Raspberry Jam Swirl Crumbcake

Serves 8

You say crumbcake, I say coffee cake, but for the sake of search engines I settled on crumbcake here. This is a soft, yellow cake with a messy crumb topping and jam swirled right in. You can do whatever flavor you like, of course, but I love raspberry! I’ll be demonstrating this on Omaha Morning Blend tomorrow, as I talk about the Omaha Vegan Bakesale For Japan. If you’re throwing a bakesale this season, crumbcakes like this are always a hit. But don’t forget the napkins. (This recipe originally appeared in Vegan Brunch.)

For the cake:
3/4 cup soy milk (or any non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup raspberry jam

For the topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease an 8×8 round springform pan or regular square pan. Measure out the soy milk for the cake and add the teaspoon of apple cider vinegar; set aside to curdle. Then begin preparing the topping.

Make the topping:
In a small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Drizzle in the canola oil by the tablespoonful (you can eyeball it, no reason to whip out a tablespoon.) Use your fingers to swish around the mixture until crumbs form. Alternate swishing and adding canola oil until all oil is used and large crumbs have formed. Some of the topping is still going to be sandy and that’s fine, just so long as you have mostly nice big crumbs. You can add another tablespoon of oil if needed.

Make the cake:
In a large mixing bowl, mix together curdled milk, sugar, canola oil and vanilla. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until smooth.

Pour cake batter into prepared pan. Add spoonfuls of jam randomly on top of the batter and use a knife to swirl it in. Evenly sprinkle on the topping and pat it down just a bit. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a knife inserted through the center comes out clean.