This cashew sour cream vegan coffee cake is a classic! It was too tender, with an irresistible band of cinnamon sugar in the middle and chunks of crumbled butter on top. This cake is made with homemade plant-based cashew sour cream, contributing to its moist texture.
We are nearing the end of the first week of 2024.
Many have returned to their offices or workplaces this week.
Others are busy making plans and strategies for the coming year.
Parents may be busy caring for children still on winter break.
Whether it’s focusing on getting back to work, extending family time for the holidays, or catching up on things put on hold in December, the first week of the New Year often feels busy.
In the middle of it, I thought it might be sweet! – Slow down, pause, and share this vegan coffee cake recipe.
I made coffee cakes earlier in the fall to welcome a cool morning. I was going to share the cake immediately, but in 2023, my fantasy timeline is constantly being upended.
They say things will happen at the right time, even if we don’t think so. Whether true or not, it’s the perfect moment to curl up on a vegan cake.
Coffee cake basics
I have a friend who loves cake as much as I do. We agree that it is not only the ideal dessert but also the perfect snack.
We often talk about how much we appreciate the Swedish custom of Fika, a joyous coffee break that is part of the national culture.
As far as I can tell, Fika is associated with drinking coffee and some sweet food. The treat is usually cake.
As I write this, I think of Fika. My thoughts drifted to another country abroad, Vienna, where the coffee cake was born.
American coffee cake originated in Austria and Germany; kaffekuchen is a sweet cake served with coffee.
German and Scandinavian immigrants eventually brought the sweet cake and coffee tradition to America. Early kaffekuchens may have been fermented, but over time, they have evolved into the quick bread that many contemporary home cooks are familiar with and love.
Today, coffee cakes can be single or double. They may contain nuts or dried fruit. They are usually made of hard flour.
Streusel, which means “sprinkle” or “sprinkle” in German, refers to a crumbly, sugary, buttery cake topping.
As coffee cake developed in the United States, it often included sour cream. Sour cream adds some slight acidity to help balance the sweetness of the cake. It also moisturizes the cake crumbs and acts as a practical activation of baking powder or baking soda, which causes the cake to rise.
My vegan coffee cake is modeled after a classic American coffee cake. It contains all the elements described above:
- Two layers
- Cinnamon sugar in the middle
- A five-minute sprinkle of vegan pastry
And, yes, there is sour cream. My 4-ingredient vegan sour cream is made with cashews.
Why cashew sour cream is the ‘secret weapon’ for vegan baking
“Quick bread,” also known as this vegan coffee cake, is made with chemical fermentation. The starter culture can be baking powder or baking soda; Many recipes combine both.
Some form of acid activates baking soda. When baking soda is added to the batter along with the acid, it creates small bubbles that get trapped in the batter while it bakes.
This has led to an increase in the number of home bakers looking for when making cakes, banana bread, pancakes, or waffles.
While many baking recipes call for some liquid ingredient when making the batter, they don’t always call for acidic liquids. Acidic liquids help bread expand faster than neutral liquids.
This is why many baking and pancake recipes call for buttermilk. I make my own vegan buttermilk.
It’s also why sour cream is often used in coffee cake recipes—and why I add cashew sour cream to my own vegan coffee cake.
My four favorite ingredients of vegan sour cream
Of course, traditional sour cream is not a vegetarian ingredient. So, how do we replace it?
Vegan sour cream is now available. There are several store-bought options.
Next, I’m going to make an advertisement for my homemade vegan sour cream because I love the taste and texture. But if you’re pressed for time, don’t have a power blender, are allergic to cashews, or just don’t like them, you don’t have to use homemade.
Instead, try Tofutti tofu sour cream (without nuts), Forager sour cream (based on cashews and coconut oil), or Kite Hill sour cream (based on almonds and coconut oil).
If you’re inspired to make your own cashew sour cream, let me tell you how great it is.
Since becoming a vegetarian, I’ve tried different vegan sour cream recipes, but this is by far my favorite.
It’s easy to do, and it proves that less is more. Besides water, it only needs four ingredients: cashews, lemon juice, lime juice, and salt.
This makes sour cream very healthy, in addition to being incredibly creamy and delicious.
Cashew sour cream will make your vegan coffee cake taste better—more tender and richer. It also helps the cake batter rise. Sour cream is an important and useful addition to recipes in many ways.
Can I replace sour cream?
Yes, you can. Yogurt can be a good substitute for cashew sour cream. You won’t end up with a vegan sour cream coffee cake, but you’ll have one with many of the same characteristics.
As for the specific type of yogurt, again, you can choose the product that works best for you. I love Project Forager and Kitehill yogurt, but Silk’s soy yogurt is also good.
