This simple healthy apple cake is rich, moist, and delicious. It is perfect served next to a cup of tea for elevenses or as a healthy afterschool snack.
Made with whole grain flour and nuts means that it is high in fiber and protein. While the recipe includes a very small amount of sugar, I usually use ground dates instead for a sugar-free option.
Adding Flavor To Your Healthy Apple cake
A Bit of Sweetness
This cake is not very sweet. In fact, the flavor is more like a whole grain muffin than a cake. Here’s how to add a bit of sweetness to your healthy apple cake without increasing the sugar.
- Caramel Glaze: Finish the cake with a date-sweetened caramel glaze. It’s a really simple recipe that compliments this apple cake.
- Cashew Frosting: Add a bit of protein with this sugar-free, vegan cashew frosting!
- Cream Cheese Frosting: A simple cream cheese frosting is perfect for adding a dash of sweetness.
- Coconut Ice Cream: For an apple pie-inspired cake, serve with a scoop of vegan ice cream!
Soaking and fermenting
Pre-soaking and fermenting gluten-free flour is a great way to improve your baking. It helps to fully hydrate the flour and break down the complex carbs. This results in stickier flour and better flavor and texture!
Here’s how to preferment the flour in this recipe:
- Mix 1 1/2 cups of flour with 1 cup of fermented liquid in a glass bowl or measuring cup. Almond milk yogurt, amazake, buttermilk, or milk kefir will all work.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it out on the counter for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
- Proceed with mixing in the rest of the ingredients and baking as described in the recipe. There’s no need to adjust for the added acidity.
Healthy Apple Cake
A cross between a cake and a muffin, this wholesome treat is full of the flavor of apples, cinnamon, and nuts. Frosted with a caramel date glaze, and it turns into a healthy dessert!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6” cake 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Fermented
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour (or other whole grain flour)
- 1 cup almond milk (milk, or apple sauce)
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (see notes for sugar-free alternatives)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup grated apple (about 1 medium apple)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
- This recipe can be made with soaked and fermented flour. See the section above for details.
- Otherwise, mix the flour, almond milk, oil, vanilla, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add in the spices, baking soda, salt. Mix well, then stir in the apples and nuts.
- Pour the cake into a 6-inch non-stick springform cake pan (or a cake pan lined with parchment paper).
- Bake at 350F for 40-45 min (until a skewer comes out clean).
Notes
- I usually make this cake using ground dates instead of brown sugar. However, I changed it to brown sugar in the recipe because not everyone was able to find ground dates. Feel free to replace the sugar with your favorite sweetener, including stevia or maple syrup.
- If you have a sweet tooth, you may want to increase the sugar to 1/2 cup, which will give the cake a more traditional coffee cake level of sweetness.
- I like light buckwheat flour
on this cake. However, it can be made with any gluten-free whole grain flour. I haven’t tried it with all-purpose or other white flours, but it is a fairly simple recipe, and will probably work with any type of flour.
- I usually don’t bother to peel the apple in this recipe. The skin adds extra fiber!
- To make muffins reduce the baking time to 20 minutes.
- The photographed cake is finished with a sugar-free date glaze. See the section above for details.
on this cake. However, it can be made with any gluten-free whole grain flour. I haven’t tried it with all-purpose or other white flours, but it is a fairly simple recipe, and will probably work with any type of flour.Keywords: vegan, sugar free, refined sugar free, egg free, dairy free,healthy, fall, winter, thanksgiving, apple, coffee cake
I used kefir, but the mixture is very dry. Will that work? Or does it need more liquid?
It will be dry for the fermentation portion, extra liquid should come from the oil and apples. If it still seems dry when you add those things, then add in another 1/4 cup of kefir. If your kefir is very thick it might not add enough moisture. Enjoy!
Sorry… I meant just apples. I have another apple cake with eggs. 🙂
There aren’t any eggs in the recipe. My comment was a typo. I meant oil, not eggs.
Hi – I’m going to make this cake in a couple of days. Can something other than oil be used? Can’t use butter either. Let me know – thanks!
