I cook better than I write

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Coffee cake

I've decided to start baking so that I can be a real babushka (for th ose who do not speak Russian - use your imagination). Since my Xmas cookies were such a big success (couple of years ago) and because Canadian winter is long and cold and the smell of baking goods make my place a bit cozy, and finally since I am having hard time coming up with ideas for breakfast food I decided to make a coffee cake!

This way I get a warm house filled with nice smell and I can always have a slice of it with my morning coffee. The result was a modified version of this blueberry-lemon coffee cake from Cooking Light magazine. I've veganized it and also used raspberries instead of blueberries (I can't stand cooked blueberries) :(
It turned out yummy and I'll definitely do more experiments with coffee cakes!

Raspberry-Lemon Coffee Cake

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tspn baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup almond paste (if you can' find the paste you can use finely grounded almonds mixed with a bit of marzipan. Do not substitute for marzipan only!!!)
2 tbls chilled vegan butter, cut into small pieces (I used coconut oil)
substitute for 1 large egg
1 tbls lemon juice
3/4 cup soy milk
1 1/2 cups raspberries
2 tsps grated lemon rind
Cooking spray

Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbls sliced almonds, chopped
1 1/2 tbls olive or canola oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Place 1/2 cup sugar, almond paste, and 2 tablespoons coconut oil in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add egg replacement and lemon juice, beating well. Add flour mixture and soy milk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in raspberries and rind. Spoon batter into a 9-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.

To prepare topping, combine 1/4 cup sugar and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, tossing with a fork until moist. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

12 servings.