Coffee Cookie Dough Cake (Vegan Gluten-Free)

A delicious coffee sandwich cake with a vanilla coffee buttercream and no-bake coffee cookie dough balls on top. This cake is naturally vegan, easily gluten-free and is so light, fluffy and moreish – plus it’s small batch and is perfect for 6 people.

I have been wanting to make a small-batch recipe for a while now. I have also wanted to make a coffee cake for a long time (the British coffee cake containing coffee and not the American coffee cake with the streusel topping). So, when my 6-inch cake tins arrived (I ordered mine online, there are loads to choose from) I thought I’d combine the two ideas into this adorable Coffee Cookie Dough Cake. 

This cake is such a firm favourite at home, as it is:

• Easy to make in a few steps
• Light, fluffy and so moreish
• Packed with coffee and vanilla flavour
• Spread thick with vanilla coffee buttercream
• Topped with the tastiest no-bake coffee cookie dough balls
• Naturally vegan
• Easily gluten-free
• Nut-free, soya-free and dairy-free

If you are a coffee cake lover, but don’t always want to make a large cake to feed a crowd, this small batch cake is the answer. It takes a bit of maths to work out how to scale up or down recipes between cake sizes, but it’s easy enough. I use this calculation here, if you want to make this cake larger.

But let’s stick to the cute, 6-people serving cake for today, as it is so delicious and moist (plus, if you are not as hungry, this can certinaly serve 8 people). What goes into this Coffee Cookie Dough Cake?

• Plant-based milk: any dairy-free milk will work here like oat, almond or coconut milk.
• Lemon juice: this curdles the milk to make a little buttermilk to help bind the batter. 
• Coffee: essential for the coffee flavour, so feel free to use decaf coffee, if you prefer. We mix this with some hot water, so it can be granules or freshly made espresso, too.
• Caster sugar: unlike my usual choices where I bake with coconut sugar, for this cake I stuck with caster sugar for the colour of the loaf. The white sugar means the cakes are a little lighter in colour and more traditionally “coffee cake” colour. You could use another sugar like golden caster or light brown sugar.
• Sunflower oil: I love baking with this as it has such a neutral flavour and lends a really moist, fluffy texture to the bake. I can imagine that melted coconut oil would also work.
• Vanilla essence: for the coffee and vanilla flavours that reminds of a great vanilla latte.
• Self-raising flour: if you are gluten-free, use a gluten-free self-raising flour that contains xantham gum.
• Bicarbonate of soda: for a little extra rise.

Like a lot of my baking, the method is simple: whisk together all the wet ingredients and whisk in the dry ingredients until smooth. Divide between two cake tins and bake until golden brown and smelling amazing. Now, you must let the cakes cool down before you ice them, otherwise you will have a hot mess!

The coffee cream cheese buttercream is so amazing and also so simple. It’s a whipped mix that works so well for a lot of cakes, this time jazzed up with coffee and vanilla. 

• Vegan butter: use a block of butter rather than the spreadable margarine-style ones as these often contain more water and will lead to a runnier frosting.
• Vegan cream cheese: there are a few great cream cheese brands out there, and I love NUSH the most.
• Icing sugar: this is the sweetness and texture of the buttercream.
• Ground coffee: for the coffee flavour in the buttercream. My coffee wasn’t too finely ground, so there are lovely specks of coffee in the buttercream. This is ground coffee, rather than liquid coffee.
• Vanilla essence: for the lovely latte vibes in this cake.

The frosting for this Coffee Cookie Dough Cake is thick, fluffy and smooth. It spreads really well inside the two layers of sponge and is great piped onto the top. I like to place on the Coffee Cookie Dough Balls and then use a star-shaped nozzle to pipe the buttercream in between. Sprinkle on some coffee beans and cacao nibs for the extra wow factor.

Finally, it is time to slice this Coffee Cookie Dough Cake thickly and enjoy with a cup or more coffee. It’s great served for afternoon tea with friends and family and as it’s a small batch cake, it’s also great for celebrations for a small group of people.

If you are looking for more delicious cakes, how about my:

• Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
• Chocolate Honeycomb Banana Bread
• Black Forest Cake (Gateau)
• Vegan Vanilla Cake
• Vegan Mini Oreo Cakes
• Here’s the recipe for the Coffee Cookie Dough Balls

I hope you will love this small batch Coffee Cookie Dough Cake so please let me know what you think in the comments below and if you do make it, I’d love to know. I love seeing your creations, so please tag me – I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With small coffee cake love x