It might seem strange to see the author of “the healthy dessert blog” holding a book all about junk food. Contrary to what one might assume from reading the title of my blog, however, I don’t only eat healthy food 100% of the time.
And I don’t think I am any less healthy for it.
Maybe in a perfect world, all of the desserts sold in stores and at restaurants would be a heck of a lot healthier – with more whole grains, fewer processed ingredients, and much less sugar. Since this is not the case (yet!), we as consumers have two choices: never dine out, decline invites from friends, and only eat foods prepared from scratch; or eat as healthfully as we can for the majority of the time and don’t sweat the small stuff. If you live in a super-health-conscious community, you might not need to choose. And if you have allergies, you might not be able to choose. But for someone like me, who enjoys being social (and also who doesn’t always have time to make everything from scratch), it might be a good idea to follow the 80-20 rule: eat as well as you can 80% of the time and don’t worry so much about the other 20%.
I wrote more about all of this here: Orthorexia: The New Eating Disorder
There’s a difference between eating a healthy diet and eating a “perfect” diet, and if you are spending your entire life stressing over what, when, or where to eat for optimal health, it could be doing more harm than good.
Enough babbling. Time for food.
With a streusel top and cream cheese filling, this delicate cake is reminiscent of a beloved New-York-style coffee cake. It’s a wonderful addition to any brunch or tea party.
However, as is clear by the title of the book from where the recipe comes, this is not health food. If calories, fat, and sugar are an issue, I’d recommend a different recipe, such as my Coconut Breakfast Cake.
Although the majority of people who read this blog might not be a good fit for the Vegan Junk Food cookbook by Lane Gold, I wanted to review it for anyone interested in quick and not-so-complicated recipes, many of which can easily be tweaked to fit one’s specific dietary requirements. (Note: I am not getting paid to review this book. Opinions are my own.) The book author’s definition of junk food is not “food devoid of nutrition” but rather “sinfully delicious” food. So really, the cookbook is more comfort food than junk food. If you are the type of person who doesn’t ever follow a recipe anyway, you might have fun adapting some of the creative ideas to suit your needs. Recipes include: Deep Dish Hawaiian Pizza, Taquitos with Avocado Sauce, Eggplant BLTs, Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Bars, and Sticky Caramel Baked French Toast.
As with many “normal” recipes (i.e. recipes that haven’t been given a healthier makeover), you can probably cut back on the sugar and fat in Gold’s recipes and still end up with a tasty result. However, since I was doing a cookbook review and wanted to stay true to the book, I made the following coffee cake recipe almost exactly as written. The only change I did make was to use ww pastry flour for the all-purpose, knowing it would be my own fault if the recipe didn’t turn out well. Gold calls for sugar in her recipe; I used evaporated cane juice, which is essentially the same thing. But if you’d prefer to use xylitol for a lower-sugar option, that will be fine. (As a reference: xylitol can be subbed for sugar in non-yeasted baked foods in a 1-to-1 ratio.)
Cheesecake Filled Crumb Cake
(reprinted with permission)
Cake layer:
- 3/4 cup milk of choice (180g)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (15g)
- 2 cups ww pastry, spelt, or all-purpose flour (280g)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup coconut or vegetable oil (80g)
- 1 cup xylitol or sugar (195g)
Filling:
- 1 8-oz container cream cheese-style spread (I used Tofutti non-hydrogenated)
- 1/3 cup xylitol or sugar (65g)
- 2 tbsp ww pastry, spelt, or all-purpose flour (16g)
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Topping:
- 2/3 cup brown sugar or coconut brown sugar (120g)
- 1/2 cup ww pastry, spelt, or all-purpose flour (70g)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup butter-type spread, softened (I used Earth Balance) (150g)
Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9×9 baking dish. Combine milk and vinegar in a medium bowl; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add the the oil and sweetener to the vinegar mixture, stirring. Now add wet to dry and stir until completely smooth. Pour half the batter into the prepared baking dish.
