My another successful baking experience with Taste of Home's recipe! I had bookmarked this apple cake recipe quite a while ago and got the chance to try it recently and it was a super duper hit. The original recipe by itself is egg free and vegan but I made some healthy changes.
I decided to use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour, reduced the quantity of oil and substituted some of it with unsweetened applesauce and the result was a very moist, delicious and guilt free vegan cocoa apple cake.
This recipe is quite similar to the whacky vegan chocolate cake except for the fact that we are using lemon juice instead of vinegar. This is my first experience with lemon juice as an egg substitute and I was not sure what to expect but was super excited after tasting the cake because it was so soft and light.
I was quite unsure about the quantity of lemon juice because I have read that 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda can be used to replaced 1 egg and that vinegar can be substituted with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and this recipe uses only 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. I was going back and forth about using 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon but finally decided to follow the original recipe itself and was completely satisfied with the apple cake.
Recently I baked a peanut butter quick bread with whole wheat flour and it tasted yucky and I had to throw it away just like that. I don't know if its the brand of whole wheat flour or the recipe. So I'm not sure how this recipe would turn out with plain whole wheat flour as against whole wheat pastry flour.
So if you don't have whole wheat pastry flour go with all purpose flour itself as mentioned in the original recipe. Regular whole wheat flour doesn't work well in all recipes. But I have to mention that my bottle gourd chocolate cake came out very well with whole wheat flour. That was a different brand of flour, so I guess its the brand that makes the difference.
Recipe
Vegan Cocoa Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Water
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Applesauce (dry measuring cup)
- 1 tablespoon Oil (I used canola)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Apples Peeled, Cored & Diced into small pieces
- ¾ cup Granulated Sugar (See My Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 Mins. Lightly grease and line the cake tin with parchment paper. Spray the paper with non stick cooking spray as well.
- In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Break the lumps in baking soda if any and mix it well with the flour.
- In another bowl mix together the water, applesauce, oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry mixture and stir until just moistened.
- Fold in the apples and sugar into the batter and pour it in the prepared pan.
- Bake it for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. I checked mine after 30 minutes and it was done perfectly.
My Notes
Nutrition
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VK says
Is there any substitute for apple sauce? Can I make this cake without apple sauce?
Madhuram says
You can try pureed silken tofu or flax eggs instead of applesauce.
Ashwini says
Is whole wheat pastry flour the same as maida or is it atta?
Madhuram says
Whole wheat pastry flour is not maida, Ashwini. It's whole grain flour milled from a soft variety of wheat so that it's not stripped off the nutrients and minerals like maida. You can use the atta like Deep brand, Ashirwad etc instead which is also whole grain flour.
sangeeta says
I did not have the applesauce so increased the amount of oil to a half cup. It turned out great and light as you promised.
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Sangeeta.
Kanti says
Can I use milk or any juice in place of water?
Madhuram says
Yes you can use Kanti.
Morana Smolcic says
Hi Madhuram! Would you mid telling me the mass of 1 cup you use? Thank you!
Madhuram says
Please check this baking measurement chart.
nupur jain says
Hi! Here in India i dont think we get unsweetened applesauce too easily. Could tell me how to make my own applesauce or any substsitute? Thanks in advance 😀
Madhuram says
http://www.egglesscooking.com/homemade-applesauce-recipe/