I had half a dozen apples in the fridge. I browsed the index for recipes with apples and found this vegan apple cake recipe. The recipe was very simple, used only one egg, so easy to substitute the egg. The cake came out very well. It was very moist and fluffy, but over the top sweet.
The original recipe used 1 cup sugar and the apples I used were sweet too, so the cake became very sweet. So I have changed the recipe to ¾ cup of sugar. I was wondering what to do with the cake, then got this (wonderful) idea. I was not sure whether it would work, but I was totally surprised and happy with the result.
Check the My Notes section to see what I did. But this vegan apple cake recipe is definitely a keeper for its easy prep and unbelievably moist and fluffy texture for a vegan cake.
This is yet another recipe from the Taste of Home Baking Book.
If you tried this Vegan Apple Cake recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons Softened Butter (I used Earth Balance - 4 teaspoons)
- ¾ cup Sugar
- 1 and ½ teaspoons Ener-G (in place of 1 Egg)
- 2 tablespoons Water
- 3 tablespoons Soy Milk (if using Ener-G)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup All Purpose Flour (I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon (I used ¼ teaspoon)
- ½ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg (I did not use)
- 3 cups Apples Peeled And Diced
- ¼ cup Walnuts (I used ½ cup Chopped)
- As Needed Whipped cream/Ice cream (Optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350F for 15 minutes. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Since the quantity of butter is very less, the creamed mixture was dry and resembled coarse crumbs.
- In a blender/food processor blend together Ener-G, water, soy milk and vanilla extract until nice and foamy.
- Add the Ener-G mixture to the creamed butter/sugar and beat everything together with the hand mixer until thoroughly combined. This mixture looks creamy like a white sauce.
- In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg (if using). Add this to the wet ingredients. The batter will be thick.
- Stir in apples and nuts. Mix it thoroughly.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Mine was done around 38 minutes. You can also see that the cake starts pulling from the edges.
- This cake can be sliced directly from the pan while its still warm, so no need to wait for the pan to cool to invert it and then slice it.
My Notes
- The original recipe mentioned only 3 tablespoons butter. Since I had only 4 tablespoons (½ a stick) remaining from a stick, I used it entirely. Did not want to keep the balance 1 tablespoon in the fridge. I think that extra tablespoon of butter helped to get the amazing texture for the cake.
- The apples were required to be diced, but I grated it because I was not sure if my son would eat the cake if it had chunks of apples in it. He usually eats all fruits and especially apples and pears are his favorite. But I can never guess him. The apples were really invisible, so if you have a picky eater sneak the apples by grating.
- I was wondering what to do about the sweetness. If it's not sweet enough you can always sprinkle some powdered sugar, have it with vanilla ice cream etc. But how to reduce the sweetness. Then I got this idea of coating the cake with unsweetened chocolate so that the bitterness would offset the sweetness. I wanted to try it immediately but did not have it at home. Sent my husband immediately to the grocery store and he got the Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate.
- It's a pack of 8 individually wrapped squares of plain chocolate. I wanted to test very little first. So melted 3 squares in the microwave oven. Cooled it a little bit. I decided to shaped the cake into small balls and dip it in the melted chocolate so that it would resemble truffles. Since the cake was slightly warm and moist I was able to proceed with the idea and shaped them into small balls. Dipped the cake quickly into the melted chocolate and placed it in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I had a perfect slice of cake as well. My husband dipped 3 sides of the cake in the chocolate. I placed the baking sheet in the fridge for the chocolate to set. I couldn't contain my excitement to taste it. Managed to wait until the next day morning. The chocolate had set perfectly and I took a bite of the apple cake truffle and was literally doing the happy dance. It tasted so good! The bitterness of the unsweetened chocolate took care of the sweetness perfectly. The taste was phenomenal. I'm very glad that I tried this vegan apple cake.
Nutrition
Andrea says
I tried this recipe. It came out like soup even after baking it for about 50 minutes. I don’t know where I went wrong.
Madhuram says
By any chance did you mess up with the measurements?
Teresa says
I'm trying this today but I'm replacing egg with mashed banana and using coconut oil and almond milk. Experimenting
Madhuram says
Tell me how it turns out Teresa.
