Light and fluffy vegan apple cake with a cinnamon sugar topping. Packed with fresh apple flavor and absolutely divine served warm with vegan whipped cream.
I am totally in love with this vegan apple cake. And so is Jaye, he hasn’t been able to stop eating it to tell you the truth.
I actually started out with the goal of making a vegan apple pie. But at the last minute switched gears and made an apple cake instead (and then I made a vegan apple crisp!).
And it is honestly so good, no one will miss apple pie when you present apple cake, I promise you.
And even though I have yet to make an apple pie, I reckon this apple cake is heaps easier.
The hardest part of making this apple cake is peeling and chopping up a few apples. So basically, not hard at all.
It’s totally divine served warm and topped with some vegan whipped cream.
It has all those gorgeous fall flavors like cinnamon and nutmeg and it’s topped with a cinnamon sugar combination that creates the most delicious caramelized crust on top of this cake.
How to make vegan apple cake
Add your dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg) to a mixing bowl and combine.
Make up some vegan buttermilk by mixing some lemon juice and soy milk together and letting it curdle.
Add the vegan buttermilk and some oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar to the dry ingredients and mix together. Then you add your chopped apples and mix them in.
Smooth down into a 9×13 dish.
Mix up some cinnamon, sugar and softened vegan butter and sprinkle this on top. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve with vegan cream. Be very very happy!
Tips for making a perfect vegan apple cake
Granny smith apples. They are wonderfully firm and have a great ratio between sweet and tart. They work great for this apple cake.
Vegan Buttermilk creates a wonderfully moist texture to this cake and is so easy to make by simply mixing lemon juice into soy milk and letting it curdle. Almond milk works too, but I prefer soy milk for buttermilk if you don’t have an issue with soy as it is thicker/richer so works extremely well.
Brown sugar goes beautifully with the fall flavors of this cake so is a much better fit than white sugar.
Bake at low heat. This cake bakes for 45 minutes at 325°F (160°C). Most cakes bake at 350°F so I definitely don’t want you to make the mistake of baking this cake at that temperature if you go on automatic pilot when you set the oven (happens to me all the time!).
Weigh your flour. Want to have perfect accuracy with your cakes? Weighing your flour will do that for you.
How to Serve Vegan Apple Cake
Serve warm topped with vegan whipped cream or custard. Custard powder is often vegan so if you’re a custard fan then make it with some non-dairy milk and you have a winner.
You will totally love this vegan apple cake! It is:
- Fall-flavored
- Light and fluffy
- Perfectly sweet
- Topped with cinnamon sugar
- Packed with fresh apple
Keep leftover cake covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to 5 days.
More delicious vegan cakes!
- Vegan Pumpkin Cake
- Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Vegan Coffee Cake
- The Best Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Banana Cake
- Vegan Lemon Cake
Also check out our vegan apple muffins that are adapted from this recipe.
Leave a comment below and tell us what you think of this vegan apple cake and please rate the recipe too. Thanks!
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Vegan Apple Cake
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12
Description
Light and fluffy vegan apple cake with a cinnamon sugar topping. Packed with fresh apple flavor and absolutely divine served warm with vegan whipped cream.
Ingredients
For the Apple Cake:
- 2 and 1/2 cups (312g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) Brown Sugar
- 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 cup (240ml) Vegan Buttermilk (fresh lemon juice mixed with soy milk)
- 1/3 cup (80ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil*
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Applesauce
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) Chopped Apple (Peeled)
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- 1/2 cup (100g) White Sugar
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp Vegan Butter (Softened)
For Serving:
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Spray a 9×13 dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the brown sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix together.
- Prepare your vegan buttermilk by adding 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice to a measuring jug and then adding soy milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Leave it for a minute to allow it to curdle.
- Add the vegan buttermilk, oil, vanilla, apple cider vinegar and applesauce to the mixing bowl and mix in properly. The batter will be thick.
- Add in the chopped apple pieces and fold in.
- Transfer to your prepared baking dish and smooth down.
