Sweet cherries, nutty almonds and the caramel-flavored coconut sugar make this rich, vegan cherry-almond cake a delicious and healthier addition to your afternoon coffee break.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I know, I am a bit late posting this cake recipe. But luckily there are more reasons and opportunities to enjoy a slice of cake, like a kaffeeklatsch with friends and family, a picnic in nature or simply as an afternoon snack. And when I look at the ingredients again, I can say there is definitely no shame in having a slice for breakfast.
When I bake something, I always try to keep it as healthy as possible. Sometimes, however, I tend to "over-healthy-fy" things and the result is everything but edible.
So this cake is not gluten-free. I decided to go with spelt flour, instead. I think it's a better alternative to white wheat flour. And since we are making cherry-almond cake, let's also add some almond flour. You can also try using ground almonds.
If you checked out my banana bread or my zucchini bread, you may have noticed that I like to bake oil-free. So, of course, this recipe is oil-free as well. Instead, I added almond butter, which adds more healthy fats and almond flavor to this cake.
Let's get to the sweetening-part. And, as you might expect, we are not using processed white sugar. We are using coconut sugar! I just love the caramel-flavor of coconut sugar. It certainly won't work with every recipe, but in this cherry-almond cake it fits perfectly. I know, coconut sugar is not the cheapest product, so go with raw cane sugar, if you are watching your budget.
Last but certainly not least: Che-Che-Che-Cherries! As cherries are not in season yet, you can opt for frozen cherries, like I did. The advantage: They are already pitted! Now let's put the cake into the oven, bake it, slice it and serve it with a dollop of whipped coconut cream. Enjoy!
If you give this recipe a try, let me know in the comments below. And don’t forget to rate the recipe. You can also tag a photo (#veggiejam) to show me your creation on instagram.
Recipe
Vegan Cherry-Almond Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Description
Sweet cherries, nutty almonds and the caramel-flavored coconut sugar make this rich, vegan cherry-almond cake a delicious and healthier addition to your afternoon coffee break.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup spelt flour (160 g)
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour (130 g)
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup coconut sugar (80 g)
- ⅓ cup natural almond butter (80 g)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp vanilla extract ((optional))
- 1 cup oat or almond milk
- 1 cup frozen cherries, pitted + extra (100 g)
- slivered almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320 °F (160 °C).
- Combine the first six ingredients in a large bowl and stir to remove any clumps.
- Transfer almond butter, maple syrup, oat milk and vanilla to a pot. Heat and stir to mix up everything. Alternatively, blend up the ingredients.
- Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and stir to combine (don't overstir!). Lastly, fold in the cherries.
- Transfer the dough to a Ø 18 cm (7 inch) greased cake springform pan. Add a few cherries on top and press down slightly. Sprinkle slivered almonds on top and also press down slightly.
- Bake for 40-45 mins. Let cool completely.
- Serve with whipped coconut cream and store leftovers in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Notes
Instead of sprinkling powdered sugar on top, try sieved coconut flour! It's much healthier, looks very similar and you won't even taste it.
This post is also available in German (Deutsch).
Goda says
Just to let you know - the ingredient list mentions almond flour twice, but no almond butter 🙂 Otherwise, this looks amazing and I'm so so making it!!
Melanie J says
Oops, thanks for mentioning it 😉 Already fixed!
2pots2cook says
Perfect for easy Saturday afternoon tea ! Thank you !
Jess @choosingchia says
This cake looks so delicious! i love using spelt flour in cooking instead of regular flour. It substitutes so well!
Melanie J says
I agree. I also prefer spelt over wheat flour!
Krisztina says
Thank you for this lovely recipe. This was the very first vegan dessert that actually tasted nice. I used 400 g cherries in total but I found it still was not enough, so next time it will be 600g. As I like it - more cherries - less dough.
P.S. your photos in your blog are beautiful.
Melanie J says
Thank you so much, Krisztina. I am so happy you enjoyed the recipe 😊
Issi says
This cake looks wonderful! Would love to make it for my friend, who unfortunalty has stomach conditions including gastropaerisis (paralysis of the stomach) so they cannot process fats including nut butters,
Is there any way to omit the nut burter for something else? (soy yoghurt and eggs they can have)
Also do you know of any cookie recipes that dont use oil or fats? As have been searchibg for one, living in England tea and biscuits (what us English call cookies) is one of her favourite things,
Especially if the biscuits can be dunked into the tea....very english pastime....
Thank you for all your lovely recipes,
Zhuchiini cake is next on the ‘To Bake’ list
Kind regards
Have a lovely day, Issi
Melanie J says
Hi Issi. Thanks so much for your comment and sorry for the late response. Unfortunately, the cake is generally very rich and higher in fat, as it contains almond butter as well as almond flour. So it's really hard to make substitutions without loosing the taste and texture.
As for cookies: I tend to bake without oil but usually add a source of fat like nut butter. But you should check out "Happy Herbivore". She's got great recipes that are super low in fat. I found a cookie recipe that might work for your friend:
https://happyherbivore.com/recipe/chocolate-chip-cookies/
Kind regards from Germany!
Melanie J says
PS: I've got a recipe for sweet potato cookies on my blog. They are not really like English biscuits as they are kind of fluffy, but there are only 2tbsp of nut butter in the recipe and you might even decrease the amount and add some aquafaba or apple sauce instead: https://www.veggiejam.com/english/fluffy-sweet-potato-cookies-with-chocolate-chunks/
MINDY MACK says
Hey there!
Two quick questions:
1. Can I use regular all-purpose baking flour as opposed to spelt flour?
2. Would dark brown sugar work instead of coconut sugar?
Just trying to see what I can use that's already in my pantry.
Thank you!
Melanie J says
Hey Mindy. Yes, I think both the all purpose flour and the brown sugar should work just fine. Let me know how it turns out!
Loobyloo says
Hello,
I am planning on making this cake, quick question though, would I be able to use glacé cherries instead of frozen cherries?
Thanks
Melanie J says
Yes, I think it will work just as well!
Eleanor says
Hi !! Could I use oat flour in this recipe? And if so how much should I substitute? Xx
Melanie J says
Hi Eleanor, I am not sure if oat flour is a great substitute here. I fear the cake may become too dense especially if you use it instead of the almond flour. You could maybe do 3/4 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup spelt flour instead of 1 1/4 cup spelt flour.
Adelle says
THANK YOU FOR THE RECIPE MELANIE!! <3 :]
Dorina says
So delicious and easy to make! New favourite!
soleil says
hey! this looks delicious- is there any sub for the almond flour? maybe more spelt flour? i want to make this but almond flour is super expensive in europe!!