Vegan Coffee Cake with Kahlua Frosting

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! 

1. Our classic vegan chocolate sponge cake is also a 7-inch 2 layer cake like this coffee cake. If you’re in the market for an 8 or 9-inch chocolate cake then the best vegan chocolate cake is the one for you. And we were not being arrogant at all when we named it that. 
2. Our vegan vanilla cake is topped with a vanilla frosting and is a hugely popular recipe on this blog with heaps of 5* reviews. That one is also a 7-inch beauty, if you want an 8-inch vanilla cake, check out our vegan white cake recipe. 
3. Our vegan lemon cake is pure lemon perfection in two 8-inch layers and our vegan lemon pound cake has just enough lemon drizzle on top to send you to lemon heaven!
4. 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. 
5. 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 with Kahlua Frosting

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★★★★★

4.7 from 13 reviews

• Author: Alison Andrews
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 10

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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!

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Ingredients

For the Coffee Cake:

• 2 cups (250g) All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup (200g) 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

For the Kahlua Frosting:

• 4 cups (480g) Powdered (Confectioners) Sugar
• 1/4 cup (56g) Vegan Butter
• 1/4 cup (60ml) Kahlua
• 1 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder
• 1–2 Tbsp Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Whisk with a hand whisk briefly till smooth. Don’t overmix.
6. Spray two 7 inch cake tins with non-stick spray and then place a circle of parchment paper at the base of each.
7. Divide the cake batter evenly between the two cake tins.
8. 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.
9. Place the cakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
10. 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.
11. Frost the cakes when cooled and decorate with melted chocolate drizzle and chocolate chips (optional).

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Notes

*For best results always weigh your flour.

*You can use any vegetable oil in this recipe. I have successfully made it with both canola oil and extra virgin olive oil but any vegetable oil should work fine. If you want to use coconut oil then make sure it is melted first.

*Nutritional information is for 1 slice of 10 including frosting but excluding extra chocolate decoration.

*Recipe adapted from our Vegan Coffee Cupcakes.

*For gluten-free you can try using a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour, and since gluten-free flours tend to absorb more moisture, increase the oil to 1/2 cup (120ml) to compensate. I have not tested this with gluten-free flour, but that is my suggestion based on other recipes I’ve made.

• 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