Sweet & Sticky: Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

Everyone knows that no holiday season is complete without the smell of warm cinnamon and freshly baked pie wafting through the house. The good people at Earth Balance and Whole Foods seem to agree, and have create this Holiday Bake-Off Contest for all the bakers out there: $400 shopping spree at Whole Foods and a year supply of Earth Balance products.

Now what vegan baker wouldn't want a year supply of Earth Balance or their choice of expensive organic fruit and jars of nutritional yeast? I, for one, can hardly afford Whole Foods on a normal day; so I figured I could satisfy my desire for a delicious fall dessert and apply for the contest all in one go. Plus, it gives me something to bring to our Thanksgiving potluck this Thursday in seminar (our British TF seems amused about it).

So here's a simple recipe I whipped up for one of the entries: an amalgamation between a cinnamon roll, maple pancakes, and yellow cake... a breakfast cake, if you will. I figure its 9pm somewhere, so dessert in the morning can be acceptable.

Ingredients

Cake
1/2 C, Earth Balance Margarine, softened
1 1/2 C, light brown sugar
2, cornstarch eggs (1 egg=2 T cornstarch + 2 T water)
2 1/4 C, flour
1 t, salt
4 1/2 t, baking powder
1/2 t, baking soda
1/2 t, fresh lemon juice
1 1/4 C, unsweetened soymilk
1 t, vanilla extract

Topping:
3/4 C, Earth Balance margarine, softened
3/4 C, brown sugar
2 T, flour
2 T, cinnamon

Glaze:
1 C, powdered sugar
2 T, unsweetened soymilk
1 T, pure maple syrup
1/2 t, vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 pan with a little bit of Earth Balance margarine.
2. In a small bowl, cream together the Earth Balance margarine and brown sugar for the topping. Add in the flour and cinnamon for the topping and mix well. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl (or electric mixer) mix the softened butter and brown sugar together until smooth and creamy.
4. Then add cornstarch eggs, flour, salt, and baking powder, stirring thoroughly between each new ingredient.
5. Add the liquid ingredients, stirring thoroughly between each new addition.
6. Pour immediately into the prepared pan and spread out evenly.
7. Pour the topping mixture evenly over the cake by the spoonful and swirl it throughout the cake with a knife.
8. Place the pan in the oven and bake for approximately 30-35 minutes, or until you can insert a knife into the center and it comes out clean. (I found that even in my small oven, it took closer to the 35 minute mark, potentially longer in a larger oven)
9. As the cake is baking, mix together, in a small bowl, all the ingredients for the glaze until smooth. (If the mixture is too dry, add more soymilk. If the mixture is too liquidy, add more powdered sugar)
10. Once the cake is done baking, remove it from the oven. Immediately add the glaze on top of the warm cake. (This cake is best served after setting for 15 minutes) Enjoy!

Peace&Love