Vegan Apple Cake

This Vegan Apple Cake is the most delicious vegan fall dessert packed with juicy, soft apple pieces and fragrant cinnamon ginger spices.

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Try this egg-free apple cake recipe if you are after a way to use apples. It uses a lot of Granny Smith apples, and you will love its cinnamon flavor and moist crumb.

It’s a great alternative to Vegan Red Velvet Cake or Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie if you like moist, flavorsome cakes.

Ingredients For Cake Batter

Here are the ingredients you need to bake a delicious vegan cake with apples.

• All-Purpose Flour or white spelt. I haven’t tried it with gluten-free flour blends.
• Baking Soda – To make it rise.
• Baking Powder – To make it rise even more.
• Cinnamon and Ginger – for their fall flavors.
• Unsweetened Applesauce or you can replace this with vegan yogurt.
• Granny Smith – Peeled, chopped in small cubes.
• Melted Vegan Butter or any neutral oil you prefer like light olive oil or canola oil.
• Soft Brown Sugar or coconut sugar if you prefer a refined sugar-free option.
• Plant-Based Milk like almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk.
• Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice.

Ingredients For Toppings

• Vegan Butter – Softened, not melted or you can also use firm coconut oil.
• Cinnamon – for flavor.
• Sugar – You can also use coconut sugar or brown sugar.
• Vanilla Extract – to give it even more flavors.
• Granny Smith – peeled, cored, and finely sliced.
• Sliced Almonds – or sliced pecans.

How To Make A Vegan Apple Cake

This plant-based apple cake is very easy to make and requires only minimal wholesome ingredients.

1. In a medium bowl, stir dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar – this is for the vegan buttermilk (photo 1). Set aside for 5 minutes until it curdles and looks thick and creamy. Meanwhile, peel and core the apples. Then, chop the granny smooth into small size pieces/cubes. Set aside.
2. Next, in a large bowl, whisk the prepared vegan buttermilk, melted vegan butter, and soft brown sugar (photo 2).
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt (photo 3). Set aside.
4. Finally, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the batter is smooth (photo 4).

5. Fold in the chopped apples and stir until just incorporated (photo 5). Don’t over-mix the cake batter to prevent the cake from being packed and gummy.
6. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9-inch x 13-inch cake pan or a 10-inch round springform pan with cooking spray. Line the pan wit parchment paper, and oil again.
7. Pour the cake batter into the pan. Set aside while you prepare the cinnamon sugar toppings
8. In a medium bowl, place all the topping ingredients (photo 6) and use a fork or your fingers to rub ingredients together and form a crumbly cinnamon butter (photo 7).
9. Sprinkle the cinnamon crumb all over the cake, then add the slices almonds and slices of apples (photo 8).
10. Bake the cake in the center rack of the oven. Depending on the size of the pan, the baking time varies from 50 minutes to 90 minutes.
11. After 50 minutes, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out wet, tent the pan with a large piece of foil, and keep baking 15 minutes burst until the center is set. Be patient. It takes a little time to bake this vegan apple cake because it’s packed with fruits that will release some moisture in the cake batter as it bakes.
12. Let it cool down in the pan for 15 minutes before releasing it on a wire rack.

Add-Ons

You can stir some nuts, dried fruits or chocolate chips in the cake batter. Try folding in 1/3 cup of some of the following.

• Chopped Walnuts or pecans
• Dried Raisins or cranberries
• Pumpkin Seeds or sunflower seeds
• Dairy-Free White Chocolate Chips

Serving Apple Cake

This apple cake is packed with fall flavors and it’s delicious serve with:

• A scoop of vegan ice cream – vanilla or coconut flavor
• Whipped coconut cream
• Vegan yogurt

Allergy Swaps

Below are some ingredients substitutions if you need.

• Gluten-Free – I didn’t try all-purpose gluten-free flours. It might work well if you use a blend that is a 1:1 swap to wheat flour. Beware, gluten-free flour always change vegan cakes texture into a more gummy, packed chewy crumb.
• Nut-Free – Swap the almond milk for soy milk, oat milk, or coconut milk.
• Refined Sugar-Free – Unrefined cane sugar or coconut sugar works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are my answers to make this vegan apple cake recipe.

More Vegan Cake Recipes

If you like this cake, you will love these other vegan cakes:

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

Oat Flour Cake

Vegan Coffee Cake

Sugar-Free Cake

Vegan Apple Cake

This Vegan Apple Cake is the most delicious vegan fall dessert packed with juicy, soft apple pieces and fragrant cinnamon ginger spices.

5 from 11 votes

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Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time: 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: 16 slices

Calories: 234.9 kcal

Author: Carine Claudepierre

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Ingredients

US Customary – Metric

• ▢ 2 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
• ▢ 1 cup Soft Brown Sugar - or coconut sugar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Salt
• ▢ ½ cup Unsweetened Applesauce
• ▢ ½ cup Melted Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - or canola oil
• ▢ 1 cup Almond Milk
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
• ▢ 2 cups Green Apple - cored, peeled, chopped
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Fresh Ginger

Topping

• ▢ 1 Green Apple - cored, peeled, thinly sliced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - softened
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ▢ ⅓ cup Sugar
• ▢ ½ cup Sliced Almonds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 9-inch x 13-inch pan with parchment paper and lightly oil paper. You can also use a 10-inch round pan, but the cake takes longer to bake and comes out thicker.
• In a medium bowl, stir almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside 5 minutes until it curdles. This is the vegan buttermilk.
• In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Set aside.
• In another large bowl, whisk the vegan buttermilk made before, melted vegan butter, unsweetened apple sauce, and soft brown sugar.
• Stir the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until a smooth cake batter forms. Don't over-stir it.
• Fold in the chopped apples and transfer the cake batter into the prepared pan.
• To make the toppings, place the softened vegan butter, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Press with a fork or crumble between your fingertips until it resembles a crumbly buttery mixture.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar all over the top of the vegan apple cake.
• Sprinkle slivered almonds and place some of the apple slices on the cake.
• Bake on the center rack of the oven for 50 to 80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. If the top browns too fast, tent the pan with a large piece of foil.
• Let the cake cool down for 15 minutes in the pan before transferring it to a cooling rack.
• Cool completely before slicing, and decorate with icing sugar if desired.

Storage

• Store leftovers in an airtight cake box in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to one month in sealed containers.

Equipment

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Mixing Bowl

9-inch x 13-inch Baking Pan

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Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 234.9kcal | Carbohydrates: 38.2g | Protein: 2.8g | Fat: 8.4g | Saturated Fat: 1.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4.1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 247.4mg | Potassium: 99.3mg | Fiber: 1.8g | Sugar: 21.3g | Vitamin A: 84.4IU | Vitamin C: 1.3mg | Calcium: 60.3mg | Iron: 1.2mg | Magnesium: 15.3mg | Phosphorus: 45mg | Zinc: 0.3mg