Chocolate Crumb Cake
Jan 14, 2010 tagged Dairy-free, Egg-free, Gluten-free, Vegan 
Happy New Year (twelve days later)!
It was a gentle holiday this year…everyone was calm and happy. Time meandered. Things were simple. I did my best to coax that feeling well into the new year. Occasionally, a distant voice begged me to jump back into the speeding world. I ignored it.
Until now. We all know the real world can only be ignored for so long. Unless you move to some remote place. Alaska maybe. It’s a thought.
OK, get ready for a weird segue to six months ago when I abandoned the idea of Chocolate Crumb Cake. At that time I wondered if anyone had paired chocolate and crumb topping. I don’t know why I thought of it—probably just inspired by my love of all things chocolate. Unfortunately it didn’t go so well the first time. Or, the second. And, I became uninspired. Until Chocolate Crumb Cake came creeping back into consciousness sometime during my holiday hiatus from the real world.
Guess what? Third time=success! It’s rich. Really rich. And, really good. Sometimes you need to take a break from something only to come back and have it become better than you ever thought it could be.
Chocolate Crumb Cake
2 ½ cups GF flour
½ cup dutch processed cocoa
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola or grapeseed oil
½ ripe banana, mashed
1 faux egg
1 6-ounce container (coconut milk) yogurt
½ cup prepared coffee (or water)
2 tablespoons vanilla
A few handfuls of chocolate chips (optional)
Double recipe Crumb Topping
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a small cookie sheet (mine is 9 ¼” by 13 ¼”) or similar sized baking pan with parchment.
Make the double recipe of Crumb Topping.
Make the faux egg by mixing 1 1/2 teaspoons EnerG Egg Replacer with 2 tablespoons warm water. Whisk together and set aside. (If you don’t have EnerG Egg Replacer a flax egg should do the trick.)
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt. I used Authentic Foods Gluten-Free Multi Blend Flour. If you don’t have that brand on hand substitute your favorite GF flour blend or try Jeanne’s Gluten Free Flour Mix from my good friend Jeanne over at FourChickens.
In a separate bowl whisk together the wet ingredients (oil, egg replacer, well mashed banana*, yogurt, vanilla, coffee—or equivalent amount water if you want to omit the coffee) until they are fully mixed together.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with a sturdy spoon. This will take a little elbow grease but only mix until all ingredients are fully incorporated. The consistency will be more like a cookie dough—not a batter—and is quite stiff.
Smooth the dough out onto the lined cookie sheet and spread to the edges.
Sprinkle with a few handfuls of chocolate chips (double chocolate!). Sprinkle the top evenly with the crumb topping and gently press it down with your hands.
Place in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool thoroughly before cutting into squares. This freezes well.
*If the banana is not ripe enough microwave it in 30-second intervals until just soft enough to mash effectively with a big fork. A good substitute for banana is ¼ cup applesauce.
Reader Comments (12)
This looks really delicious! Love me some chocolate.
Amber - You're in luck. See you Saturday, Chocolate Crumb Cake in hand! Nancy
Looks really good!!
Thanks, Kim! -Nancy
Hi- I just found your site and I'm so excited! I am gluten-free vegan, and all your recipes looks fantastic.....
I also create recipes- check out my blog!
VEGirl- 13 year old vegan, environmentalist, gluten-intolerant
http://vegirlblog.blogspot.com/
VEGirl - so glad that many of the recipes here will work for you. I know it can be challenging to have variety when you're both GF and Vegan. I am looking forward to seeing your site. Thanks for stopping by. -Nancy
This looks great, I don't have a gluten intolerance, but I love anything with chocolate in:)
Angeli - I bet you could make it with regular flour and eggs. It might rise higher but that wouldn't be bad. You could back off the baking powder a little. Thanks for visiting! -Nancy
Looks yummy, but 9 x 13 is a big cake! Do you think it would work if I halved the recipe?
Sondi - I'm sure that would work. It was a really big cake! I gave a big piece to my favorite tastetester and froze the rest. Defrosted it for the photos and it was wonderful. -Nancy
Awesome! Love the sound of this Nancy =D.
Hi Lauren!! Glad you like it! -Nancy
So innovative! At first I was thinking, chocolate crumb cake? But I'm totally convinced. I think the whole movement of combining solid chocolate with chiles/bacon/curry/lavender/etc has done much for how I look at chocolate. It's not just for chocolate chip cookies anymore. I am definitely eager to try this unique flavor combination! Well done, and good job for not giving up on perfecting the recipe :)
Jenn - I know...it's a little unusual. But, it's good. Rich. And good. Nancy
Oh, yeah! I am so gonna make this and serve it with Purely Decadent coconut milk vanilla bean ice cream! It looks too good for words!
Erica -- Mmmm. Love it (and Purely Decadent ice cream)! -Nancy
Wonderful cake Nancy, I love the contrast of colours and the texture looks so gorgeous mmmmm.
Jeena- Thanks! :-) Nancy
Oh my gosh! I'm trying so hard to NOT eat sugar and treats and you post this unbelievably good looking, wonderful sounding crumb cake. I'm drooling! Well, I'm going to pass for now, but you can be sure I will print out this recipe and save it for later. Wow, and you did this without dairy or eggs. I'm impressed! Can't wait to try it (in a couple weeks). Thanks!
Melissa
Hi, Nancy...I'm making this to serve to dinner guests tonight - it is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you for all your hard work! :) I'll let you know how it turns out! And same here with the crumb topping - something I alway just wing...one bonus of having a food blog: you MUST write down your recipes!
Peace...Gigi
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