Apple cake is a light, soft, spongy cake recipe perfect for both vegans and vegetarians. Made with whole wheat flour, this eggless apple cake is baked to sweet, soft perfection in one pan and under an hour.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 50 minutes
  • Total time: 60 minutes
  • Yield: 12 · 12 apple cake slices
  • Category: Desserts
  • Cuisine: World

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups whole wheat flour (- 180 grams)
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder ((ground cinnamon))
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ¼ teaspoon ginger powder ((ground ginger))
  • ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg (or ground nutmeg)
  • 2 cups chopped apples (- 300 grams or 2 medium -sized)
  • ¾ cup raw sugar (- 150 grams)
  • ½ cup water (or any nut milk - at room temperature)
  • ¼ cup oil (- use oil which has a neutral taste and flavor)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice or white vinegar)

Method

Sifting dry ingredients

  1. First, combine the flour, salt, ground spices, baking soda and baking powder in a sieve.
  2. Sift the dry ingredients twice and set aside.
  3. Brush or grease a round 7.5 to 8-inch pan with a neutral flavored oil. You can also line the pan with parchment. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.

Making apple puree

  1. Take the chopped apples (rinsed, cored and peeled) and raw sugar in a blender jar or container.
  2. Blend to a smooth purée without any chunks.
  3. Use a spatula to pour the apple puree into a mixing bowl.

Making liquid mixture

  1. Add oil, water, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
  2. With a wired whisk, stir this mixture briskly for 2 to 3 minutes so that the oil is incorporated evenly in it.
  3. Add the sifted dry ingredients to this wet ingredients liquid mixture.

Mixing dry ingredients

  1. Gently mix the dry ingredients in the wet ingredients with light pressure from your hands. Don't over work the batter. It should feel light and have volume.
  2. The batter has a medium flowing consistency.
  3. Break large lumps of flour if any by tapping on them with wired whisk. Tiny lumps are fine in the batter.
  4. Pour the batter in the prepared pan.

Baking apple cake

  1. Bake at 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) in a preheated oven for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
  2. Remember that oven temperatures vary, so check if the cake is done or not with a toothpick when the top looks golden.
  3. Check the doneness with a wooden skewer. The skewer should come out clean with no sticky batter on it.
  4. Place the baking pan on a wired tray and cool the apple cake at room temperature.
  5. After cooling, gently use a butter knife to remove the cake from the pan.
  6. Slice and enjoy the apple cake. Serve the cake slices at room temperature with tea or coffee.

Storage and Leftovers

  1. Tightly wrap the cake in a cling film or keep the cake in an airtight container and refrigerate. Your leftover apple cake can be refrigerated for a week and frozen for a month.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.