Vegan Coffee Cake

Cambia lingua / Switch language: ITA

This vegan coffee cake is soft, spongy, moist and packed with coffee flavour. And if you like, you can even fill it with a layer of coffee custard or with a homemade hazelnut cream.

It is also a very easy recipe to make with simple ingredients you already have in your pantry.

Jump to:

• What is a vegan coffee cake?
• Ingredients & Substitutions
• How to make vegan coffee cake?
• How to fill the vegan coffee cake
• How to scale this recipe?
• Mistakes I made
• Tips
• FAQ
• Storage
• Variations
• Video
• Recipe

What is a vegan coffee cake?

Depending on where you live you might think of a coffee cake as a cake that is eaten along side your coffee or of a cake that is coffee flavoured.

While our vegan coffee cake is delicious with coffee, we actually follow the Italian recipe for coffee cake, which is a cake with coffee flavour.

To give the cake the coffee flavour we use strong Italian coffee, but you can, of course, use instant coffee.

Also, we tried this cake with two different fillings and they are both delicious.

Pick the one you like the most: one is a delicious hazelnut cream that goes perfectly well with the coffee flavour.

The other is our vegan coffee custard, a recipe that is extremely easy to make and also delicious.

This vegan coffee cake can be eaten with your coffee, but it's also delicious on its own, as a breakfast treat, after a meal or as an afternoon snack. You can also serve it without filling.

Ingredients & Substitutions

For the cake

• Flour: you can use all-purpose flour, bread flour, whole-wheat flour, or spelt flour. For a gluten-free version, use a store-bought gluten-free flour mix for cakes.
  
• Sugar: we use plain white sugar or unrefined brown sugar. You can replace it with coconut sugar, or any other granulated sugar.
  
• Coffee: we use real coffee, made with Espresso beans in an Italian moka. You can use any strong black coffee. Alternatively, you can replace it with 3 tablespoons of instant coffee dissolved in 1 cup (250 grams) of hot water.
  
• Plant milk: we use soy milk, any other plant-milk will work.
  
• Vegetable oil: we used sunflower oil. You can replace it with any vegetable oil that has a mild flavour. You can even use melted vegan butter if you like.
  
• Baking powder: you can replace it with cream of tartar.

For the hazelnut cream filling

• Hazelnuts: whole and peeled. Not salted.
  
• Plant milk: we use soy milk, any plant milk will work.
  
• Sugar: we used brown sugar, but any sugar will work.
  
• Cornstarch: this is used to thicken the cream. We do not recommend replacing this ingredient, but if you are allergic you could use potato starch instead.

For the coffee custard

• Coffee: strong black coffee.
  
• Plant milk: we use soy but other types work well too.
  
• Sugar: white or brown.
  
• Cornstarch: to thicken the custard.

How to make vegan coffee cake?

Equipment

• Springform pan (the one that opens on the side): we used a 9 inch pan (23 cm).
  
• Blender: you'll need this if you make the hazelnut cream filling.
  
• Hand mixer: you can also use a manual whisk.

For the coffee cake

Preheat the oven to 340F or 170C. Prepare your springform pan by oiling it and dusting it with flour.

Make the coffee. Either strong espresso or you can dissolve 3 tablespoons of instant coffee into 1 cup of hot water.

Then in a bowl, add coffee, sugar, soy milk, oil and mix well with a spatula.

Sift in flour and baking powder and mix with a hand mixer or with a whisk for a few seconds. Don't over-mix the batter. Over-mixing will result in a dense, heavier cake.

Transfer the cake batter into the springform pan and bake in the oven at 340F or 170C for 40 to 50 minutes.

To check doneness Insert a toothpick in the cake at the 40 min mark, if it comes out dry, then the cake is ready.

Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down for at least 30 minutes on a cooling rack.

You can either serve the cake as is or fill it with our vegan coffee custard (see recipe link in the notes) or with a hazelnut cream filling.

For the coffee custard filling

In a pot off the heat, add plant milk, sugar, cornstarch, and coffee. Stir well with a whisk until all the lumps of the cornstarch are gone.

Bring the pot on the heat, set it on low, and stir continuously until the liquid thickens into a creamy custard. It can take between 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the quantities.

