Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake (vegan, gluten free)

I recently bought S, my oldest daughter, Kite Hill dairy free cream cheese as she had to eliminate dairy and had asked for cream cheese and liked the Kite Hill. Since it is only restocked at our Whole Foods once a month I decided to pick up a couple extra. Well go figure she ate it for a couple days and then decided to switch to something else for breakfast. Part of this was because her sister ate all the gluten free bagels they were both loving that I had in the freezer. I had no clue they loved them or were eating those bagels until they asked me to get more. So I had cream cheese and go figure it isn’t like traditional cream cheese that seems to last forever so I had to use it up. Since S had been eyeing up a raspberry swirl bread and the lemon pound cake loafs at Starbucks and had asked for a coffee cake with crumbles the week before out of the blue so I whipped up a Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake!

I knew my mom would be coming to stay with me and the girls and would be going to see my grandmother so I thought it was perfect and they would both enjoy it as well. Plus I thought it would be nice to surprise the hubby with one and coffee when picking him up at the airport. To say the girls were excited was an under statement! Things have been busy with soccer, gymnastics, and me running around while my husband was out of town and we just needed some time to relax and have fun. Not that we weren’t having fun. I was trying to figure out when I would find the time to whip up and test it but since it’s been raining and things have been moved or cancelled it worked out perfectly. The girls were at school so I went to the kitchen to play and test. When they got home we could test then and they could help with another which almost ended up being lemon blueberry, which would have been just as delicious I’m sure, but I found more raspberry jam. They got home shortly after I pulled one out of the oven and it got double thumbs up! Even requesting more and if I would have let them, and had I not controlled myself, we could have polished off a whole 9×13 pan! Of course my mom reminded me we didn’t need all those calories. Haha! Oh it would have been nice to just snuggle up on that rainy afternoon with another piece and a cup of coffee. Instead of making another one that night (for testing purposes of course) the girls and I decided to hold off until the weekend because it would be so nice to relax as a family with our coffee and steamers and just have a nice relaxing morning. It has been so long since we had one of those and sometimes simple things like that is just want you want and need. The hubby had a piece of what was left from a couple days prior, and reheated it and still said it was delicious. The girls and I agree but still think it is like most baked goods best the day it’s made. The bottom kind of reminds me of a cake donut in that it dries and gets dense over a couple days. Perfect for a lazy Sunday morning or a brunch when having guests over.

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake
Makes 12-16 servings

Cake
2¼c all purpose gluten-gluten free flour (Bobs Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour or Cup 4 Cup)
¾c coconut sugar
¾c vegan butter (Earth Balance Organic Coconut Spread)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¾c plain coconut yogurt (So Delicious Unsweetened Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt)
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP ground flax, or egg substitute for 1 egg (1 TBSP flax, 3 TBSP water)
1 TBSP lemon zest

Topping
8oz vegan cream cheese (Kite Hill)
¼c cane sugar
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP flour
2 TBSP non dairy milk (So Delicious Unsweetened Vanilla Coconut Milk)
½c homemade or store-bought raspberry jam (Crofter’s Organic Raspberry Fruit Spread)

Mix ground chia seed or flax with 3 tablespoons of water and let sit for 15 minutes to thicken. Preheat the oven to 350F. Mix flour, sugar, and butter with a pastry cutter or in a food processor to make a crumbly mixture. Add in lemon zest. Spoon out 1 cup of the crumbs to set aside for topping.
Combine remaining crumbs with baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl mix yogurt, flax egg, and vanilla. Add the wet into the dry and mix with a spatula, until mostly smooth, but incorporated and don’t overmix. Spread mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased, I used coconut spray, 9×13 baking pan. Beat softened cream cheese, ¼ cup sugar, lemon juice, flour, and dairy free milk until smooth. Pour over the batter and spread in an even layer. Spoon the jam over the cream cheese layer and swirl with a knife to make a marbled effect. Sprinkle reserved crumbs on top of the jam. Bake for 50-55 minutes until set. Remove and let cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing. As with many baked goods this coffee cake is best enjoyed fresh the day it is made. The cake does dry out the longer it sits, you can reheat it just use extreme caution as the jam and top will get very hot. Enjoy!
Relax this weekend with a cup of coffee and Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake! #vegan #glutenfree Click To Tweet

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It’s Friday so I’m also linking up with The Fit Foodie Mama, Hello Fit, and Fairy Burger for Foodie Friday!