Meatless Monday: Pear Almond Coffee Cake

I must admit, even though I adore coffee cake, I’ve never tried making one myself. In culinary school, I remember seeing one in a demonstration, and I’ve eaten a few vegan versions over the years, all full of vegan butter and sugar. With the rainy, cold weather, I decided to roll up my sleeves and start experimenting. I was surprised by how delicious it turned out, since baking is a science and can easily go wrong. It’s so amazing it’s heading straight for my cookbook!

Since it’s winter, I wanted to add a winter fruit to the topping. Pears seemed like the perfect choice, and since they are naturally very sweet, I could use less sugar. I also wanted to use less oil and no Earth Balance, so I chose delicious coconut oil and used applesauce in the cake to reduce the oil. This made the cake so moist and delicious! I can pretty much bet you are going to love this coffee cake. I use coconut palm sugar, but if you can’t access it, feel free to use another unrefined granulated sugar instead. And you can use another flour, but I can’t guarantee the results will be the same. This cake is wheat-free, but not gluten-free, as barley flour has some gluten.

Pear Almond Coffee Cake
Makes 6 to 8 servings

Topping:
1 cup barley flour
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup pear small chunks

Cake:
1 cup barley flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons almond extract
1/2 cup rice milk mixed with 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Directions:
Prepare the topping by mixing all ingredients except the pear until well combined (I like to use my hands for this). The texture will be crumbly and dry. Stir in pear. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. For the cake, whisk together the first six ingredients in a medium bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and sugar. Stir in the remaining wet ingredients until well combined. Fold in wet to dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour in lightly oiled 8×8 baking dish (or similar size). Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over the cake and gently press it in. Bake uncovered for 60 minutes. Test with a toothpick; if it comes out clean, the cake is done.