Vegan Strawberry Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is the perfect afternoon snack and with the holidays fast approaching this might just be the dessert you've been searching for.

Also, it's a great use for those strawberries that are a little less than perfect this time of year! Or just those rotting strawberries in your fridge.

Lately, we've very much been feeling the fruitier desserts rather than just chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. Maybe it has something to do with Spring being upon us and the warmer weather that is approaching, or at least the presence of the sun since we're still below normal temps here. 

Here's a song I like to listen to during Spring.

This is a nice, moist cake, probably due to the substitution of yogurt for almond milk in the original recipe. It gives the cake more of a sponge-y texture that the addition of buttermilk normally yields. In that case this coffee cake is very close to that of a traditional, non-vegan coffee cake. 

Vegan Strawberry Coffee Cake
We used an old family non-vegan recipe and veganized it 

Ingredients

Filling

2 cups fresh strawberries, diced

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup water

2 tbsp corn starch

¼ tsp lemon zest

Cake

½ tbsp apple cider vinegar (ACV)

½ cup vanilla soy yogurt

1 tbsp ground flaxseeds

3 tbsp hot water

1 ½ cup AP flour

¾ cup natural vegan cane sugar

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp sea salt

¼ cup chilled non-dairy butter

½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

Heat strawberries and sugar over medium heat in a sauté pan with half of the water. Bring to a boil and lower heat, stir occasionally. Make a mixture of the remaining water and the corn starch, make sure corn starch has dissolved. Once the fruit has broken down add the corn starch mixture and stir until the berries have thickened slightly. Remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350˚F and take out an 8 x 8 in baking dish. Miraculously you do not need to grease it (I was skeptical too but it is true).

Pour ACV and vanilla yogurt into a liquid measuring cup, stir and let sit until curdled. Mix flaxseed and hot water together, also let sit until thickened. Sift all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the margarine until crumbly. I just used a fork here and it worked well but you could use two butter knives. Add the flax egg and vanilla extract to the yogurt, stir and then add to the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated, the dough will be clumpy.

Spread half of the batter along the bottom of the baking dish. Pour the strawberry mixture on top, followed by the rest of the batter – just dump spoonfuls of it on top of the berries, no need to smooth it out. Place it in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. The top should be golden. Let cool for 30 mins.