Recipe for Vegan Crumb Cake

Old-style crumb cake loaded with topping, but adapted to use vegan ingredients.

This was developed by a friend of mine. Nancy says it takes a little longer to put together than a standard cake, but that it's worth it!

Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

8 Tbs vegan margarine, melted

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar (firmly packed)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 3/4 cup cake flour

Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil, or 6 Tbs vegan margarine, softened
1/3 cup soymilk + 1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbs cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Line an 8 × 8 pan with two strips of parchment paper. Extend a strip past sides of pan to form a sling - this will make it easier to get the cake out of the pan. Grease parchment with vegetable oil or spray.

Topping: Whisk the warm melted margerine with the sugars, cinnamon and salt. Mix in the flour until a thick dough forms, almost like cookie dough. Let sit to cool while you prepare the cake batter.
Cake: Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add oil, soymilk mixture, cornstarch mixture and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth, but do not overmix. Add the batter to the lined pan.
Use a measuring spoon to form the crumb mixture into teaspoon-sized sized pieces. This will take a few minutes, but it's an important part of the finished cake! Cover the batter evenly with all the crumb mixture. It will look like a lot, but pile it on.
Bake for 40-50 minutes at 350ºF, or until the crumbs are slightly browned and a toothpick in the center of the cake comes out clean. Push a crumb aside and make sure that the top of the cake is baked. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes, then use the sling to lift it onto a rack.
Dust lightly with powdered sugar and serve.