Kwoffee Kake

Mmmmmmmm. Right out of the eighties, coffee cake is that thing that all good hostesses have effortlessly sitting on a tray, waiting for visitors to drop in. I’m not that hostess, and am also renowned for my hit and miss relationship to baking - all those pesky measurements.

But coffee cake was calling my heart, possible spurred on by spying a tub of Betty Crocker coffee frosting at the supermarket. Uh huh - you read that right, icing in a tub, so wrong, and yet surprisingly so vegan. Icing in my world needs to be thick and creamy, i’m not adverse to making it, but I have no shame when it comes to a little spread of Betty on my cake. This recipe is simple and even I managed to turn it out with a little squeal of happiness.

For the purists, i’ve added in a vegan frosting recipe at the end. Use espresso if you can to give it a good coffee flavor, but I won’t tell if its a delicious burst of Nescafe.

Ingredients

2 1/2 C plain flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 C packed light brown sugar

1/2 C raw caster sugar

3/4 C vegan butter melted

1 C unsweetened plant based milk ( I used Bonsoy)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 C strong brewed coffee

1/3 C unsweetened coconut yogurt

vanilla butter cream icing ingredients:

1 cup room temperature vegan butter

3 cups icing sugar

2 teaspoons almond milk or soy milk

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Grated dark chocolate to garnish

Let’s DO This!

1. In a large bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, brown sugar, and raw sugar.

2. In another bowl combine the milk with apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract, coffee, melted butter and coconut yogurt. Stir to combine well and then add to the remaining dry mixture. Fold these together gently, without over mixing, until combined. 

3. Pour the cake batter into a non-stick round 20cm spring form pan.

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350F for 60 minutes pending on your oven. Check at 40 and turn, a toothpick should come out clean when inserted in the centre. 

5. Frosting: Be sure all of your ingredients are room temperature. Place all ingredients with 1/2 of the powdered sugar in a large bowl and cream together with a mixer. Add the rest of the powdered sugar and continue to mix until well combined and frosting consistency.
   

6. When the cake is done, remove and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Then remove the outside of the spring form pan and allow the cake to cool entirely before adding the vanilla icing on top and sprinkling with chocolate. You can also layer the cake if you want more icing through it - of course you do!