KK says
Hi Madhuram, I will be making this cake without any frosting. Should I reduce the sugar level? Also, I dont have egg replacer on hand. Would flax seeds or yoghurt work? It doesn't need to be vegan.
Madhuram says
I have given the reduced sugar quantity in the recipe. Yes you can just do flax egg instead.
Marni says
I have a can of pumpkin puree that I need to use up. Can I substitute the egg and milk with this?
Madhuram says
Did you mean the egg replacer and milk? Yes it should work.
Elizabeth says
My 15 month old son LOVES this recipe. I am going to try applesauce instead of milk/egg and see how he likes that. I shred the apples and he tears it up.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the feedback Elizabeth.
Pragna Vijay says
Can Ener-G be replaced with flaxseed meal?
I have prepared Vegan blueberry Muffin using your recipe and it was delicious and great in texture!!! My friends demanded more and more of it!!! Thank you so much!!!
Madhuram says
Thanks Pragna. It can be but if using in cookies they will turn out chewy instead of crispy.
Lallchand Geeta says
Dear Madhuram
I am vegetarian.I do not have Ener-G. What can be used instead of Ener-G?
Thxs for letting me know
Regds
geeta
Archana says
Hi Madhu, Your recipe of making this cake into round shape and then rolling into choclate powder reminds me of the typical choclate cake that we get in Blore, India. there the apple cakes are in round shape and rolled in dessicated coconut. So we get good taste.
I want to try this however i hv few questions. Can i use hung curd or normal milk instead of soy milk? Secondly how to make the cake into small round balls? thanks in advance.
Madhuram says
I didn't know that you get that sort of cake in Bangalore. Interesting! The cake will be quite moist, so just scoop it out with a spoon and form them into balls.
Saranya Praveen says
Nice Madhu. My husband and baby likes it a lot.
Madhuram says
Thanks Saranya.
bobby says
You have one of the best blogs going. I have tried some of ur recipes and they all come out good. I want to prepare this cake for a friend who has diabetes. She just love cakes. Can I use atta (whole wheat flour) instead of WW pastry flour. Brown sugar 1/2 cup and flax seed mixture instead of ener G (we don't get it here). Will it make a difference. I'll really appreciate a reply as I saw this and promised to make it for her but wanted some questions answered. Thanks.
Madhuram says
Thanks for the compliments Bobby. The taste and texture of whole wheat flour is something that you have to get used to. I'm not sure if your friend would like the taste of it. So I would suggest using half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.
Tara says
I made the cake with 4 tablespoons of Earth Balance. The texture was perfect. I personally found the cake to be not sweet enough- I think next time I will use 1 cup of packed light brown sugar and a little bit more nutmeg and cinnamon. I baked it for 38 minutes and it was a little too done- some what dry, but that is my oven I think. I hate this oven. It's old, electric and not very accurate. I used some apples that were given to me today but I think I should have used the sweeter, juicier apples I bought for this recipe. I will definitely make it again. It was a worthwhile first vegan baking recipe!
Tara says
I am about to make this cake which looks delicious. I just want to confirm- the ingredients you say you used 4 TEASpoons of Earth Balance but the description you say TABLEspoons. I am guessing that you meant tablespoons so that is what i will use. 🙂 Looking forward to my first vegan cake. I have the Ener-G egg replacer. I'll let you know how I make out.
Madhuram says
Thanks for letting me know Tara. I will change it.
Angela Schmitz says
I made this in a non Vegan way, using the egg. It came out wonderful, very good taste and moist. Everybody loved it and it will be absolutely my apple cake number 1 form now on.
Thank you very much!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Angela. Please rate the recipe.
Maetreyii says
hello.
may i ask what is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?
i can not find baking soda... i was told by the store that they are out of baking soda for now...
i dont know when they are going to get them... can i use baking powder instead?
Also, do you think it is ok to use date syrup or something instead of sugar?
my husband does not like for me to give food with sugar to our children.
do you think it will still be fluffy even if i use date syrup?
Madhuram says
Both can't/shouldn't be used interchangeably. Regarding sugar, liquid sweeteners can be substituted for sugar to some extent if you could reduce the quantity of other liquids in the recipe. Since this recipe doesn't have much liquid, I'm not sure how date syrup would work.
