Yuca Coffee Cake with Walnuts and Orange Zest

  • Prep-time: / Ready In:
  • Makes sixteen 2-inch squares
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Made with naturally gluten-free yuca flour (aka cassava flour), this lightly sweet cake, perfect for serving with a hot mug of your favorite tea, can be served plain or dressed up with an easy-to-make drizzle topping. Look for yuca flour online and in health food stores. Find more cassava/yuca recipes here: What Is Cassava, and How Do You Cook With It?

By Darshana Thacker Wendel,

Ingredients

DRIZZLE TOPPING

  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
  • 2 tablespoons date paste
  • 1 teaspoon almond butter
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

CAKE

  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 cup unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
  • 1½ teaspoons flaxseed meal
  • 1½ teaspoons almond butter
  • 1½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup yuca flour (cassava flour)
  • ½ cup pure cane sugar
  • ¼ cup rolled oats
  • ¼ cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 teaspoon regular or sodium-free baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  • To make optional Drizzle Topping: In a blender combine all Drizzle Topping ingredients. Blend until smooth. If desired, transfer to a squeeze bottle or small resealable plastic bag. Chill until ready to use. If using the resealable bag, snip off a corner to make a small hole for drizzling.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. In a blender combine banana, 1 cup of the plant-based milk, the flaxseed meal, 1½ tsp. of the almond butter, and the apple cider vinegar. Blend until smooth.
  • In a bowl stir together the next seven ingredients (through cinnamon). Add milk mixture to flour mixture; mix well. Stir in orange zest and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly.
  • Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover pan and refrigerate at least 2 hours. If desired, just before serving, add Drizzle Topping.

Comments (20)

(5 from 4 votes)

Recipe Rating

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Lillian

If one adds tablespoon of instant coffee to the plant milk..blending well..then follow recipe as usual..Adds a nice depth the the recipe..

Linda

I thought FOK does not recommend sugar. Is date sugar or date syrup and better?

Yovanca Popovich

I use a sugar substitute. I can’t have sugar, the substitute is super sweet.

M Tierney

An awful lot of sugar. Can you sub date sugar or maple syrup? And if so, does the measure change?

Nancy Joseph

Sounds yummy will try this one

Dema

I'm amused by the confusion over the name "coffee cake" coming from people outside the US. I love community like this to develop a more world view. Lately i spend a lot of time thinking "what does that mean?' just watching tv from other countries. Sharing food is the ultimate bonding activity.

Jan W

To add to that, a coffee cake is the U.S. is traditionally served in the morning either for breakfast or brunch, and used to be popular served when the neighborhood housewives came over for coffee after the kids and husband were sent off to school and work. It usually is a one layer cinnamon swirl cake with a cinnamon and sugar topping. The batter's similar to muffins, not super sweet or fluffy.

Yovanca Popovich

Yay!! I can have cake for breakfast. The info is very good to know, thank you for sharing!!

Zoom

Why is there no coffee in this coffee cake please? Is it missing from the ingredients?

Heather

It’s named this because you traditionally eat it along WITH coffee, not composed of it.

Rachel

Do you have a recipe for the date paste? Thanks!

Yovanca Popovich

Have a look in condiments/sauces section in the app or FOK website under recipes then condiments/sauces. I made up a batch and froze it.

Jan

I have so many flours already, I’d rather not buy another. Can I sub almond flour?

Elizabeth

You can use tapioca flour, almond flour, coconut flour, chickpea flour, or rice flour.

Tracey NZ'

Where is the coffee in the recipe?

Bracha

"coffee cake" typically refers to a denser less sweet cake served with coffee rather than a tender frosted dessert-type cake. It does not mean the recipe contains coffee.

Zoom

That totally confused me too. It must be an American thing, because everywhere I've lived coffee cake has coffee in it!

Becky

Can you use white whole wheat flour instead of yucca flour?

Andi

Very tasty.

Juanelle Smith

Love this coffee cake. Date paste is hard to mix with nut milk and almond butter so I warmed it in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

About the Author

Headshot of Darshana Thacker

About the Author

Darshana Thacker Wendel

Darshana Thacker Wendel is a whole-food, plant-based chef and former culinary projects manager for Forks Over Knives. A graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute, she is the author of Forks Over Knives: Flavor! She created the recipes for Forks Over Knives Family and was a lead recipe contributor to the New York Times bestseller The Forks Over Knives Plan. Her recipes have been published in The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook, Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook, Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health, and LA Yoga magazine online. Visit DarshanasKitchen.com and follow her on Instagram for more.
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