Insanely delicious vegan coffee cake with kahlua frosting. This isn’t just a cake to eat with your coffee, this is fabulously decadent coffee flavored cake!
I just found out a super surprising (to me anyway!) fact about coffee cake. Apparently, folks in America often call something a coffee cake when it’s meant to be eaten along with coffee. It doesn’t necessarily have any coffee in it.
Whereas in the UK (and South Africa, where I’m from), a coffee cake is a cake flavored with coffee.
So when I made my vegan coffee cupcakes I had no idea about this little factoid!
I found it out when I went hunting for coffee cake recipes to look for inspiration for this recipe and found a whole heap of cakes called ‘coffee cakes’ that had absolutely no coffee in them. I was totally befuddled until wikipedia helped me out!
So this vegan coffee cake, has some coffee in it. Just in case you were thinking it’s one of those ‘eat with my coffee’ kind of cakes not flavored with coffee at all.
This isn’t one of those. But you definitely CAN eat this with your coffee and I think the coffee flavor in this is just fabulous!
The coffee flavor
I was vaguely considering going the route of using filter coffee in this, but decided against it because I’ve tried that before in a cake and the flavor doesn’t come through strongly enough.
So this coffee cake has 3 tablespoons of instant coffee powder, and the flavor is there, it’s sooo there.
And this way you don’t even have to put on a pot of coffee, you just have to spoon it in, it’s too easy.
The frosting!
And then how about that frosting! I first tried a kahlua frosting when I was trying to make a kahlua cake. The frosting was a huge success, the cake was not.
I simply could not get that kahlua cake to hold together, it just broke up. I usually don’t have any problems with my cakes binding, so I had to conclude it was the kahlua that was causing the issue.
The only thing I could find out about it online was that adding alcohol to cakes can change their texture. I couldn’t find a single bit of info about how to solve that issue, as clearly the way it was changing my cakes texture was to make it crumble!
Anyway we had boozy cake crumble which was very tasty, but since I couldn’t figure that one out, that recipe won’t be finding it’s way to the blog, not unless I can find a way to fix it that is (any insights, I’m all ears)!
But the frosting – well it was such a winner – I knew I had to use it for another cake. So here it is!
This kahlua frosting is a perfect pairing with this vegan coffee cake.
And then to decorate, melted chocolate drizzled everywhere and chocolate chips sprinkled on top of that!
The look is decadent and the taste is magnificent!
Serve it with a cup of coffee (or tea) and enjoy the deliciousness of this very coffee flavored vegan cake!
You will love this vegan coffee cake, with kahlua frosting – let’s not forget that super nb part! It is:
- Moist
- Rich
- Decadent
- Coffee Flavored
- Topped with kahlua frosting and chocolate
- Insanely good!
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for a few days or covered in the fridge where it will last for up to a week!
More vegan cakes..
We have so much vegan cake deliciousness going on at this blog, you are so in the right place if cakes are your thing!
- Our easy vegan chocolate sponge cake is super simple, just like this one.
- Our vegan vanilla cake is topped with a vanilla frosting and is a hugely popular recipe on this blog with heaps of 5* reviews. Also check out our vegan white cake recipe.
- Our vegan lemon cake is pure lemon perfection and our vegan lemon pound cake has just enough lemon drizzle on top to send you to lemon heaven!
- If you’re all about that banana flavor then our vegan banana cake will be right up your street. This is a sheet cake version with a gorgeous lemon frosting and decorated with crushed walnuts.
- Our vegan carrot cake is another hugely popular recipe that never disappoints!
So let us know what you think of this vegan coffee cake! Trying it soon? Let us know! Please also rate the recipe it is so helpful.
Oh, and while you’re here, don’t forget to sign up to our email list, we’ll send you an awesome free recipe book AND you’ll stay updated with all our latest recipes!
Vegan Coffee Cake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 10
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Insanely delicious vegan coffee cake with kahlua frosting. This isn’t just a cake to eat with your coffee, this is fabulously coffee flavored cake! And it’s vegan, and rich and decadent!
Ingredients
For the Coffee Cake:
- 2 cups (250g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 cup (200g) Light Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
- 3 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder
- 2 Tbsp Hot Water
- 1 cup (240ml) Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/3 cup (80ml) Canola Oil*
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Flax Egg (1 Tbsp Ground Flaxseeds + 3 Tbsp Hot Water)
For the Kahlua Frosting:
- 4 cups (480g) Powdered Sugar
- 1/4 cup (56g) Vegan Butter
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Kahlua (or other Coffee Liqueur)
- 1 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder
- 1–2 Tbsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- Prepare your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp of ground flaxseed with 3 Tbsp of hot water from the kettle. Allow to sit for a minute and become gloopy.
- Then mix the instant coffee with 2 Tbsp of hot water from the kettle into a thick paste. Mix this with the soy milk and add to the mixing bowl along with the vanilla, oil, apple cider vinegar and flax egg.
