Chapter Thirty-Two

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Gingerbread Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is truly such a delicious luxury. Soft, crumbly, sweet, and perfectly moist. And this cake is all those things and more, with the warm flavors of gingerbread and the crunchy streusel top this cake is a slice of pure heaven. It’s hard to imagine a world where it can also be gluten and refined sugar free. But thankfully this recipe meets that expectation too.

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The maple icing in this recipe is pretty much meant to be a cherry on top. In my chai sugar cookie recipe I go in depth about how great of an addition this glaze can truly be to so many baked goods. Maple sugar is a go-to for me and a must for those of you looking to get into refined sugar free baking. It helps deliver a lovely sweet flavor that works perfectly with warm spices. You want to make sure you stream in your milk of choice ½ tsp at a time whisking between each ½ tsp as maple sugar absorbs liquid very quickly and doesn’t need the same amount powdered sugar does. It also doesn’t have the cornstarch most powdered sugars do so it doesn’t have the same thickening abilities.

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I learned a really cool trick that helps this coffee cake produce that gorgeous middle layer of “brown sugar” and spices. This trick helps mix molasses with coconut sugar to create the same fluffy and soft consistency of brown sugar. I first saw the Gutsy Baker on instagram do it but its a widely known trick on the internet! This honestly blew my mind when I first did it. Since I began my journey of refined sugar free desserts I have missed the consistency that brown sugar gives to baked goods. Finally being able to turn refined free sugars into brown sugar was such a cool experience and it helps make this recipe. You also want to make sure reserve ¼ cup of the final mixture made in this recipe for the streusel top.

The batter in this cake is pretty straightforward. The coconut flour helps give the cake stability while the almond flour brings fluffy lightness. The yogurt and coconut oil help to deliver moistness and the maple sugar and gingerbread spice help to give this batter an irresistible taste. I place the majority of the batter in the bottom half of the cake in the 8x8 pan.

I leave only about 5-6 heaping tablespoons to lay on top of the brown coconut sugar and gingerbread spice mixture. Don’t worry if it seems like it’s not enough, it'll rise perfectly in the oven and give you that wonderful cinnamony-layer sandwiched between two fluffy cake layers.

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Top this cake with a lovely streusel, use ¼ of your brown sugar mixture and mix it with almond flour, maple sugar, and melted coconut oil. Mix together with your hands before spreading the on top of this cake batter. This will give a perfectly crumbly streusel and textural contrast that makes a coffee cake irresistible.

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