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 (update: vegan apple pie is here!), 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.
And if you love everything apple then check out our vegan apple muffins too.
How To Make Vegan Apple Cake
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
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, 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 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 The 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 vegan custard. Alternatively some vegan ice cream would be divine too.
Storing and Freezing
Keep leftover cake covered in the fridge where it will stay good for up to 5 days.
It’s also freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
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
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Apple Cake
Ingredients
For the Apple Cake:
- 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour (312g)
- 1 ½ cups Light Brown Sugar (300g)
- 1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (240ml) 1 Tbsp Lemon Juice + Soy Milk up to the 1 cup line
- ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil (80ml) or Canola Oil
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Applesauce
- 1 ½ cups Granny Smith Apples (188g) Peeled and Chopped
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- 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 or vegan ice cream.
Video
Notes
- Granny Smith Apples. These are the best apples to use in this recipe, but you can also use whatever you have on hand.
- Storing. Keep leftover cake stored in the fridge (covered) where it will stay good for up to 5 days. It can be reheated in the microwave.
- Nutritional information is for cake only and does not include vegan whipped cream.
Seren Jones says
Hi, do you know how could I change the baking time if I were to bake this cake in a 8×4 inch loaf pan instead of a square tin?
Alison Andrews says
I think that might be too small a pan altogether. You could possibly try halving the recipe and see how you go with that. Baking time would usually increase.
Nithya Bala says
The cake came out perfect in 34 mins. I used egg replacer instead of apple sauce. Tasted excellent. Thanks a ton.
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Rae Smith says
My family and I loved this. Added about 1/2 cup of apple slices and the topping sauce at the bottom – lined with baking sheet making it and upside down toffee pudding. Worked out great. Replaced the applesauce with flaxseed powder (egg substitute).
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Rae!
Abigail says
Fantastic recipe! The Crunchy topping is the best part xxx
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Abigail!
Caitlin says
Thank you for the recipe! It came out perfect and is now one of our house holds favourites! I made it with the vegan whipped cream which was also fantastic but the cake didn’t even need it because it was so good. Really easy and straight forward recipe. Everyone should give this one a try!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much Caitlin!
T says
Hello thank you so much for this recipe. It came out lovely and soft, however, I did find it a little too on the sweet side (and I didn’t even do the sugar topping). I would reduce the sugar next time I make it.
Caryn says
This was amazing! I made it this afternoon for tonight’s dessert. It was easy to make, easy to bake and came out so light, fluffy and just delicious. Rave reviews from hubby a very picky eater! He especially loved the topping. I did not have enough apples to make applesauce so I subbed 2 tablespoons of sour cream and reduced the oil just a tiny bit (just a hair below the 1/3 cup line). I did use EVOO. Thank you so much for this go-to recipe!
Alison Andrews says
Thanks so much Caryn!
T says
Hi there, this looks great!
When you say a 9×13 dish – is that in cm or inches?
Also when you say brown sugar do you mean Demerara sugar or soft brown sugar?
Alison Andrews says
Hi there, it’s inches and the brown sugar is regular light brown sugar.
Karine says
I can’t find a better way to comment on this recipe other than by saying THANK YOU ????
Alison Andrews says
You’re so welcome Karine! And thanks so much for the lovely comment and review!
Isabella says
Made this today and it was so delicious! Used a mix of oat, almond and plain flour and replaced the apple sauce with half a mashed banana. It turned out great!
Alison Andrews says
So glad you enjoyed it Isabella! Thanks for posting!
Marta says
Hello, Marta from Poland here. The cake came out really nice. Thank you! 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Marta!
Liz says
Made this! I chopped up all my little gala apples to use until the chopped up chunks weighed 700 grams, but that was definitely twice as much as I needed. Needless to say at this point, she means 700 grams of the WHOLE apples. I didn’t use the topping suggested and it was still very nice. Definitely worth making vegan whipped cream for this one!
Alison Andrews says
Hi Liz! So glad it worked out and you enjoyed it! I’m not sure where the 700g comes from though, because this only requires 188g (1 and 1/2 cups) of peeled and chopped apples. Definitely agree that it’s worth making whipped cream for this! Thanks so much for the awesome rating!
Cheri says
My husband and I are addicted to this ‘cake’!! After a long day at the sanctuary, making sure the elder animals get their foods….we have our treat of the apple cake! Thank you so much for this and other recipes you offer!!
Alison Andrews says
So glad you like it! And that’s very well deserved cake! Thanks so much for sharing Cheri. 🙂
Janine says
Hi, do you know what i would use to replace the sugar with a natural “sweet thing” like fruit or something?
What would happen if I leave out the oil? I am trying to eat wholefoods, but I am craving some cake
Alison Andrews says
Hi Janine, if you read the other comments, others have replaced the sugar with other things like date paste or reduced the sugar successfully. You can try replacing the oil with more applesauce. 🙂
Janine says
Thank you
Ali says
Big hit, as with all of your recipes. Made it just a couple hours ago and it’s mostly gone. Used Granny Smith apples and ran out of flour so used a little mix spelt/whole wheat in place of the missing flour. Boys loved it!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks Ali! 🙂
Lili pusztai says
Hi Alison,
Please help me, how should I replace the flour to be gluten free?
Same amount of brown rice flour would be ok?
Thank you
Alison Andrews says
Hi Lili, a gluten-free all purpose baking flour blend in the same quantity would be the best way to replace the regular flour. 🙂
Lili says
I tried with brown rice flour and it works. Soft and delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
I replaced the sugar with date paste because of my baby, but its sweet enough.
Thanks again 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Lili! 🙂