- Whisk with a hand whisk briefly till smooth. Don’t overmix.
- Spray two 7 inch cake tins with non-stick spray and then place a circle of parchment paper at the base of each.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between the two cake tins.
- Place into the oven to bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Place the cakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter and kahlua into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix the coffee powder with 1 Tbsp soy milk and the vanilla and form it into a paste before adding it in. Start mixing at low speed, gradually increase speed until it’s thick and smooth. You may or not need the extra Tbsp of soy milk, just use as little as needed so that your frosting is very thick, but still spreadable.
- Frost the cakes when cooled and decorate with melted chocolate drizzle and chocolate chips (optional).
Notes
*For best results always weigh your flour.
*You can use any vegetable oil in this recipe.
*Nutritional information is for 1 slice of 10 including frosting but excluding extra chocolate decoration.
*Recipe adapted from our Vegan Coffee Cupcakes.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 10)
- Calories: 483
- Sugar: 70.4g
- Sodium: 301mg
- Fat: 10.7g
- Saturated Fat: 1.5g
- Carbohydrates: 93g
- Fiber: 1.1g
- Protein: 3.8g
Keywords: vegan coffee cake
Just made this because I had some cappuccino chocolate buttons (they’re the non-vegan part 😮 ) which needed an accompaniment. Sponge worked very well cooked exactly as instructed – like the carrot cake I found that the ‘crust’ of the sponges was quite hard/tough when slicing, but it does add some crunch texture which is good. For the icing I did as others in the comments mentioned – used half the icing sugar, and used about 30ml of espresso (from 15g ground beans) instead of kahlua. Used Flora plant based butter and it gave the perfect thickness / spreadability with a lovely coffee taste. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing Rebecca!
Just made this cake as a tester for my son’s 21st birthday. He is allergic to egg, dairy, and all nuts. This was a hit and I will be making it again in two days for his actual birthday! Fantastic across the board. The frosting is rich, but everyone that had a piece of the tester gave it rave reviews. We are true coffee lovers and this hit the spot! Thank you!
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing Kathleen!
I have been making this cake for a while now. It is my kids favorite. I have even substituted with gluten free flower mix and it still comes out fantastic. Only alteration I do is I only use 2 cups of icing sugar. Less sugar for the kids! 🙂 Thanks for the life-saving recipe!
★★★★★
Awesome Scott! Thanks so much for the wonderful review!
Hi
Love all the recipes on this website that I have tried
One question .. I live in the Uk .. so when you use Baking Soda .. do you mean bicarbonate of soda or baking powder
Julie
Hi Christine, so glad to hear you like the recipes. Baking soda is bicarbonate of soda. 🙂
Thank you
I baked this coffee cake today and it is a winner, I used gluten free self raising flour, two teaspoons egg replacer, 1/4 spoon of bread soda and the other ingredients. For the frosting I used vegan cream cheese, liquid coffee extract, vegan butter and icing sugar. This is my best ever ‘Vegan, gluten free Coffee Cake’ Delish!
‘
★★★★★
So glad it was a success! Thanks for sharing!
I used this recipe as a base for a cardamom cake, halved the ingredients to make a 9-inch layer cake and replaced the 3 tablespoons of instant coffee with 1 tablespoon (or 1/2 tablespoon for the halved recipe) of cardamom. It was very good, and everyone in my family liked it.
I’m not a fan of the icing, but I “diluted” it with cream cheese to get a less sweet one and it turned out great. I will definitely be making more cakes in the future
★★★★★
Finally a vegan cake recipe that uses things that are actually affordable and easy to get. I was thinking about replacing the coffee in the cake with cardamom and the kahlua in the frosting with espresso, do you think it will work?
I think espresso instead of kahlua would work great in the frosting. I’m not sure about the cardamon, I’m sure it would be a good add but likely not in the same quantity as the coffee used, you would have to experiment to find the right amount.
Hi, could I use melted dairy free margarine instead of the oil tia
Hi Jane, I haven’t tested it that way but I think it should work.
Hi there
If I were to totally leave out the flaxegg/apple sauce/egg replacer, would it be fine
It would probably be fine, but if it’s a little dry then you’ll know to add a little extra oil instead.
Hi! I only have a 9” cake pan. Will this work as a single layer cake, maybe slice the cake to make 2 layers once done? Any thoughts on bake time if so? Thank you!
This will work perfectly as a single layer 9-inch cake. No changes needed, baking time will be the same at 30 minutes. It will be a perfect thickness for a single layer, but too thin to cut in half. But as a single layer it will work great!
Help! No flax or apple sauce but I do have egg replacer. Can I use that? If yes, just one “egg”
Really want to make this cake today for my hubby’s birthday!
Yes you can use another egg replacer, it would be one egg yes.