For the hazelnut cream filling

Toast the hazelnuts in the oven at 360F or 180C for 8 minutes. Then blend them at high speed together with the soy milk. Blend for at least 3 minutes. The liquid should be as smooth as possible.

In a saucepan, off the heat, add the blended hazelnut milk, sugar, and cornstarch and whisk until there are no lumps.

On medium heat, cook the liquid while stirring until it thickens into a smooth hazelnut cream. It should take about 1 minute. Let it cool down before adding it to the cake.

How to fill the vegan coffee cake

Make the coffee syrup to moisten the cake

This step is optional but I really recommended it for two reasons:

1. The coffee syrup will keep the vegan coffee cake soft and moist.
2. The coffee syrup will add even more coffee flavour to the cake.

To a bowl, add ⅓ cup of coffee and about 2 tablespoons of sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside.

Cut the coffee cake open and apply syrup

With a serrated knife, cut the cake in half. With a spoon apply the coffee syrup, evenly, on the base layer of the cake.

Then add the hazelnut cream filling or the vegan coffee custard onto the base layer, spread with a spoon, and cover with the top layer.

If you like you can sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, then slice and serve. My advice is to wait a couple of hours before eating it. The day after will taste even better.

How to scale this recipe?

Easy! We calculated the scaling number for you. Pick the springform pan that you want to use for your cake, then multiply all the ingredients in our recipe box by the scaling number in this table.

Springform pan size	Scaling Number
4 inch (10 cm)	0.22
5 inch (13 cm)	0.31
6 inch (15 cm)	0.44
7 inch (18 cm)	0.60
8 inch (20 cm)	0.79
9 inch (23 cm)	1
10 inch (25 cm)	1.23
11 inch (28 cm)	1.5

How do I know if my cake is fully baked?

Depending on the type of oven, type of milk, and type of flour, your cake will take more or less time to cook than our cake.

For this reason, when baking ANY cake, you should always check the core of the cake with a clean toothpick or skewer before you take your cake out of the oven.

To do that, just insert the toothpick or the skewer in the centre of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean and dry it means that your cake is ready. If the toothpick comes out wet, then bake for a few minutes longer, then check again.

Mistakes I made

• I did not put in the oven fast enough: the first time I made this cake I forgot to preheat the oven and to oil the cake pan before hand. That means that over 20 minutes passed from the moment I added the baking powder to the moment I put the cake in the oven.
  
  And that's super bad because the baking powder will lose its effect. Bake the cake immediately after you add the baking powder to get the best results. That means, preheat the oven as step 1, and grease your cake pan as step 2.

Tips

• Don't over-mix the batter: at least with vegan cakes you should try not to over-mix the batter, because mixing too much will activate the gluten in the flour, which in turn will make the cake heavier. It's a fine balance between breaking the lumps without over-mixing the batter.
  
• Wait some time before eating it: this vegan coffee cake tastes better a few hours after it's made, and even better the day after. This is because the coffee aroma, the sugar and the hazelnut have time to come together and intensify.

FAQ

Storage

To keep the cake soft and moist keep it in a food-grade plastic bag. You can keep it for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or in a corner of your kitchen out of the sunlight.

You can also freeze the cake for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator till soft. You can warm it up for a few seconds in the microwave if you like.

Variations

You can easily change the filling of this cake to a chocolate custard, pistachio custard, or for an even more full coffee flavour, a coffee custard.

If you are looking for other similar cakes, check out our:

• Easy vegan chocolate cake
• Vegan vanilla cake
• Soft orange curd cake
• Coconut birthday cake

They are all vegan, easy and delicious!

Video

Double-tap/click to watch video-recipe.

3 breakfast cakes you can easily turn into desserts | Coffee cake | Chocolate cake | Orange cake

Recipe

If you liked this recipe, you might also like:

• Vegan apple cake
• Easy vegan chocolate cake
• Italian wine cookies
• Vegan coffee cake
• Easy chocolate brownie cake

Did you try this recipe at home? Let us know in the comments below or tag us on Instagram at theplantbasedschool 🙂

Buon appetito!