Ranjani says
I thought since there are lotta fruits in it, I wudn nee a fruit puree. Can I use vinegar and milk? the milk curdles right? is tat ok?
Ranjani says
Hi,
I dint find ener-g here.So I omitted it and the water part and the cake crumbled :(I am completely new to baking and have tried only a few cakes, so wats the mistake? bec I dint use an egg replacer huh
Madhuram says
That could be a reason. So what did you use instead of EnerG. You need something to bind the batter, so that the cake doesn't crumble. How did the batter look? If it was runny maybe you should have tried baking it for some more time.
Sunita says
Another winner from you 🙂 I baked this for my own birthday last week (Sigh!) and it came out really yummy. I don't get Ener-G where I live, so used BRM's egg replacer. It worked out to the same measurement but the final cake batter needed another teaspoon of milk to get the perfect consistency. I topped this cake with chocolate fudge frosting and sprinkles. Thank you for a great recipe!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Sunita. Belated birthday wishes.
SS says
Hey Madhuram,
I have been on & off trying out one or the other of your recipes :-).
For this cake, was wondering if butter could be replaced with canola oil and how much of it?
Better yet if I can completely omit/use yogurt for that, but will it affect the consistency of the final product?
Want your suggestions please.
Thanks
Madhuram says
Yes, you could replace it with 3 tablespoons of oil. You can replace the fat with unsweetened applesauce or yogurt but the cake will be very dense and not fluffy. You may also have to increase the baking time between 3-5 minutes, anyway do the toothpick test.
SS says
Thanks Madhuram for your prompt replies ! I had second thoughts about ener-G replacer as I read somewhere egg replacer contains both corn-derived ingredients as well as Carboxymethylcellulose, a chemical thickener that is indigestible and can cause diarrhea, constipation and bloating. If you know something more on this or anybody else knows please discuss more. I thought this is such a nice an active place, and would be good to brainstorm on a few day-to-day things and make life more healthier.
Thanks a bunch to Madhuram for the due dilligence.
Regards
SS
Madhuram says
Hi SS, thanks for the input. I looked into it and believe that its safe for human consumption. Check these links:
1) Under the list of safe additives: http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
2) Talks about Carboxymethylcellulose in detail: http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm#carbosodium
3) About Sodium Carb... present in Ener-G: http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm#sodiumcarb
I don't see corn derivatives in the ingredients list of Ener-G: Ingredients: Potato Starch, tapioca starch flour, leavening (calcium lactate [not derived from dairy], calcium carbonate, citric acid), sodium carboxymethylcellulose, methylcellulose
NSG says
Hi Madhu,
Finally i could try this recipe again and it came out perfect. It was delicious.
I guess the apples i am using are too juicy, hence making my batter too watery. I used yogurt as you had suggested. And i reduced the apples to 2 cups. And bingo!!
My cake sunk a little after cooling. Did this happen with you too?
I wish to try this recipe with applesauce next time. Can i make applesauce and refridgerate/freeze it? What should be the consistency of applesauce?
Thanks again!
Madhuram says
Thanks NSG. I think mine sank a little as well. Applesauce should have a semi solid consistency, not too watery, not too thick either.
NSG says
Do i need to add water too along with yogurt/applesauce?
You got me NSG. I'm literally banging my head against the wall to see if I can recollect why I have used both water and soy milk along with the Ener-G powder. Usually I use just plain lukewarm water. Initially I was using just water and later read somewhere else that blending it with lukewarm water makes it even more frothy and have been doing it ever since.
Now to answer your question, if using yogurt, try 3 tablespoons of yogurt mixed with 1 tablespoon of water and you need not do anything about the leaveners. If you are using applesauce, try it with water in 3:1 tablespoon ratio as above and add 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder. Forget about the soy milk/water confusion.
I wish I had the time to try this recipe immediately to clarify the confusion.
NSG says
Hi Madhu,
I dont have Ener-G.
Which substitute do you think would work best - yogurt or applesauce? Do i need increase the amount of baking soda or add baking powder if i use anyone of these?
love your recipes!! This one looks unbelievably amazing..