In a medium bowl, mix filling ingredients and pour over the batter layer. Cover with remaining batter. Then, in a small bowl, mix together the topping and crumble over the cake. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until topping is golden brown. Let cool completely before cutting. Serves 8-12.
View Coffee Cake Nutrition Facts
(Giveaway is closed. Congratulations to Nicole@fruitnfitness.)
Link of the day:
Galia says
My favorite junk food is vegan chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream on warm vegan brownies. 🙂
kl says
definitely chocolate, i only wish it were more difficult to come by so i could avoid temptation.. and if you’re ever in the neighbourhood katie, check out the “burger fuel” chain in New Zealand. there are vegan/vegetarian/gluten free burgers, and vegan soy shakes of all flavours that are RIDICULOUSLY creamy!
Christeena says
Onion rings!!!
nicki says
I love anything caramel, so without a doubt caramel apples are my favorites, The apples makes me feel not guilty, since its somewhat healthy, lol!
Nicole says
Yummm this looks so good! Ill make this the next time I’m having people in, otherwise I’d probably eat the whole thing… My favourite junk food is those crispy mini rice cakes, in the sweet chilli flavour… so tasty! I know its not really junk food, but where I am losing weight I like to think is so I feel like I’m being a little bad… your coconut cookie dough oatmeal is to die for, I love it so much!
Lori says
Any sort of cheesecake if I’m at home. Twizzlers, Smarties or Starburst if I’m at work and just hoarding something in my pocket!
andrea says
My favorite junk food isssss Cheesecake, chocolate milkshakes, and fried arepas (something made here in Venezuela) 🙁
Kristen O'Brien says
My favorite junk food is cupcakes!!
Lindsay says
I was so excited to try this recipe, but I thought it came out way too salty 🙁 It was also my first time trying vegan cream cheese and thought it tasted too much like tofu (I guess I should have expected that from Tofutti brand). But the salt definitely drowned out the tofu flavor … it was way too much.
Alexis says
Yummmm! Those look soOoo great! Have a wonderful Easter Katie❗❕
April Lockhart says
Do you use a vita mix with your recipes? I am looking into getting one but want to make sure that I can do your recipes with no trouble.
Melissa says
Do the nutrition facts include sugar or assumes xylitol was used?
Teresa says
I just made this. Seriously the best coffee cake I’ve made. So good. I used coconut not veg oil and I didn’t have enough cream cheese, probably only about 4 oz but actually it was enough, for us anyway. My kids don’t love cream cheese. Excellent. Will make again!
Sam says
Lol, look great. Just wanted to point out that in the instructions you put “the the oil”. You are awesome! just wanted to point that out 🙂
Rosalie says
Wow .. This looks so good.
But I don’t have everything I need in the pantry. yet..
Time to go shopping. Or maybe I will just use bream cheese.
Love your recipes, and the ones you feature from other healthy places.
Barbara Noon says
Made the cream cheese filled coffee cake for Thanksgiving because I wasn’t in the mood for pie and it was so good, I’m going to make it for my vegan group and also take it to work at Christmastime.
Barbara Noon says
I made this twice and will make it a third time for my vegetarian group this week. The people at my work called it Tiramisu because they thought it was so fancy! They loved the fresh lemon zest in the Tofutti cream cheese. It’s a fantastic recipe!
Michelle says
These turned out delicious! I use a different cream cheese filling to cut out the preservatives in the store bought cream cheese but it turned out just as great as I imagined! I’ve been hearing that sugar intake should be cut down, but with a dessert blog its hard to have less that 2 teaspoons a day! Excluding fruits of course, how do you manage your sugar intake its very hard to control for me.
Kate says
I made this for a Christmas season brunch. I am a fairly experienced baker and double checked all ingredient amounts. I found this heavy and very oily. I threw it out. I was surprised as I have had good luck with other CCK recipes.
Jason Sanford says
I haven’t tried this one, but it’s actually not Katie’s recipe! It’s from the cookbook she reviewed. Sorry it didn’t turn out well for you 🙁