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 and our awesome vegan biscoff 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!
Vegan Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups All Purpose Flour (375g)
- 1 ½ cups Light Brown Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 3 Tbsp Instant Coffee Powder or Instant Espresso Powder
- 1 ½ cups Soy Milk (360ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 3 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¾ cup Canola Oil (180ml) or Vegetable Oil
- 1 ½ Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Frosting:
- 4 cups Powdered Sugar (480g)
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- ¼ cup Coffee Liqueur (60ml)
- 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: 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.
- Freezing: 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.
This is an amazing and helpful recipe.
I’ve made this cake several times with amazing success! I’m making it again in 2 days for a NYE/Bday party. Alison I have a question though – I’d like to make a 3 or 4 tiered cake with this recipe (with a naked frosting). Should I use the recipe as is, split between 3 or 4 baking pans and cook for less time? If so – how long would you recommend I bake for if I use 3 or 4 pans? Or would you just double the recipe? Thanks in advance!
Hi Tova, the layers are quite fat as is, so you could split this between three 8-inch cake pans with no problem. Baking time may reduce by 5 minutes.
perfect every time
Thanks Yvonne!
Which coffee liqueur would you suggest that doesn’t contain alcohol?
Hi Meena, if you want to skip the alcohol then just replace the coffee liqueur with non-dairy milk.
Hi! I want to make this cake for my boyfriend’s birthday. Last year I made him your lemon cake and he loved it, plus he loves coffee. But all we have is ground coffee beans and I’m hoping to not have to go out to the store to get instant coffee. Do you think I could use the ground coffee instead? Thanks!
Hi Julie, I think that should work!
Thank you for another delicious cake recipe. Turned out well using Glutafin gluten free all purpose flour. Filled with vanilla buttercream.
So glad it was a success! Thanks for sharing!
Fingers and toes crossed! my cake is baking in the oven right now @ 325. I made it in a Bundt pan and I also added a cup of chopped walnuts. I absolutely love coffee flavored cake and am making this in memory of my late dad’s birthday. He would have turned 73! I’m doing a coffee drizzle so I wont be following the ingredients and recipe for the icing. Going to serve it for tea at my mothers house. With scones and jam and homemade clotted cream! Will report back after baking and serving!
Hope it comes out awesome Char! I’m a little worried that the oven temp is low, but as long as you bake it longer to account for that (and also to account for the bundt pan which also needs a longer bake time) then it should be great. Holding thumbs!
Hi Alison, love this cake, I have made it a few times as a tray bake with half the amount of icing on top. Always a hit as all your cakes always are. Off to bake it now!
So happy you love the cake Sylvia, thanks so much for the awesome review!
This cake and frosting were delicious! Had to make it gluten free as well with cup for cup flour and still was great so I can only imagine how good it would be with regular flour. Used country crock plant butter sticks for frosting and it was delish. Recipe is a keeper!!
Thank you so much for the amazing review!
How long would I have to bake this for if I used a loaf tin? Or is that even possible? 😊
I haven’t tested it in a loaf pan, but I think it would be good to halve the recipe in that case. It would still have a longer bake time, my guess would be to check it at around 40 minutes and see how much longer it may need.
Made this cake with gluten free flour (Doves Farm in the UK) and it turned out amazing. So soft and spongey and tastes lovely too. Highly recommend and will make again in future. Thanks!
Wonderful! Thanks so much Nicola!
Unbelievably delicious! I added 1 cup of chocolate chunks to the cake batter and I also used Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 flour. I didn’t end up using the frosting from this website but I’m looking forward to trying it next time. Everyone was so shocked that it was gluten-free and vegan. They said they would never have known. This was my first time baking a cake so I was rather intimated but this cake was so easy to make. It was so perfect for our Mother’s Day celebration. Thank you so much! Looking forward to trying more cake recipes from you.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks so much for posting!
Could I add some chopped chocolate to the batter? If so how much do you think I should add? Also if I halve this batter will it fit in a 9×9 inch square loaf pan? Would I need to adjust the baking time? Lastly, can I use Bob’s Red Mill GF 1 to 1 flour instead of all-purpose? Sorry for all the questions. Hope to hear from you soon.
Hi Lily, you may be able to add chopped chocolate, I would try with 1 cup and see how it goes. This article from Sally’s Baking Addiction will help when it comes to adapting a recipe for different size cake pans. Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF flour should work great.
Really happy with this vegan coffee cake, in search or a dairy-free coffee cake. So delicious, and the family I served it to said they wouldn’t have known it was vegan! I used oat milk as my milk alternative, and I used Bailey’s liqueur for the icing. I also dropped some dairy-free dark chocolate drops on the top. I’ll be trying more recipes from this website!
So happy you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing!
Made this last night, there’s just over half a cake left. The family are helping me and they don’t trust vegan 😂. So delicious. This gets a 10 from me. Beautiful light crust on the outside of the cakes. So fluffy and jubbly inside. And the frosting. It’s like a big kiss and a squeeze lol. Thank you!
That’s so awesome Kam, thanks so much for the wonderful review.