Alright, let’s level . . . we are all for the green smoothies, the plant-proteins, our home made fermented veg and superfoods. However, we need to have a bit of sweetness sometimes and this vegan Maple Almond Coffee Cake is what we’re talking about!
Coffee Cake Memories
Growing up, we always had some sort of coffee cake or pie or Chelsea bun for dessert after Sunday dinner. Thanks Gramma and Grampa for making Sunday dinner dessert worthy! We don’t often have dessert after our meals now, but once in awhile it’s nice to have a little treat with our cup of tea. Are we right?
When you make this coffee cake . . . feel free to play around with the spices you add. We’ve included cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. If you like cloves, go ahead and add some ground cloves or substitute it for one of the other spices. It’s all just about the flavour and won’t affect the bake.
Important Reminders
However, where you don’t want to change things is with the baking powder and baking soda in this coffee cake. You typically want to use about a teaspoon of baking powder and a quarter teaspoon of baking soda for each cup of flour. While it is possible to use one and not the other in some cases, this can affect the amount of leavening and the taste of your cake.
The other important point here is that when using organic baking powders, they are typically only single-acting. This means that the reaction starts when combined with moisture. While a second reaction occurs with double-acting baking powders once exposed to heat, this requires chemical agents. We just prefer to keep these out of our bodies. Given the reliance on only the single reaction, it is necessary to pop your coffee cake straight into the oven after mixing the wet and dry ingredients. The bubbles of carbon dioxide produced by the reaction will otherwise disappear and you’ll end up with a flat cake!
Nuts for Icing?
If you think that some blended-up nuts with some maple syrup won’t cut it as a frosting, think again. This frosting is plenty silky and sweet to compliment our Maple Almond Coffee Cake. You may just have to have a second slice to make sure though. You can also try out our Pumpkin Spice Muffins for a quick snack. If you’re looking for gluten-free options, these Oatmeal Cranberry Muffins, Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins and Banana Raspberry Muffins are also good at tea time!
If you satisfy your sweet tooth by making this coffee cake, please leave a comment and rating below. Snap a pic and share it with us on Instagram by tagging us @plantedandpicked and hash tagging #plantedandpicked. Put the kettle on, sit back with your feet up and have a slice of cake!
Ingredients
Coffee Cake Dry Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour 235 g
- ¾ cup ground almonds 100 g
- 1½ tsp organic baking powder
- ½ tsp organic baking soda
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ⅔ cup cane sugar 150 g
Coffee Cake Wet Ingredients
- ¾ cup plant-based milk soy works best
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- ¼ cup applesauce
- ¼ cup strong coffee or espresso
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
Maple Frosting
- 1½ cups raw cashews
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup plant-based milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F with rack in the middle of the oven.
- Add cider vinegar to plant-based milk (soy), stir to combine and thicken and let rest while preparing dry ingredients.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Combine applesauce, coffee and melted coconut oil with the soy milk.
- Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until combined ONLY once oven has pre-heated. If using organic baking powder, it is only single-acting (activated by moisture) rather than double-acting (also activated by heat). You will want to place the loaf pan in the oven as soon as you have mixed the wet and dry ingredients to avoid the bubbles from escaping before the cake has started to bake!
- Add the mixed batter to a parchment-lined loaf pan and place in the oven to bake straight away.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until an inserted wooden skewer or toothpick is removed cleanly.
- Let cake cool completely before icing.
- Soak raw cashews for 2 to 3 hours in room temperature water or an hour in hot water from the kettle.
- Combine cashews, maple syrup, plant-based milk and vanilla extract in a high-speed blender and blend until creamy. This frosting can be placed in the refrigerator until the cake has cooled and is ready to frost.
- Cover top of coffee cake with frosting and garnish with sliced or slivered almonds and enjoy fresh!
Thank you so much for your recipes. I try your recipes and soft and Lovely, Thank you for doing what you do
Thank you!
Hi, this cake was easy to make and delicious!
Thanks for sharing…
Thank you so much!
Wow looking very delicious, I love this recipe very very much. I will try this recipe at home.
Thanks for sharing such a delicious cake.
Thank you so much Bindu 💚
This was a winner! Hubby thought the icing was hummus at first glance lol! Love everything about this cake. I did sub the almond meal for whole wheat flour and added 2 tbsp apple sauce per your suggestion and it worked out nicely. 45 mins in the oven was also spot on. Thank you! 🍁🍁
That’s amazing Jess, so glad to hear that it worked out and thank you so much for the wonderful review! Hope to see you around often 🙂
Hello! Cant wait to try this recipe, looks fabulous. Question about the almond flour. For substitutions, would you recommend fine semolina, whole wheat flour or rice flour (these are my alternatives)? Asking because nuts usually get stuck in the blades of my blender (I need to get a food processor asap!) So I try to avoid it blending them. Thank you! 🙂
Hi Jess, great question! If you have access to it, you could use almond meal or coconut flour to retain similar fat content. However, of the choices you presented, we would recommend using whole wheat flour. You may want to increase the amount of applesauce slightly (say by a couple of tablespoons) as the whole-wheat flour will absorb more moisture than the ground almonds. Please let us know who it turns out. We’d love your feedback and a rating!
What size cans pan will a 9 inch round work ok
Hi Sam, we used two dishes that, when combined, are the equivalent of a 9″ square baking pan. A 9″ baking round pan will have about 80% of the area of a 9″ square pan, but w did not fill the pans to the top. We expect the round pan should be fine, provided it’s about 2-1/2″ deep. If you find you have too much filling and topping for your pan, you could always put the extra in one or two small baking ramekins. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Thank you for sharing this delightfully easy, mouthwateringly delicious recipe. Have baked this cake several times since I first tried it a few weeks back and it’s been a huge success each time!
That’s amazing! Thank you for sharing with us!
how would you replace coconut oil? thanks
H! You could try somer plant based yogurt. We haven’t tried yet but if you do, let us know how it goes!
Hi, this cake was easy to make and delicious! I like the idea of including walnuts or another nut in the cake.
Thanks Nancy, we have one more piece in the fridge (it went fast). Perhaps I should snag it before heading to bed!
I made this cake today. Really easy to make and soooo yummy!!! I think next time I would put walnut pieces in the cake (mostly because I love walnuts!!)
Walnuts would be a great substitution. They are one of the highest omega 3 sources of all nuts. Unfortunately, we need to avoid walnuts, pecans and peanuts in our house because one of our kids has severe allergies to these nuts. So glad you liked it. Hope to see you around again soon!
Hi! Thanks for this recipe, looking forward to making it!
I noticed the dry ingredients list baking powder twice. I think it’s supposed to be 1½ tsp organic baking powder and ½ tsp organic baking *SODA*, right?
You’re absolutely right Rich! Thank you for the heads up we have made the correction. Can’t wait to hear how it turned out for you.