Spiced Tangerine Coffee Cake
This flavorful, bread-like, warmly spiced gluten-free vegan tangerine cake is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee. This recipe is also refined sugar-free, nut-free, and oil-free.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: A tall 8" x 8" cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups (gluten-free) quick oats*
- 2 ½ cups white rice flour**
- ¾ cup potato starch***
- 1 tbsp baking powder (gluten-free)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¼ tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
- zest of 3-4 tangerines****
- 4 tangerines, peeled and seeded*****
- 1 ½ cups maple syrup
- ¾ cup coconut water******
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Optional Toppings:
- powdered coconut milk for dusting******, more tangerine zest
- non-dairy butter for serving, apricot jam
Instructions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Line an 8" x 8" dish (or a dish of a similar size) with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Briefly process all dry ingredients in a food processor to combine. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
3. Add peeled and seeded tangerines and the tangerine zest to the food processor and process until combined into a pulpy puree.
4. Add all remaining wet ingredients and process to combine. Then add the dry ingredient mix (the one made in step 2) and process to combine once again.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake in a pre-heated oven for approximately 1 hour and 5 mins (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry and the cake looks nicely golden). Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 15 mins, then remove from the pan and allow the cake to cool through or enjoy warm with a pat of non-dairy butter (or jam as an alternative).
Notes
* Unfortunately I don't know of a suitable solution for the oats in this recipe. If you're interested in a similar cake however that's oat-free, see this recipe instead (which can be modified to use tangerine juice / zest in place of oranges).
** Brown rice flour works well as an alternative.
*** Tapioca starch works well as an alternative.
**** I used zest of three tangerines, but I think can easily add the zest of all 4. I was worried about the 3 potentially adding too much bitterness, but the flavor was lovely and I think the cake can take a bit more zest if you want to amplify the flavor even more.
***** The tangerines I used were 156 - 160 grams each. Once blended (step 3) I ended up with 2 cups of blended tangerine mixture (before adding remaining wet ingredients).
****** I used the coconut water leftover from canned full fat coconut milk (which is usually a mix of coconut water with the tiniest amount of guar gum that's left over once the cream is separated out). If that alternative doesn't work, feel free to use light coconut milk, coconut water, or a non-dairy milk of your choice as a coconut-free alternative.
****** For the coconut milk powder, if using, be careful that the brand you purchase is actually dairy-free because some can contain dairy in addition to coconut. I linked in the ingredients list a brand that’s vegan so you can see an example of what to look for.