The Best Vegan Coffee Cake

Instructions

1. First, preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C), then prepare an 8x8-inch square cake pan. Start by greasing the inside of the pan, then cut two pieces of parchment paper to the width of the pan, but long enough to hang over the edges of the pan. Place one piece of parchment inside the pan from top to bottom and press it to stick it to the oil or vegan butter, then attach it to the edges with two clips. Grease the parchment paper, then lay the other piece of parchment paper inside the pan from left to right, attaching it in the same way. Finally, grease the last piece of parchment.
2. In a small bowl, mix 1/3 cup of vegan brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar filling, then set it aside.
3. In a separate small mixing bowl, prepare the streusel topping by mixing together 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Then, stir in the melted vegan butter until the entire mixture is moist (don't over-mix it) and set it aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake: flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add in the wet ingredients: sugar, sour cream, oil, milk, vinegar, and vanilla, then mix until the batter is just combined. Don't over-mix it; there should still be lumps remaining, and the batter should be very thick, as shown in the photo.
6. Spread half of your coffee cake batter into the bottom of the prepared pan.* Then, spread the cinnamon sugar filling evenly on top. Top that with the rest of the cake batter, then sprinkle your streusel topping on top of everything.
7. Remove the clips from your parchment paper, then bake the cake at 350°F (180°C) for 45 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
8. While the cake is baking, prepare the icing. Sift together powdered sugar and salt in a small mixing bowl, then whisk in almond milk. You should have a consistency that can be poured and drizzled, but isn't so thin that it will be absorbed by the cake. If it's too thick, mix in an additional 1/2 teaspoon of milk. If it's too thin, add additional powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time.
9. When your cake is done, set the pan on a wire rack and let it cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
10. Use the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan, then cut into squares. Serve warm with a drizzle of icing.

Make sure you measure your flour accurately. For the best results, switch to metric and weigh your flour. If you're measuring with cups, use a spoon to add flour to the cup, then level it off; don't use the cup to scoop the flour.

To make homemade vegan sour cream, blend 1 cup raw cashews, soaked, 1/3 cup water, 4 tsp. apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp. lemon juice, and 1/4 tsp. salt in a blender until smooth. (Makes about 1 cup)

The batter for this coffee cake should be very thick, and it may seem like there's not enough batter to spread in the pan. Spread it as evenly as possible, and the cake will expand and rise to fill the pan during baking.

This coffee cake can be made a day in advance; just bake it as usual and leave the icing off. In the morning, warm the coffee cake in an oven or air fryer and drizzle the icing on top.