In any case, choose plain yogurt or unsweetened yogurt to help retain some of the sourness the original cashew sour cream should impart.
How to make sour cream vegan coffee cake
This cake is relatively easy to make but needs to be done gradually.
Eat it little by little, and you’ll find it exciting to prepare!
Step 1: Make the pastry
This coffee cake recipe calls for 1 batch of my 5-minute vegan pastry.
Hard bread can be made in advance. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days or frozen for up to six weeks.
Otherwise, you can prepare it before making the rest of the vegan coffee cake.
Step 2: Prepare the cinnamon sugar layer
As you can see from the top of this point, the vegan coffee cake has a lovely layer of cinnamon and sugar running through its center.
First, you will mix the ingredients for this layer: cinnamon, sugar, and a little flour.
Cinnamon, brown sugar, and a pinch of flour make up the cinnamon sugar layer that runs through the coffee cake.
Step 3: Mix the dry ingredients
Next, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to make the cake batter. It would help if you mixed in a large mixing bowl.
Step 4: Mix wet ingredients
In another medium mixing bowl or large Pyrex liquid measuring cup, combine sour cream, non-dairy milk, avocado oil, sucrose, and vanilla.
The batter for the coffee cake is simple: flour, leavening agents, salt, vegan sour cream, non-dairy milk, oil, sugar, and vanilla.
Step 5: Mix wet and dry ingredients
Add the wet ingredients to the beaten dry ingredients, then mix them until the batter is well blended and smooth. A few minor bumps are good!
Step 6: Pour half of the batter into the square pan
You will use an 8 “/ 20 cm square baking pan for the coffee cake.
Next, pour half of the prepared cake batter into a plate.
Step 7: Spread the cinnamon sugar layer over the batter
Gently spread the cinnamon sugar mixture over the bottom layer of the cake batter. It doesn’t have to be very precise here – just spread it around as much as you can.
Step 8: Top the cinnamon sugar with another layer of cake batter
Once the cinnamon sugar is in place, pour the remaining cake batter over the cinnamon sugar layer.
The next step may seem a bit tricky, but with a steady hand, you’ll be able to smooth the layer without any issues. If you apply too much pressure or work too fast, you may remove the cinnamon sugar layer or mix everything together so that the cinnamon sugar is incorporated into the cake.
Be patient and meticulous in your work. It usually takes me a minute or two to put the top layer of batter in place, and my movements are very deliberate.
The cinnamon sugar will run through the middle of the cake batter, creating two layers.
Use a spatula or invert spatula to gently spread the top layer of cake batter over the cinnamon sugar layer.
Step 9: Add the pastry
This is the fun part! Finish preparing the coffee cake and sprinkle the pastry on top. There will be a lot, and that’s how it should be.
Vegan streusel topping will add big, buttery, sugary crumbs to the top of this coffee cake.
Step 10: Bake
Bake the coffee cake for 40 minutes, or until the top is fluffy and the pastry takes on a deep golden color, then a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the baked cake to a cooling rack.
You must wait two hours to slice and enjoy the cake, which I know is a big ask.
However, your patience will be rewarded with the most beautiful morning or afternoon coffee or tea companionship.
Vegetarian coffee cake ingredients
Most of the ingredients for a vegan coffee cake are simple. Here are some additional words about some of them.
flour
Unbleached all-purpose flour is the flour I use for my coffee cake and most of the baked goods I make.
You can make gluten-free coffee cakes with a universal gluten-free flour mixture. My favorite is King Arthur’s Foot for the Foot of Flour.
sugar
This recipe calls for sucrose and light brown sugar. The cane sugar is used to make the cake batter, and the brown sugar is used to make the pastry and the cinnamon sugar layer.
In a pinch, you can use all brown sugar or all table sugar, but each sugar has a unique texture and appearance. If you have both, then both are worth using.
If you like, you can replace the coconut sugar with brown sugar.
petroleum
I usually use refined avocado oil when baking, which I also use in my recipes. However, you can also use olive oil.
You can also use another vegetable oil, such as safflower or grapeseed.
Vegetarian sour cream
Again, you can choose between store-bought sour cream or homemade sour cream. If you need an alternative, vegan yogurt is the best choice.
Meal preparation and storage
Vegan sour cream coffee cake is a lovely thing to make at the beginning of the week and enjoy as the week goes by. It can be part of a vegetarian breakfast or a coffee break snack that you prepare beforehand.
Cut the vegan coffee cake into squares and freeze or store them for a week’s worth of sweet snacks.
The coffee cake can be cut into squares, then stored in the freezer for up to six weeks. They can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days.
