Vegan Coffee Cake

This vegan coffee cake is sweet and moist with a subtle coffee flavour, and is topped with a deliciously fragrant buttercream. Whether you’re addicted to your morning cuppa or just like to enjoy a coffee now and again, you’re going to love this cake!

I have a confession…

I have never drunk a whole cup of coffee in my life.

The only time I’ve had more than a sip of coffee is when I accidentally picked up the wrong order in a cafe and didn’t want to waste it.

It’s one of those things that I really want to like because a morning coffee seems so much more exciting, and way cooler, than a cup of herbal tea.

But not only am I super sensitive to caffeine (even green tea makes me jittery!), I just can’t quite push myself through the bitterness of it all.

My solution?

Mix it with lots of sugar and frosting and enjoy it in a cake!

Almost everyone that I know and love enjoys a good cup of coffee most days. So, I thought this would be the perfect treat to share with them all.

I even had a couple of small slices myself and wasn’t negatively affected by the caffeine!

Want More Vegan Cake Recipes?

• Chocolate cake
• Biscoff cake
• Lemon drizzle cake
• Red velvet cake
• Vanilla sheet cake
• Victoria sponge cake

In some other countries, coffee cake doesn’t actually contain any coffee. It’s more of a sweet companion to eat alongside your cup of coffee.

But in the UK (at least, this is the way I do it) it is an actual coffee-flavoured cake!  

How To Make Vegan Coffee Cake

Step 1

Preheat your oven and prepare your cake tins.

Your oven will need to be set at 180°C/ 350°F (160°C/325°F if using a fan or convection oven), and you’ll need to prepare two 7-inch round cake tins.

I greased and floured my tins a little then lined the bottom of them with baking paper.

Step 2:

First off, make your vegan buttermilk. Pour 280ml of unsweetened soy milk (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) into a small mug or bowl and add 2 teaspoons of vinegar. You can use either white vinegar or apple cider vinegar.

Give it a quick mix and set it aside for 5 minutes or so. It should become slightly thick or curdled.

Vegan buttermilk will help the cake rise while still keeping it nice and moist inside.

Step 3:

Next, in a small cup or bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of boiling water with 1 tablespoon of instant coffee granules. I used M&S gold granules.

Set it aside for a few minutes to give it a chance to cool down.

Step 4:

While the coffee is cooling, you can begin to make your sponge cake mix.

In a large bowl, mix together 250g of self-raising flour (2 cups), 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 200g of caster/superfine sugar (1 cup).

Step 5:

Add in the “buttermilk” and the coffee from earlier along with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 100ml of vegetable oil (7 tablespoons).

Mix well until you have a smooth and creamy cake batter.

Step 6:

Divide the batter equally between your two cake tins and use the back of your spoon to make sure the batter is evenly distributed (to avoid lopsided cakes!).

Bake for 15-18 minutes until a toothpick through the centre comes out clean.

Step 7:

Allow the cakes to sit in the tins for around 10 minutes then gently flip them out onto a cooling rack and leave them to cool completely.

For the coffee buttercream:

You can prepare the buttercream while the cakes are cooling!

Step 1:

Mix 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee granules with equal amounts of boiling water. Set aside to cool.

If you’re like me and don’t particularly like the strong, bitter flavor of coffee then 1 teaspoon will suffice. I personally liked that my frosting had just a slight hint.

For a stronger flavored buttercream, simply add more cooled coffee! You may also need to add more icing sugar to the recipe, depending on how much liquid you use.

Step 2:

In a large bowl, mix together 120g of vegan butter (1/2 cup) with 300g of icing sugar (~2 + 1/2 cups).

I’d recommend using a wooden spoon until it’s mixed in properly, then giving it a quick mix with an electric whisk for a minute or so to make it fluffy.

Step 3:

Add in your cooled coffee and gently whisk it in. It’s really important that the coffee is not hot when you do this, otherwise the buttercream will split and start to curdle.

If you’re adding extra coffee and the buttercream becomes too runny, just add more icing sugar until it’s firm enough to spread.

Assembling the cake

Place your first cake layer onto a cake board, stand or plate and spread a thick layer of the buttercream frosting on top.

Add the second cake on top then spread another thick layer of frosting. I used the end of my palette knife to create some texture on the top layer.

If you want to be extra fancy, you can use any remaining buttercream to pipe swirl decorations around the edges of the cake but obviously, this isn’t essential!

Leave the whole cake to sit in a cool, dry place for around 1 hour. This will allow the buttercream to stiffen up.

Then, just cut into slices and enjoy!

FAQ:

Hope you enjoy this recipe and if you make it yourself, please leave a comment or rating to let me know how it goes!

Happy baking! xo