Sour Cream Crumb Cake with Berries

I love rustic cakes such as the one below - to me a crumb cake does not have the fine texture of a yellow cake and usually has fruit or pureed vegetables (at least at our house) and, of course, includes a crumb topping.  And, its easy to slip whole grains into this sort of cake. 

If you do not need to make this gluten-free, substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the flour mix below (in this case, definitely leave out the xanthum gum).  Also, use eggs in place of the flax meal slurry.  But, honestly, once you start baking without eggs, you will wonder why the are so ubiquitous.  Especially in a cake like this, you will probably not miss the lift from the eggs.  The addition of the flax meal also brings some extra fiber and omega 3s.

Although agave is used in the cake itself, I like brown sugar in the topping.  Agave can probably be used in the topping, but the texture will be different.

Feel free to leave the xanthum gum out (or use less) - some folks are really bothered by it.  It does improve the texture of the cake and without it, the cake will tend to be a bit more crumbly - but it will still be good!

Flax seed slurry (substitute for 2 eggs)

4 tablespoons golden flax meal

6 tablespoons liquid (I use coconut milk)

Dry Ingredients:

350 gram whole grain gluten free baking mix (about 3 cups) - see below for the mix

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil (melt before measuring) or olive oil

1 cup vegan sour cream

1/2 cup agave

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 cups mixed berries (can be frozen)

Topping:

4 tablespoons earth balance buttery stick

1/2 - 1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 - 1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

Oil a 13" x 9" glass baking pan or muffin pan.  Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Mix together flax meal and coconut milk and set aside.

Mix together ingredients for the topping and set aside.

Sift dry ingredients together in a small bowl.  In a larger bowl, mix wet ingredients together along with flax meal slurry (or 2 eggs).  Add dry ingredients to the wet mix and combine well.  Add half of the berries and mix (batter will be stiff).  If your batter is without eggs, taste the batter to make sure you like the level of sweetness - add more if you like.

Press batter into the 13" x 9" pan or spoon into muffin cups.  Add the remaining berries to the top of the cake (or muffins) and gently press into the cake.  Crumble topping over top.

Bake about 50 - 60 minutes for the 13" x 9" pan (if using frozen berries, baking will take a few minutes longer).  Bake 20 - 25 minutes for muffins.  Test with a toothpick - baking times always vary depending on your oven, the type of flours you have used, even the humidity on that particular day.

Options:

- substitute applesauce or mashed banana for the sour cream

- add finely chopped apple or pear instead of berries

- substitute honey or maple syrup for the agave (or about 3/4 cup brown sugar)

- add pumpkin or sweet potato puree instead the berries

- substitute chocolate chips for the berries (now we're talking…)

- add chopped nuts to the cake

- leave out the topping above and simply sprinkle the unbaked cake with a cinnamon/sugar mixture

- substitute the baking mix I used with a purchased mix (such as Pamela's or Bob's Red Mill)

Gluten-Free Baking Mix:

300 grams superfine brown rice flour

100 grams almond meal / flour

200 grams quinoa flour

100 grams corn flour (non-GMO)

150 grams tapioca flour

150 arrowroot

Yes, I used a scale here.  And it makes about double what you need for the coffee cake recipe (store the rest in the frig).  But you can approximate this mix by using with the following formula:

3 cups of gluten free baking mix = 2 cups gluten-free flour and 1 cup starch

2 cups of any of the following flours in combination (use at least 2 different flours):

Almond

Amaranth

Brown Rice

Buckwheat

Corn

Millet

Oat

Quinoa

Sorghum

1 cup of any one of the following (or in combination):

Arrowroot

Cornstarch

Potato Starch

Tapioca Flour

White Rice Flour

Experiment with different flours and have fun!  The above cake recipe is very forgiving and will turn out pretty good so matter what you do.  Well almost...