Insanely delicious vegan coffee cake. This isn’t just a cake to eat with your coffee, this is a decadent coffee flavored cake!
It was a bit of a surprise to me when I found out that folks in America call something a coffee cake when it’s meant to be eaten alongside your 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 this vegan coffee cake, is a coffee flavored cake. Just in case you were thinking it’s one of those ‘eat with your coffee’ kind of cakes, not flavored with coffee at all.
This isn’t one of those. But you CAN eat this with your coffee of course and the coffee flavor is just fabulous! If you love cakes then also check out the most amazing vegan chocolate cake.
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.
What You Need For The Cake:
Ingredient Notes
- Instant coffee powder – we used instant espresso powder which worked great but any instant coffee will do perfectly.
- Canola oil – can be replaced with any vegetable oil.
- Apple cider vinegar – can be replaced with distilled white vinegar. This reacts with the baking soda and causes the cake to rise.
- Soy milk – can be switched for any non-dairy milk.
What You Need For The Frosting
Frosting Ingredient Notes
- Vegan butter – ideally choose a vegan butter that is as firm as possible. It can either be sticks or tub-style vegan butter, but the firmer the better. Very soft buttery spreads sometimes don’t work as well in frostings as they tend to be too soft.
- Coffee liqueur – you can use any coffee liqueur. We used kahlua. If you don’t want a boozy frosting then you can replace this with non-dairy milk.
- Instant coffee powder – this can be any instant coffee, we used instant espresso powder.
How To Make Vegan Coffee Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- Sift all purpose flour into your mixing bowl and add light brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and instant coffee powder. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar and mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between two 8-inch cake pans (sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with circles of parchment paper on the bottom).
- Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cake pans and placing onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add powdered sugar, vegan butter, coffee liqueur, instant coffee powder and vanilla extract to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth.
- When the cakes have cooled completely, frost them.
- Place the frosted cake into the fridge for an hour for the frosting to set.
Recipe Tips
Measure the flour correctly. Either weigh your flour on a food scale (for complete accuracy) or use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
Don’t over-mix your batter. Mix the batter until just mixed. Over-mixing the batter can affect the texture and the rise of the cake.
Bake immediately. When the batter is mixed, transfer to your cake pans and bake right away. Don’t let the batter sit for any length of time or it can affect the texture and rise.
Adapt for different cake pans. You can also make this cake in two 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes.
Recipe FAQ
You can switch the regular flour for a gluten-free all purpose baking blend in the same quantity.
This recipe makes 18-24 cupcakes. Or you can check out our vegan coffee cupcakes recipe.
Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where it will last for up to a week.
You can freeze the frosted or unfrosted cake for up to 3 months.
More Vegan Cakes
- Easy vegan chocolate cake
- Vegan Vanilla Cake
- Vegan White Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Vegan Carrot Cake
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
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Vegan Coffee Cake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Insanely delicious vegan coffee cake. This isn’t just a cake to eat with your coffee, this is a decadent coffee flavored cake!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) All Purpose Flour*
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) Light Brown Sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 3 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder or Instant Espresso Powder
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 3 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3/4 cup (180ml) Canola Oil (or Vegetable Oil)
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Frosting:
- 4 cups (480g) Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 cup (112g) Vegan Butter
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Coffee Liqueur*
- 1 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder or Instant Espresso Powder
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray two 8-inch* cake pans with non-stick spray and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
- Sift all purpose flour into your mixing bowl and add light brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and instant coffee powder. Mix together.
- Add soy milk, vanilla extract, oil and vinegar and mix into a batter. Don’t overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared 8-inch cake pans and smooth down.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cakes comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool for a few minutes before removing them from the cake pans and placing onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Add powdered sugar, vegan butter, coffee liqueur, instant coffee powder and vanilla extract to the bowl of your stand mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until the frosting is thick and smooth.
- When the cakes have cooled completely, frost them and then place the frosted cake into the fridge for an hour for the frosting to set.
Notes
*Measure the flour correctly. Either weigh your flour on a food scale (for complete accuracy) or use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup.
*9-inch cake pans: You can also make this cake in two 9-inch round cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes.
*Coffee Liqueur: You can use any coffee liqueur. We used kahlua. If you don’t want a boozy frosting though you can replace this with non-dairy milk.
