Vegan Crumb Cake (Extra crumbs, hold the cake. . . and knitting the "Emmaline" sweater)

Welcome to this installment of "Cake for Breakfast, Sweater for Dinner". Some people like donuts for breakfast. Some waffles or pancakes. For me, nothing says breakfast like cake. I think my fondness for cake for breakfast harkens back to my mother's insane obsession with the Sara Lee strudel--covered in almonds (almonds are by far my favorite nut) and iced with a crinkly, fall apart sugar concoction. She'd have to peel me away from it. I was a very skinny kid, for me eating pastry and Lucky Charms cereal was one of my favorite pastimes. Uh, not so much anymore--especially sugar-laden cereal unless I want to go back to sleep in an hour from the slight coma it tends to induce.

This crumb cake is all about the crumbs. Normally I wouldn't dwell on such things as "crumbs"--but this cake calls for crumbs. . . lots of them. So many so that the mouth of cake is barely there owing to the cinnamon-y crumbs you'll taste. You must have powdered sugar on hand--it's mandatory here. I was inspired to re-create a vegan version of this cake after catching an episode of America's Test Kitchen. I love that show.

I am easily influenced to bake cakes if the show centers on "cake". Okay, let's be honest, I am easily influenced by cake period. One of the points stressed in making this recipe was the "fat" content lended by the eggs and butter. Well--as you all know--we vegans use neither. I had to be a little more creative, cross my fingers and hope for the best. This cake did not disappoint with the changes I made. And best of all--it keeps really well--like over a week--in the fridge. I snacked on this on and off: breakfast, mid-day snack, after dinner dessert. (My recipe for this is below--but first, catching up on my knitting!) 

Remember "Sophie"--my dress form? Well, here she is decked out in a new kntting project. I am so very happy to have Sophie. She makes knitting a very, very easy, pain-free endeavor--will also make creating custom knits a breeze (I hope to design my own knits sometime in the future). Dr. Thyme helped me get Sophie to my personal measurements thus eliminating the need to squueze it over my own head mid-way through production. I am in the knitting mood again because the temperatures have dipped to fifty at night--chilly. (Unfortunatley the temps are predicted to be in the upper eighties this weekend--I hate warm falls--the trees are barely beginning to show color, it's just too darn warm and dry. Please send snow and cold air soon.) So I am a cold-weather knitter--though there is usually something on the needles all year long--I tend to make real progress as colder air arrives.

So this sweater is called "Emmaline" and was published this spring on Knitty.com. I'm using Lion Brand Natural Cotton. I fell in love with the pattern right away: top-down knitting, a few little eyelets along the way, then straight out stockinette stitch, knitting in the round til the end. I know it is a short-sleeved-meant-for-spring-wearable, but I find I tend to run "hot" more and more lately. (And ladies over say forty-five, you get where I'm coming from, okay?) So this sweater will be just fine as a transitional piece, thank you very much. I selected a neutral yarn because I am not too much a fan of wearing "brights". I always sit and stare at the yarns for hours--lovingly touching this or that one, imagining myself in brights, only to walk away with gray, brown, black-ish or neutral--sometimes I go nuts and get a green. This is from too many years in retail watching in horror as "women of a certain age" shopped and bought things making them look like they just left the circus.

My baby girl--waiting for mommy.

Vegan Crumb Cake

(Adpapted from America's Test Kitchen)

For the crumb topping:

8 tablespoons or 1 stick unsalted vegan margerine

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup Florida Crystals sugar

1 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (I used King Arthur)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the cake mix:

1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (to make buttermilk)

2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 3 tablespoons warm water)

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup cake flour (I used King Arthur--scoop and fill the cup, then sweep with a knife)

1/2 cup Florida Crystals sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

3/4 stick of unsalted margerine (or 6 tablespoons)

powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly spray 8" cake pan with baking spray--then line with parchment paper that is a "bit" larger than the pan--allows you to lift the cake out later, spray the paper, too. Prep your crumb topping first. Mix the butter until creamy. Then, add all other remaining ingredients--not beating too much, but just until the mixture comes together. Form all the topping into little dough balls about the size of small pennies. Set aside. Next, for the cake batter. First, prep your "buttermilk" by measuring out the soy milk, then adding apple cider vinegar. Set aside to allow to curdle. Next, prep your Ener-G egg replacer--mix this with water, then whisk in the teaspoon of oil. Set aside. (I suppose you could use flax seed or apple sauce for this, but if you do, be sure to add that teaspoon of canola oil to give the fat content needed to keep the cake moist). In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, beat the unsalted vegan margerine until creamy. In another bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients together. To the margerine, add the buttermilk and egg replacer mixture and vanilla extract--mix well. Next, add the flour mixture to this in batches, mixing slightly after each addition. Mix well until all ingredients are creamy and all dry parts are well incorporated. Pour into prepared baking pan. Smooth top with spatula. Carefully place the "crumb" topping over the cake batter, filling in all "open" spots with the little dough balls you formed earlier. Bake for 35-40 minutes--until the cake part between the crumbs is beginning to brown around the edges. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for about twenty minutes. Carefully lift from pan with the edges of the parchment paper and place on cooling rack to finish cooling completely before adding powdered sugar over the top. After cake cools, this stores wonderfully in an airtight container in the fridge and is wonderful as an any time of day snack. Enjoy!