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.
Fantastic recipe! I added one chia egg and more cinnamon. Used splenda brown sugar blend and subbed in half the flour for coconut flour. Made a date caramel to go on top and it was a hit. Served it with coconut milk ice cream! Best recipe ever thank you so much.
Yay! Thanks so much for sharing and for your great review Jennifer!
This was absolutely amazing!! Made it for christmas yesterday and everyone loved it (including the non vegans)
Definitely will be making this again! Thanks for the recipe
Awesome! Thanks for sharing and for your lovely review Lotte!
Made this cake and it is out of this world! Very basic ingredients right from my pantry, just had to pick up some honey crisp apples. It truly was simple to make and a big hit with the family. I will definitely be making this cake again.
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Stacey!
Made this yesterday and love it! I used apples I picked from an orchard nearby. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, that sounds lovely! Thanks so much for your review Chrissi!
i don’t know where I messed up but it just would not cook!! any idea what could have gone wrong?
Hi Claire, I’m not sure either… There can be many different variables like did you follow the recipe exactly or make changes, your oven temperature, the correct size dish or amount of the time you baked it.
Hi Nadine, i added a bit of baking powder and forgot the oil, but in essence it should not be too much a problem. I think my “buttermilk” did not curd (I used oat/mandel milk) – what is the buttermilk used for?
Oven temperature was fine, i used a loaf tin – maybe that’s it? but i left it to bake for 1h30 and still it would not bake through. Oh well, nevermind. I am going to try salvage it as a “broken” cake a pan cook it :p
Hi Claire! Thanks for your reply. Vegan Buttermilk creates a wonderfully moist texture to this cake. The loaf tin may have caused the issue. As this cake it baked at a low temp, it would take a significant amount of time to cook in a smaller vessel. I hope you can try again! 🙂
this is the first recipe I’ve made of yours and it exceeded my expectations. I’m not vegan but I like to try vegan recipes from time to time and I’ll definitely be making this again. I used two cups of red delicious apples and added 1 cup of chopped pecans 😋
Sounds yummy Kelsi! Thanks so much for your great review!
Do you think one can substitute the flour with gluten-free flour?
A gluten free all purpose blend would work just fine! :
Hi there. Just checking it’s a 9 by 13 inch dish you used? Seems very large. Don’t have a dish that large. Can i use a metal cake tin instead?
Hi Georgina, We haven’t tested this recipe in metal cake tins, but it should work. I believe the baking time would change though because the tins are smaller.
This looks amazingly moist and delicious!! Can’t wait to make it…
Can I use any non-dairy milk substitute? I usually gave almond milk at home—is that okay to use to make the vegan buttermilk! Thank you!
Yes, almond milk would work perfectly fine. 🙂
My grandson is a vegan eater the cake was great we love it and he did to .The apple cake was nice and moist
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe!
Although i use half less the sugar amount, or even a touch less.. its a never fail, seriously its always turns out great!!! I dont know why, but it surprised me being so much more delicious than expected.
*caution: addictive
Thanks Monica!
I made this cake and it was delicious! Unfortunately I didn’t have enough sugar for the cinnamon sugar topping, so used maple syrup instead, which did not produce a crumbly texture, as you can imagine!
However, the result was delicious anyway, and I’ve marked the recipe as one to make again (and again!).
Thanks for sharing Andrew and thanks for your great review!
Hi! Is it okay to substitute the vegetable oil for either vegan butter or coconut oil?
Coconut oil would better than vegan butter. Oil is better than vegan butter when it comes to moisture in cakes.
I have to say, your blueberry cupcakes were absolutely delicious!! This apple cake just came out of the oven and the only thing I did was add two pears, oh my goodness it’s fabulous! Thank you so very much Alison for another delicious recipe!! Will make them both again and again!! <3 I am looking at more of your recipes now just so I can make more!! lol. My daughter and son in law will love this apple cake as much as they did your blueberry cupcakes so I have to eat some now before they get home, lol.
Thanks so much Judi!
Hi! This recipe looks sooo great. Can’t wait to try!!!
I would like to know if it is possible to leave out the vinegar or use lemon juice instead of vinegar? is it okay to do this?
Thank you!!
You could try lemon juice instead.