What to expect
Depending on where you live you might think of a coffee cake as a cake that is eaten alongside your coffee or of a cake that is coffee flavored. While our vegan coffee cake is delicious with coffee, it’s also a cake with coffee flavor.To give the cake the coffee flavor we use strong Italian coffee, but you can also use instant coffee. Also, we tried this cake with three different fillings and they are all delicious. Pick the one you like the most: one is a delicious hazelnut cream that goes perfectly well with the coffee flavor. The other is our vegan coffee custard, a recipe that is extremely easy to make and also delicious. Thirdly, you can soften the coffee flavor by making a vegan custard filling. In some cases, this might be a more kid-friendly version. This vegan coffee cake can be eaten with your coffee, but it’s also delicious on its own, as a breakfast treat, as a plant–based dessert, or as an afternoon snack. You can also serve it without filling.
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 sometime 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.
Questions
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. 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, and 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 to 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. To a bowl, add 1/3 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, to 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 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 center 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. For many more easy dessert ideas, check out our desserts category page.
Vegan custard (pastry cream)
65 Plant-Based Italian Recipes
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