Vegan Cinnamon Crumble Coffee Cake

It's my birthday! In lieu of birthday cake, I thought I'd share with you my recipe for coffee cake that recieved rave reviews at a business meeting this week. It has a lot of ingredients, but I'll bet you have most of them in your pantry. Plus, with whole wheat flour and applesauce in place of oil, it just doesn't feel entirely right calling this a "cake."

Crumbley topping ingredients:
1/2 cu whole wheat flour
1/4 cu brown sugar
2 T buttery spread (I use Earth Balance, you could also use the same amount of canola or vegetable oil)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t salt
1/4 cu chopped or crushed walnuts

Cake ingredients:
The Wet:
1 cu almond milk
1/2 cu applesauce
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T vanilla extract

The Dry:
1 cu whole wheat flour
1/2 cu white sugar
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t ginger (I love ginger!)
1/4 t salt

You will also need:
A bundt cake pan
Non stick cooking spray
3 bowls
A spatula and/or whisk

The dry. The wet. The muffin method.

Delicious cake in 10 easy steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F
2. Mix the wet ingredients listed above in a medium bowl and set aside to rest for 10 minutes. This will effectively curdle the milk and give the cake a tangy flavor, but you will not taste the vinegar. Don't skip this step!
3. Melt the butter and mix with other topping ingredients. Mix until nice and crumbly. Pour into the bottom of a well -reased bundt cake pan. (It must be well-greased or you are not getting this thing out!)
4. Mix the dry ingredients listed above. in a large bowl Use a spatula or whisk to ensure that the baking soda, powder, and spices are well integrated with the flour. 
5. Add the wet to the dry and use a spatula to just mix the ingredients. Some lumps are okay.
6. Pour into the bundt cake pan overtop of the crumbly topping.
7. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes at 350° F until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
8. Let cook in the pan for 5 minutes.
9. Invert pan onto a plate and allow to cool for at least 10 more minutes.
10. Enjoy!


NOTE: If you don't have a bundt cake pan, you can make this in a regular square or round cake pan, but you will want to pour the cake batter in first and put the topping on top.