This Raspberry Coffee Cake...is so good.

For some reason, I started thinking about Entenmann's Raspberry Coffee Cake the other day...and I couldn't get it out of my mind! I haven't tasted a single bite of the stuff since about 1994, but suddenly, I just really developed a serious yen. Entenmann's has a light, flaky cake layer with two channels of raspberry filling, a smattering of delicate, buttery cinnamon crumb, and finally, a drizzle of white icing. Honestly, it's not a delicacy or anything, but there's something...haunting about it. So, here is my first stab at a vegan version.

For the raspberry filling:

Easy method: just use jam or a can of pie filling.

Difficult method:

Combine 1.5 cups frozen or fresh raspberries and 1/2 cup brown sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a slow simmer. The raspberries will begin to break down a little bit, which is totally fine.

Stir frequently. Once the mixture in the pan begins to look like raspberry soup, start adding cornstarch. Keep stirring as you bring the mixture to a boil, stirring all the time. Keep adding cornstarch and stirring until the stuff thickens to jam consistency. Once it reaches a nice thick consistency, take it off the heat and set it aside. You might want to give it a little taste and see how you like it - adjust sweetness as desired.

I made WAYYYYY too much. So now I have to eat it with vanilla Rice Dream. Torture. Delicious torture.


For the cake part:

2 1/2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2/3 Cup Earth Balance Margarine, softened
2/3 Cup Soymilk + 2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbs Cornstarch mixed with 1/2 Cup Water
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Combine all the dry ingredients of the cake and mix well. Add all of the liquid ingredients and fold the batter until just combined. The batter should be thick and nearly dough-like, as this will prevent the filling from sinking to the bottom of the pan.

Spread 1/2 of the batter in the bottom of a greased baking dish - you could do an 8x8 or 9x9 square, or a 9-inch round, or whatever.

Spoon on plenty of raspberry filling (or be stingy! I like lots of fruit on my cake, but to each their own), then top off with dollops of batter, so you can still see bits of raspberry on top. Slide the whole thing into the oven and set the timer for 45 minutes (longer if you have created a "deeper" cake by using a smaller pan - up to 60 minutes).

Once the cake is in the oven, you have some decisions to make. I'm sure the cake would be just fine as-is. But why stop at "just fine"?

Delicious almond streusel topping:

3 tablespoons Earth Balance, melted.

2/3 cup almond meal

1/2 cup vegan granulated sugar

1/4 cup slivered almonds

Combine all of the above and mix with a fork until it is streusel-like. I always have to adjust streusel a little, adding a little flour, or a little butter, or something. Just adjust carefully and slowly and when the cake has about 35 minutes left on the timer, quickly slide it out, liberally apply streusel, and then get it back in the oven double quick.

Now, it's on its way to being a superior coffee cake. But why stop at superior?

Icing:

1 tablespoon vanilla soy creamer

1/4 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup confectioner's sugar (vegan)

Whisk briskly until smooth. Once your cake is done baking, let it cool for 30 minutes or so, then drizzle this icing all over it. Can you double that icing recipe for extra deliciousness? Heck yes!

That is one truly radical bit of vegan baking. It was time consuming and my kitchen is a mess of raspberries, streusel bits, and powdered sugar, but MY GOODNESS this cake is a show-stopper. Bring it to that charity brunch or to the biweekly staff meeting and impress the pants off of everyone!