Veganer Kirsch-Streuselkuchen (vegan cherry streusel cake)
An oil-based shortcrust base under a cherry filling and a crumbly oil-and-flour streusel, with no butter anywhere in the recipe. The streusel takes a bit more working by hand than a butter version to clump properly, but ends up just as crisp once baked.
Prep35 min
Cook40 min
Rest30 min
Oven180°C
Servings12
Christoph's vegan cherry streusel cake, oil in place of butter throughout, worked a little more by hand to get the streusel to clump.
Ingredients
Written for a 24 cm round tin
Units
Temperature
Servings
Base
- 300 g flour rounded
- 100 g sugar rounded
- 8 g baking powder rounded
- 2 g fine salt rounded
- 120 ml neutral oil rounded
- 60 ml oat milk rounded
- 5 ml vanilla extract rounded
Filling
- 600 g sour cherries, pitted, well drained if jarred rounded
- 25 g cornstarch rounded
- 40 g sugar, less if the cherries are sweetened rounded
Streusel
- 200 g flour rounded
- 100 g sugar rounded
- 3 g ground cinnamon (optional) rounded
- 1 g fine salt rounded
- 100 ml neutral oil rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together for the base. Add the oil, oat milk and vanilla, and mix with a fork or your hands just until it comes together into a soft, slightly sticky dough.
- Press the dough into the base of a lined 24 cm springform, building a shallow 2 cm rim up the sides. Chill for 30 minutes while you make the streusel and filling.
- Toss the cherries with the cornstarch and sugar until evenly coated.
- Rub the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and oil together with your fingers for the streusel, pressing the mixture into small clumps rather than a fine crumb; it takes more squeezing than a butter streusel to clump properly, since oil coats the flour more evenly instead of staying in separate lumps.
- Spread the cherry filling over the chilled base, then scatter the streusel evenly over the top.
- Bake at 180°C for 35 to 40 minutes, until the streusel is deep golden brown.
- Cool in the tin for at least 20 minutes before releasing the ring; it slices more cleanly once fully cooled.
Notes
- Squeeze the streusel mixture firmly between your fingers to form clumps. Oil-based streusel needs more deliberate pressing than butter-based streusel to hold together instead of staying as loose crumbs.
- Toss the cherries in cornstarch before filling, not after; an even coating keeps the filling from turning watery under the streusel.
- The base is deliberately sturdy rather than delicate, since it needs to support a wet cherry filling without turning soggy.
- It keeps for 3 days at room temperature, covered, or 4 days in the fridge if the weather is warm.
Ingredient substitutions
- Sour cherries can be sweet cherries, pitted, with the filling sugar reduced by about half.
- Oat milk can be any plant milk.
- Ground cinnamon in the streusel is optional; a little grated lemon zest is a good alternative.
- For a nut streusel, replace 50 g of the streusel flour with finely chopped almonds or hazelnuts.
From Christoph Mayer