Vegan Eggnog Coffee Cake with Toasted Pecan Streusel (Week Two with "The Boot")

If I see one more story about how to survive your in-laws (or food, travel, Black Friday, etc.,), I think I'll scream. Just reading about Thanksgiving is giving me stress. So I bake. 

We came home with a box of vegan eggnog from the store this weekend. (Oh the horrors of shopping in the electronic cart.) It was nice to sink my teeth into cake again. I'd held off baking until I'd felt my lying-around-while-my-ankle-heals-weight-gain-scare was really just that, a scare. I've so far kept weight demons at bay by nearly starving myself all day, everyday since The Boot arrived.

We both dove in and had two pieces of this cake with coffee this morning. It was totally worth the wait. Um, and then another half piece for a snack this afternoon. It's that good. However, I don't want to end up comfort eating my way through this broken ankle ordeal! (Or do I?) 

This cake comes together in a jiffy. It has to because I'm on one foot. 

*So nearly any recipe you see posted between now and the end of The Boot, rest assured, it's been an easy one or it wouldn't have made it here on the blog.

So make your streusel first, and set it aside. This will serve two purposes--half will be a filling layer, half will be for the top of the cake.

Spread half the batter for the cake on the first layer, then sprinkle half the streusel over that, then the rest of the cake batter, then the crumb topping. Very easy. I did it standing on one leg.

I think everything tastes better with powdered sugar. I like a fresh sprinkling of the stuff right before I nosh.

Ankle update: I have a lovely purple bruise over the top of my foot now (which may have migrated from my ankle?) I have no idea. The swelling isn't nearly as horrific as it was in the beginning. My Franken-foot has dissipated somewhat. The pain is subsiding, but is still there. But every day I feel a little better. I am itching to get on the treadmill, lace up my running shoes. Next week the doc said it'd be okay to put weight on it. I'm a horrible patient. I want this fixed NOW.

Vegan Eggnog Coffeecake with Toasted Pecan Streusel 

*Adapted from Cooking Light

For the Streusel

1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/4 cup light brown sugar

3 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspooon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons Earth Balance butter

1/3 cup whole pecans, lightly toasted, then chopped 

For the Cake

1 cup spelt flour (or white whole wheat flour)

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons Earth Balance butter (room temperature)

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup vegan eggnog (I used coconut milk eggnog) 

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly spray and 8" round or square cake pan with nonstick spray. Set aside. Take your pecans and toast them, then chop. (I toasted whole pecans because I'm less likely to burn them.) Make your streusel: in a small mixing bowl, add all the ingredients for the streusel and using a pastry blender, mash it all together until a crumbly mixture forms and set aside. Make your cake batter: Place the eggnog and coconut milk in a measuring cup--add apple cider vinegar and set this aside to curdle for a few moments. Next, prep the flax seed and water mixture (subbing for the egg). In a medium bowl whisk all the dry ingredients together and set aside. In a large bowl, add the sugar and vegan butter and mix with a blender on medium speed until creamy. Add the flax mixture and blend well, then the vanilla extract and finally, the milk mixture. Slowly pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and blend only for a few seconds until the majority of the dry bits are wet. Spread half the batter on the bottom of the baking pan, then sprinkle half the streusel over this, then repeat. I sprinkled a bit more of the oats over the top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven, allow to cool. Store covered in airtight container at room temperature. Will keep for three days.