Replacing the oil with applesauce would add more apple flavour, however it will lack the richness that oil gives. Can you use avocado? Adding the applesauce and avocado would add liquid and richness. I haven’t tried it, so let me know what you decide to do and how it turns out!
Hi – I made the cake today and it really is delicious. Here’s what I did for the oil. Instead of 1/2 cup of oil I used 1/4 cup of oil and a half of an avocado. First I smashed the avocado very well (using a fork) so no lumps. Then I added the oil and used the fork to combine it all together. Next time I will try will all avocado to see how it is if I eliminate all oil.
For the ground dates, I put them in my Nutrabullet with water to make it a date paste. Just add a bit more water if its too thick. I eyeballed that part.
I made the date glaze too. Unfortunately, coconut cream has 17g of added sugar per portion and I wanted this to be sugar free. I ended up just using coconut milk, no water, four chopped dates and a handful of leftover chopped apples. Put all that in the Nutrabullet and made the glaze. Delicious!
Thanks for sharing! I’m keen to try avocados too, as I think it will give the cake a really rich flavour.
Hi, will the cake still turn out good if I use all-purpose flour? My family doesn’t really like sweets that are gluten free or made with a whole grain flour.
Thanks for the recipe!
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Yes! Though I admit I haven’t tried it. 🙂 Just don’t presoak the flour as it will get the gluten forming. Mix right away, like you would for any cake or muffin. Cheers!
How do you make your ground dates? I am guessing that if you just put dates in the food processor or blender, it will be sticky and more like a paste…?
I buy ground dates from Organic Matters. If you want to make your own, you’ll need to use the drier dates, not Medjool. 🙂
Hi. I’m making my own cattage cheese and always have lots of leftover whey. I’m going to soak the buckweat flower in whey to make this cake. I’ve never tried it before, can’t wait to see/taste the results!
Yum!
It was delicious 🙂 can için replace Apple with carrot?
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I haven’t tried it, but it should work! If you make a carrot cake version then let me know how it tastes. Thanks!
Hello,
To pre-ferment, can I use probiotic capsules mixed in water? Would that work as well? Maybe 1-2 50B capsule in a cup of warm water? I am planning on using oat flour. Can’t wait to try this!!
Thank you.
Sure! I haven’t tried it… but if the culture in the capsule is active, then it should work. Cheers, Emillie
Hi, why this recipe doesn’t
need any baking powder?…I just made it and is not rising. I followed the recipe without soaking the flour. However, I followed the recipe to the tee. I will post an update and see how it turns out. I had apples and buckwheat flour and did not know what to do with it, so I find your recipe I hope it comes out good
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Hi Bee, Did you include the baking soda? It should react with the natural acidity in the batter to rise the cake. If you aren’t used to baking with buckwheat flour, it is quite heavy compared to other flours. So the cake will be dense and muffin-like from the flour. However, I’ve been making this recipe for years, so I hope you enjoy it!
Update!
Thank you for your response. Yes, you are right! I’m not used to bake with buckwheat flour, I bought it because it’s healthier than AP, and I wanted to try to bake with it. The cake turned out to be very good it was not too dense, the following day was crumbly and good for breakfast. I probably would like it a little bit sweeter but we ate it with apricot preserves and it was really delicious. !!!.. I wonder if I add a teaspoon of baking powder would make a difference?… However, if not I will probably make it again and add a little bit more sugar. We don’t indulge on sweets often only during weekends so this is an indulgence if we eat it with preserves. Thank you very much again!!!
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Thanks for coming back to share your updated review. So glad it worked out for you! If you are able to eat eggs, adding an egg will stop it from being quite so crumbly. 1 egg equals about 3 Tbsp of liquid, so just reduce the liquid by about that much. Cheers!
….no eggs..I’m a Vegan ,️
Thank you
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Great! Adding a bit of extra sugar might also help the structure. Enjoy!
The link in the recipe for “date paste” takes me to “cassava flour” from amazon.
I’ll take a look at the link. I’ve noticed that in the past few months Amazon is not linking directly to the product I’ve selected. It’s particularly annoying for cultures and kitchen tools because I would rather send people to high-quality items. Thanks!
I made as muffins. Very Good.. Thank you!
Glad you liked it!