This vegan cinnamon bun cake is sweetened with apple and hazelnut flour to reduce the amount of (coconut) sugar used, and it's moist, sweet, and all about autumn. Save this for a chilly weekend baking project and prepare to be cozy.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Vegan
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 40 minutesminutes
Rising Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Total Time 50 minutesminutes
Servings 1large cake
Ingredients
Dough
¼cupwarm water
1teaspoonmaple syrup
2 ¼teaspoonsdry yeast or 1 square fresh yeast
1cupoat or nut milk
2tablespoonscoconut oilroom temperature
1large applegrated
2teaspoonscinnamon
½teaspoonsea salt
¾cuphazelnut meal
2 ½ - 3 ½cupsspelt flour*
Apple Cinnamon Filling
1large applegrated
¼cupcoconut oilsoftened
¼cupcoconut sugar
1tablespooncinnamon
½teaspoonvanilla powder
Instructions
Dough
In a large bowl, add the warm water and maple syrup. Sprinkle the yeast over top and let it sit for 15 minutes, or until foaming.
Stir in the milk, coconut oil, grated apple, cinnamon, salt, hazelnut meal, and 1 cup of flour until combined. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring between additions, until it becomes too stiff to stir.*
Turn the dough out onto a floured countertop and knead, adding a little flour when it gets too sticky. Keep kneading and adding flour until you have a soft, smooth, elastic ball of dough.
Place the dough into a greased bowl and cover it with a clean tea towel. Set the bowl in a warm place (like your oven with the light on) and let it rise until doubled in size, or about an hour.
Once the dough has risen, gently punch it down to deflate it, then turn the dough onto a well floured counter and roll out to about 2 cm thick. Evenly spread the filling, then roll it up (to get the longest possible roll if you have a rectangle). Cut the dough in half lengthwise and then twist the two sides together, keeping the cut side up as much as possible.
Grease a 26 cm / 10 inch springform pan and place the twisted bread, filling side up, around the outer edges of the pan. As it rises it will fill in the hole in the centre of the pan. Let it rise again for about 30 minutes, or until it's almost doubled again.
Bake at 180C / 350F for 40-50 minutes, or until golden. Best served warm but it will keep for two days on the countertop.
Apple Cinnamon Filling
Spread the coconut oil onto the rolled out dough, then sprinkle the apple over top, followed by the sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Roll up as outlined above.
Notes
• The dough will be soft. Take the sides off the springform and place the dough on the base part of the pan, then put the sides back on, instead of trying to lift the dough into the pan. • If you don't have a springform pan, try baking the dough in a bundt pan, but place the dough filling side down (so that when you flip the pan, it will be facing up). • If you're worried about the rolled dough sticking to your counter, roll the dough out on parchment paper instead. * If you have a stand mixer, go up to 2 1/2 cups flour and use your kneading attachment to knead the bread for you. Add flour 1/4 cup at a time, continuing to knead, until you have a soft dough that's no longer sticky. Knead for about five minutes, but try to avoid over kneading, as spelt is a little more sensitive than regular flour.