January 17, 2019

Walnut and Cinnamon Vegan Coffee Cake

Dessert is all very well, but I don’t always want to wait until after dinner to snack on something sweet. Often, right around 2 or 3 pm, I have the desire to sit down with a second cup of coffee, and nibble on a dessert-like baked good. I developed this vegan coffee cake to fill that space in my life- something simple, sweet and tasty, baked in a large pan without any frills or fuss. Bake a pan, and when that mid-afternoon coffee and cake moment hits, slice yourself a bit of cinnamon and walnut, sticky brown sugar topped, tasty vegan coffee cake. After that moment to relax and refocus, it’s on with the afternoon.

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Just like Mom Makes

Coffee cake is something that my mother sometimes make for breakfast, normally when we were on vacation. While there are a lot of different coffee cakes out there, to me coffee cake is a simple (but still delicious) cake, topped with a streusel or sticky topping, and more or less always using walnuts. So that’s what my coffee cake is- vegan coffee cake, just like Mom makes (although hers weren’t vegan until very recently). It’s amazing how childhood experiences can form your expectations of what food should be.

Quick Tip- Homemade Vegan Buttermilk!

Making this cake involves a neat trick- homemade vegan buttermilk! This handy little trick isn’t new. but it’s a helpful one to know. If you ever need to veganize a recipe that calls for buttermilk, add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to any plant-based milk (soymilk tends to work the best), mix together, and let sit for 5-10 minutes. You’ll see the solids separate from the liquid as it curdles, giving it that slightly sour, clumpy, buttermilk texture. It can then be added to your recipe, replacing the buttermilk in a 1:1 ratio.

Learning How to Work from Home

Since I started working fulltime on my blog (in December), I been spending much more time thinking about how I prioritize, work, and generally function. There is sometime really reflective about spending long days alone, with no exterior force pressuring you to do anything. I’ve started sleeping in later, working fewer hours, but accomplishing far more in that time. The work I’m doing is work I genuinely enjoy, and creating new recipes and coming up with new ideas doesn’t have the same creative pressure it used to, when I could only blog on weekends and evenings. Parts of blogging I enjoy less don’t feel onerous, as there is no reason to do them other than I think I should. I always thought I would find working for myself stressful, and feared I might become apathetic with a lack of exterior direction, but it’s turned out to be very much the opposite. It’s still early days, but the past month or so I’ve spent working with myself has improved my outlook on life, and made me enjoy the little moments more (like the afternoon cake and coffee I’m about to enjoy).

Looking for some Afternoon Treats Like Vegan Coffee Cake? Try one of these!

Walnut and Cinnamon Vegan Coffee Cake

Ingredients

For the cake

1 ¼ cup vegan milk
1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch of salt
½ cup vegan butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla

For the Walnut Topping

1 cup walnut pieces
½ cup brown sugar
3 tbsp. melted vegan butter
1 tsp. cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and grease an 8x11inch glass baking dish. Add the apple cider vinegar to the vegan milk, and set aside to allow to curdle for at least 5 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry cake ingredients (flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon). Whisk until even. Next add the vegan butter, in chunks, using a fork or your hands to break it up into a sand-like texture. Finally add the vanilla to the curdled vegan milk, and combine the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring until there are no more large chunks. Pour the batter into the pre-greased pan.
Combine the brown sugar, vegan butter, cinnamon and nuts for the topping, stirring so all the nuts are coated in the brown sugar and butter. Lay them evenly across the top of the cake batter. Bake for about an hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool fully before cutting.

https://veryveganval.com/2019/01/17/walnut-and-cinnamon-vegan-coffee-cake/

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Let’s hear from you…

What does coffee cake mean to you? Are there different styles of vegan coffee cake you enjoy?
Do you try and take breaks throughout your day, to refocus?
How do you feel about the standard 8 hour work day? Is it a productive use of time, or do you feel (like I do) that more can be accomplished if your work day is shorter?