- Prepare the cinnamon sugar topping by adding the sugar and cinnamon to a bowl and mixing together. Then add in softened vegan butter and mix it in until properly combined and the mixture is crumbly.
- Sprinkle over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Serve warm with vegan whipped cream.
Notes
*You can use a different oil such as canola oil if you prefer.
*Nutritional information is for cake only and does not include vegan whipped cream.
*Recipe adapted from our Vegan Vanilla Sheet Cake with inspiration from Pinch Of Yum.
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice (of 12)
- Calories: 301
- Sugar: 34.6g
- Sodium: 289mg
- Fat: 7.3g
- Saturated Fat: 1.2g
- Carbohydrates: 56.3g
- Fiber: 1.4g
- Protein: 3.4g
Keywords: vegan apple cake
Delicious!!! I made this for Rosh Hashana. I followed your recipe exactly, granny smith apples and home made vegan buttermilk. It was gone after 2 days…mostly by my husband. The topping gave it a nice little crunch. The cake was moist and “spongy”. I am usually weary of vegan baked goods, but this was perfect! Thank you!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks Laurie!
So moist & delicious!! The *perfect* vegan apple cake!!
★★★★★
Thanks Emily!
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I just bought a beautiful new Bundt pan – would you recommend baking as a Bundt cake? And do you think the same time and temp specs will work?
Hi Allison, I haven’t tried this as a bundt cake, but I think it may take a slightly longer baking time.
Hi! Can I use spelt flour in the recipe? if so, should i use whole grain or white spelt? thanks!
I haven’t ever made this with spelt flour so I can’t advise. From what I can find out though it can usually replace up to half of all purpose flour in a recipe.
Thank you so much for the recipe!! It is really delicious ..turned out so nice!!
★★★★★
So glad to hear that Soraya!
Well this was absolutely delish! I was a little worried when the batter was so thick as I was spreading it out in the pan but there was no need as it turned out perfect, light and fluffy cake with heaps of flavour! Thank you I will be searching your site for other recipes to make.
★★★★★
Awesome Cass! Thanks for the great review!
I’m hoping to make this as a layer cake (without the sugar topping). If I use cake tins, should I keep the temp at 325 or increase it to 350. Thanks so much.
Hi Kate, I would probably increase it to 350°F and check for doneness at 30 minutes.
Very nice. Rose nicely and not at all stodgy. Apples part cook and so are soft and unctuous
Yum, so nice straight out of the oven. Could imagine adding pecans to the topping and maybe blueberries. Will make it again for my non vegan friends. They will have no idea it’s vegan
Glad you enjoyed it Anne!
The PERFECT recipe. All I would say is the sugar coating could have done with half the quantity and still been gorgeous, but I’d absolutely add it as it adds a gorgeous texture and caramelisation. Can’t wait to make this again!
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Alex!
Delicious results!! I made it exactly as written. Will make it again but will use a firmer apple. Red Delicious bake up too soft. Next time Granny Smiths! Also will cut back the topping just a bit and add chopped walnuts. Can’t wait to try it with fresh blueberries. Thanks!!!
Awesome Dana! I think walnuts would be a good addition! 🙂
Thank you! This recipe made up perfectly and was soooo easy! Everyday ingredients, so no special shopping required. And my Omni husband couldn’t get enough – two large helpings each night!
You’re just so talented! Every time I have an ingredient I want to use, I check to see if you’ve made something with it. This cake is absolutely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and it came out perfect.
★★★★★
Thanks so much Colleen! So happy to hear that! 🙂
Can I use flax egg instead of applesauce? If yes, how much of it can I?
Hi Sagari, in this instance it’s not being used as an egg replacer, it’s used for moisture without extra oil. So you could replace it with something like 2 Tbsp of melted vegan butter.
Thank you
Can you make it gluten free
Yes, I would use a gluten-free all purpose blend to replace the regular flour and I think that will work great.
Hi, I have just baked this cake which looks and smells great but haven’t tried it yet.can you just confirm that the amount of sugar is 300 grams.thanks carol
Yes that’s correct. Hope it comes out great!
hiya, I was wondering if I could replace the ACV with lemon juice?
I think so!