After temporarily taking this recipe off Methodical's pastry menu, I quickly realized that we may have made a mistake. Customers were constantly coming up and asking when we would bring it back. The fact that this recipe is vegan is just a bonus — practically no one realizes it unless they’ve read the menu carefully.

The cardamom and spices pack so much flavor into the almond coffee cake and work nicely alongside the almond-based crumb topping. The key part of this recipe is to let the vinegar sit with the almond milk for a few minutes, as it acts as a faux buttermilk that activates the baking soda and lightens up the end product.

Ingredients:

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
• 2 cups almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)
• 1 tsp distilled vinegar
• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp cardamom
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp powdered ginger
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 125 g vegetable oil (you can use any neutral oil like grapeseed, sunflower seed, or canola)
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Combine the flour, oats, sliced almonds, brown sugar, and salt in a small bowl to make the crumb
2. Add the melted coconut oil until the crumb starts to come together and set aside
3. Preheat your oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Grease a 9 x 9 pan with cooking spray. Set aside
4. Combine the almond milk and vinegar, let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it starts to look curdled (similar to the look of buttermilk)
5. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk flour mixture until combined
6. Add in the almond milk and vinegar mix while whisking to prevent clumps in the dough. Add in the oil, almond extract, and vanilla extract to the dough
7. Pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the crumble all over the top of the cake batter (It should be mostly covered with very few spots of cake batter visible)
8. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cut the almond cake into nine large pieces, or 12 smaller pieces. Best served warm and with a cup of coffee, of course