Blueberry Streusel Cake (Vegan Gluten-Free)

A warmingly spiced, light and sweet nutty streusel cake bursting with fresh juicy blueberries. Topped with a sweet streusel, this cake is great with a cup of tea or serves as a dessert – it is naturally vegan and easily gluten-free, too.

I love a good streusel cake and I suppose, in other parts of the world, you’d call this a coffee cake. In England, a coffee cake means a cake flavoured with coffee (take a look at my Coffee Walnut Banana Bread or my Coffee Cookie Dough Cake, too) but in America, for example, a coffee cake is a sweet cake with a light sponge and a streusel top. It is often served for weekend brunch and can come in any number of flavour variations although cinnamon is the classic. Basically, you get cake and a streusel nutty crumbly topping all in one, what is not to love?

This Blueberry Streusel Cake is:

• Sweet and nutty
• Crumbly, crunchy and moist all together
• Bursting with juicy berries
• Easy to make in a few steps
• Ideal for brunch, dessert or snacking
• Naturally vegan
• Easily gluten-free

I have to admit that this recipe originally was supposed to be a peach or plum streusel cake, but my peaches were not ripe enough and I didn’t have any plums, but I did have a gorgeous punnet of juicy blueberries which I thought would work perfectly, and they did. The berries go so well with the light spongey cake and the crunchy crumbly topping, and I like to add a few more on top, too.

The rest of the ingredients are fairly simple and pretty standard cake-making ingredients:

• Plant-based milk: use your favourite milk to bake with like oat or almond. But coconut, soya, hemp etc will all work.
• Lemon juice: this helps to curdle the milk to form a homemade vegan buttermilk to bind the batter and keep it light and moist.
• Coconut or caster sugar: I personally love the flavour of coconut sugar and it lends a more caramel-like flavour which is ideal here. But caster, golden caster or light brown sugar would work, too.
• Vegan butter or coconut oil: either will work as long as you melt the fat and then allow it to cool. Be sure the butter/oil is not too hot as it will being to solidify again as soon as it hits the cold milk.
• Vanilla essence: for the flavour.
• Plain or GF plain flour: if making this cake gluten-free, be sure to use a 1:1 flour blend that you trust and that has xantham gum in to help bind the batter. The lighter white flour keeps this Blueberry Streusel Cake nice and fluffy.
• Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda: for the rise.
• Cinnamon: pretty essential in most streusel or coffee cakes.
• Ground almonds: I love using ground almonds for my cakes as I love the nutty texture and taste. You could also use almond flour or a flour from another nut or seed.
• Blueberries: I prefer to use fresh but frozen will also work. Note that when you stir in frozen berries, they will stain the batter slightly but that’s fine.

Whisk, stir and fold the batter and pour into the cake tin before the best bit: the streusel. This has very similar ingredients to the main cake but just adds that magical touch to turn a delicious cake into a wow-factor dessert.

• Plain flour: see notes as above.
• Coconut or light brown sugar: the coconut or brown sugars are best in terms of flavour and colour for the streusel.
• Flaked almonds: thee add a nutty element to the top. You could also use another chopped nut or some seeds.
• Cinnamon: for the flavour.
• Vegan butter or coconut oil: to bring the mix together to make a crumbly and rich topping.

Stir together all the streusel ingredients to a mix and then evenly sprinkle all over the cake. At first I wasn’t too precise with the sprinkle, but note that the cake will rise more where you don’t top it with the streusel, so for the best and most evenly-baked cake, add it evenly all over the top. Once in the oven, the smells will start and it’s like a bakery! Sweet, cinnamon-y, nutty and buttery… all the best things.

Once baked, all this Blueberry Streusel Cake to cool fully before drizzling with some icing and extra blueberries or you can serve it with ice cream, custard or whipped cream for dessert. It is a really versatile cake meaning you can have it with tea or after a lovely lunch or dinner. That said, do all out and serve this for a special brunch, too.

How long does this streusel cake last?

You can keep this cake for 2-3 days at room temperature or for 3-5 days in the fridge. If you make this ahead of time or have leftovers, you can freeze it for up to 1 month and allow to de-frost thoroughly before drizzling with icing sugar.

Can I make this cake gluten-free?

This streusel cake is easily gluten-free if you use GF flour. All flour blends differ so use your favourite 1:1 baking blend with xantham gum in to prevent dry cakes. Use the same flour for the cake as for the crumble topping.

Can I make this nut-free?

Yes, of course you can swap the ground almonds for a ground seed flour or even substitute it with plain flour (the texture will change slightly and I have not tested this myself). You will also need to use seeds in the streusel topping, too.

Will this work with other berries or fruits?

Yes, you can try other berries or fruits, too. As we are heading into Autumn, you can make the most of the late summer fruit like blueberries and blackberries or chop up plums, apples or use dried fruits, too.

I hope you will love this Blueberry Streusel Cake as much as we do at home and if you are looking for more cakes and bakes, how about my:

• Vegan Lemon and Blueberry Loaf
• Coconut Mango and Brazil Nut Muffins
• Nutty Blueberry Breakfast Muffins
• White Chocolate Biscoff Banana Bread
• Vegan Fruit Cake

I look forward to hearing what you think of this Blueberry Streusel Cake so please let me know in the comments below. If you do make this cake, tag me in your bakes as I love seeing them – I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest  – please say hello!

With blueberry streusel love x