*Gluten-Free: You can switch the regular flour for a gluten-free all purpose baking blend in the same quantity.
*Cupcakes: This recipe makes 18-24 cupcakes.
*Storing and Freezing: Keep it covered at room temperature where it will stay fresh for 2-3 days or covered in the fridge where it will last for up to a week. You can freeze the frosted or unfrosted cake for up to 3 months.
*This recipe was first published in November 2017. It has been updated with new photos and the recipe itself has been increased to fit larger cake pans and adjusted for simplicity.
- Category: Dessert, Cakes
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 12)
- Calories: 591
- Sugar: 65.8g
- Sodium: 416mg
- Fat: 21.7g
- Saturated Fat: 3.1g
- Carbohydrates: 93g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4.3g
Keywords: vegan coffee cake
Hi Alison thank you for this great recipe. I made this coffee cake and it was absolutely fantastic. I love coffee cake and icing is one of my favourite parts and this one with the coffee liqueur was amazing. Will make this for my colleagues at work. Thank you again.
★★★★★
That’s awesome Sylvia! Thanks so much for the wonderful review.
This recipe came out so well. But im facing two issues with all the cake recipes that i have tried- my cake layers are not coming out thick and there are some sugar crystals at the top after baking. The cakes taste really good but i really wish to have thick layers. Can you help me overcome these two issues?
★★★★
Hi Richa, first of all, make sure you are using the right size cake pans, if the cake pans you’re using are bigger then your layers would be thinner. Second, make sure you’re using baking soda (not baking powder which is much weaker). And then you want to mix your batter until just mixed, don’t over-mix or it can cause your cake to not rise properly. And then bake right away as soon as your batter is mixed and transferred to the cake pans. I’m not sure why that would happen with your sugar though. Are you using regular granulated sugar?
Hi Alison! Thanks for your reply. I tried the recipe again and added some baking powder too along with Baking soda. I also increased vinegar by 1/2 tbsp and finally got a fluffy well risen layers. I was so happy to see my first cake with thick layers. Thanks for the wonderful recipe. Stay safe and take care.
Made for my family this is a wonderful cake so great to find a treat for egg and dairy intolerant grandson that the whole family loved
★★★★★
Awesome Elaine! Thanks so much for the wonderful review.
I made this coffee cake this afternoon and it is totally divine! The cinnamon gives the coffee a real lift too, love it, along with all your other recipes – being a vegan you are very much my “go to” website! Thank you. xx
That’s awesome Hannah! Thanks so much for sharing!
This was so moist and delicious! I’ve made chocolate and coffee flavored cakes before but never a true “coffee” cake. I will make this again . Thanks!
★★★★★
Thanks so much Molly!
I’m going to be making this in a couple of days time judging by the awesome reviews. I had a couple of questions:
1. I only have one 8 inch spring-form baking tin. Therefore, is it possible to cook the whole cake in this tin and then cut through to half it? If so, would you be able to advise the oven temperature and time please?
2. I just wanted to clarify that instead of coffee liqueur, I can substitute this with any plant milk as per your recipe tips or if there were any other alternatives to consider as well?
Thanks in advance 🙂
★★★★★
Hi Rik, it would be better to halve the recipe for a single layer cake in that case. And yes you can use plant milk to replace the coffee liqueur or filter coffee. 🙂
Can you add chopped walnuts? Would it affect the balance of ingredients in any way?
You definitely can! Up to a cup of chopped walnuts just folded into the batter after mixing would be great!
I made this and it is good.
However, in future I will use 6 T coffee powder in the cake batter mixture, and 3 T in the icing to get much more of a strong coffee flavour. I have used a top, rich brand of powder, but I think the sugar overwhelms it. I have also reduced the amount of sugar in the cake to 200g, and 240g in the icing..
For the liqueur I recommend Caffé Borghetti. This fabulous coffee liqueur, which is the only one I use, repeatedly wins awards.
★★★★
I do not have instant coffee so it would be good idea to use the cold brew coffee. If so are there any changes required?
You would need to use that in place of some of the non-dairy milk.
I have a fan oven – should I still set it to 180C, or a lower temperature? (recipes often recommend setting fan ovens to 20C less than conventional ovens, it seems to me)
Thanks 🙂
Hi Eleanor, yes the temperature will need to be 20°C lower for a fan oven.