinkling the streusel topping ensured that the cake rose properly under its weight (don't skip this step).
Before You Begin
A bit of melted coconut oil and water were the perfect binder for a nutty topping that crumbed perfectly into sturdy nuggets on top of our cake.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9-inch springform pan. Place pan on rimmed baking sheet. Process pecans and sugar in food processor until finely ground, about 10 seconds. Add flour, cinnamon, and salt and pulse to combine, about 5 pulses. Add melted oil and water and pulse until oil is fully incorporated and mixture begins to form clumps, 8 to 10 pulses. Transfer streusel to bowl. Using your fingers, break apart any large clumps (streusel should have fine, sandy texture); set aside.
- Process all-purpose flour, sugar, whole-wheat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in clean, dry food processor until combined, about 10 seconds. Add oil and pulse until mixture resembles fine meal, five to eight 5-second pulses. Add almond milk, lemon juice, and vanilla; pulse until dry ingredients are moistened, 4 to 5 pulses. Scrape down sides of bowl. Continue to pulse until mixture is well combined, 4 to 5 pulses. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top. Let batter rest for 15 minutes.
- Starting at edges of pan, sprinkle streusel in even layer over batter, breaking apart any large clumps that may have formed. Bake on baking sheet until center is firm and skewer inserted into center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Remove sides of pan and let cake cool completely, about 3 hours. Slide offset spatula between cake and pan bottom and carefully slide cake onto platter. Cut into wedges with serrated knife and serve.
for the streusel
for the cake
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Appears In
Key Equipment
Keep Exploring
0 Comments