A cake. Do you really need a reason to make a cake other then you want to a) make a cake, b) eat cake, or c) make a cake for other people to eat. Sure it is the holiday season and we want pies and desserts and blah blah blah, but it is also do whatever feels right to you in the kitchen season and if cake feels right, well then cake so be it.
I was option c), wanting to make a cake for other people to eat, mostly for the mr to eat. I haven’t really baked much of anything the past few weeks (besides a lot of bread) and basically just wanted to make him something that I knew he would really like. (I know, I know, I am the best!)
Cranberries. Very appropriate this time of year and plus I just bought 5 lbs (to freeze and eat in handfuls frozen or to add to soup) and the mr really likes tart things so cranberry coffee cake it was. A dang good cake if I do say so myself. Dense and moist and rich and covered in crumble and drizzled with lemon glaze. Looks good and smells good and tastes better then that.
The mr. was glad for the cake, so glad in fact he ate almost half of it in a day. Then the other 1/4 the next day even after I yelled at him to not eat all but I think by now, it is gone. He really, really liked it. (He kept telling me how “freaking GOOOOD” it was. I know dude, I know.)
Now to the cake!
The stuff. All purpose and white whole wheat flour, baking powder and soda, salt, ground ginger, brown and white sugar, oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, plant milk, and cranberries. Also more flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and vegan butter for crumble and a lemon and powdered sugar for glaze.
Start with the wet. Add both brown and white sugar to a big bowl along with the oil, vanilla, vinegar, and half the milk. Mix together until completely incorporated. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder and soda, salt, ginger, and the zest of a lemon. Dump the dry into the wet, add the rest of the milk, and mix until everything is completely incorporated. But don’t over mix or the batter will get tough.
Lastly, fold in the cranberries. So Pretty!
Real fast make the crumble topping. Just mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, pinch of salt, and mix with a fork until completely combined and is kind of crumbly.
Batter gets dumped and leveled into a well greased tube pan and the crumble gets crumbled all over the top of the batter.
And into the oven it goes, 50-60 minutes or until a tester poked into the middle parts comes out clean.
Cake is done. Now pop it from pan and let it cool.
While cake is cooling, mix up the powdered sugar and lemon juice to drizzle.
Cake is cool enough to drizzle so drizzle that drizzle.
You now have your cake go on and eat it.
-C
Cranberry Coffee Cake
Makes one tube cake (can also be baked in a 9x9 pan)
For the Cake
1 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour (or sub AP)
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon each baking powder and soda
1 teaspoon gound ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest from a lemon
1 cup plant based milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup neutral oil
1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) cranberries
For the Crumb Topping
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons vegan butter
1 teaspoon cinnanon
pinch of salt
For the Glaze
Juice form 1/2 a lemon
1/2 of powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350
In a large bowl mix together the brown and white sugar, oil, vanilla, and vinegar. Add in about 1/2 the milk and mix. Then In a separate bowl whisk together the flours, baking powder and soda, salt, ginger, and the zest of a lemon. Dump the dry into the wet and mix, adding the rest of the milk to the batter. Once batter in cohesive, dump in the cranberries and fold them in. Dump (it is a thick batter) into a well greased tube or burnt pan and level out.
Place all the stuff for the crumb topping into a bowl. Mix together with a fork until completely incorporated. With your fingers evenly crumble the mixture onto the top of the cake batter.
Place cake into preheated oven and bake for 50-60 minutes or until poked with a tester and it comes out clean.
Once baked, remove cake from oven and carefully remove from pan. Place on metal rack and let cool.
While cake is cooling, mix up glaze. Powdered sugar and juice of half a lemon get mixed until smooth and runny, but not to runny. If it is to runny, add a teaspoon or so more sugar to thicken up or if to thick, a touch more lemon. Think drizzle-able.
Once cake is cool enough, drizzle the lemon glaze all over.
And then that is it. You now eat it. For breakfast of dessert and any time in between.
Cake can be left, covered, on counter at room temp for 3-4 days. You can also freeze pieces of it but really, just eat it all and make a new one when the mood strikes for cranberry cake.