Vegan Apple Cake
This old-fashioned vegan apple cake features a deliciously-moist cake filled with apples and spices. It’s topped with brown sugar frosting.
Looking for the perfect dessert? This old-fashioned vegan apple cake recipe is a go-to favorite. It’s like my vegan vanilla cake, except this one is infused with the right spices, apple chunks, and brown sugar frosting.
Real bits of apple throughout the cake add texture and flavor. And the caramel brown sugar frosting adds rich color and sweetness to every bite.
How to Make Vegan Apple Cake
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
- Stir together flour, sugar, salt, spices, and baking soda.
- Combine the vegetable oil, water, applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla in a small bowl.
- Stir together the water mixture and the flour mixture.
- Fold in the chopped apples. Learn more about preparing apples for apple cake (and pies).
- Pour the batter into a prepared pan.
- Bake until the cake is done and golden on top.
Apple Cake Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe:
- Flour — You can use all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or even high-quality gluten-free flour for baking (usually, they’re labeled for baking). Learn more about all-purpose flour vs plain flour.
- Sugar — You’ll need both granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Salt — Using salt balances the flavor of the sweetness.
- Spices — I add ground cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice for the best flavor.
- Baking soda — The baking soda will interact with the vinegar to create lift in this cake. Is baking soda bicarb soda? Learn more and how to use it in your plant-based dishes!
- Vegetable oil — You can use canola oil, olive oil, or avocado oil.
- Applesauce — to add to the apple flavor, we’ll add one cup of unsweetened applesauce or use this applesauce replacement.
- Vinegar — Let’s continue with the apple theme and use apple cider vinegar. You can substitute regular white vinegar or even lemon juice.
- Vanilla — We’ll add vanilla extract to enhance the cake’s flavor.
- Apples — You’ll need two large apples. I prefer using a tart granny smith apple for this recipe.
How to Make this Cake Healthier
This is an egg-free apple cake which means “right out of the box” it’s a bit healthier than some. And if you prefer this cake as is, go for it. But in case you want healthy vegan apple cake, here are some ideas:
- Reduce the granulated sugar by 25%
- Use whole wheat flour (either 100% or half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour)
- Add fiber by including a tablespoon or two of ground flax seed, ground chia seeds, or psyllium husk fiber.
- Skip the sugary frosting and go with something light, like aquafaba whipped cream. You can use my vegan meringue recipe as a guide.
Frosting Options
Here are some great options for topping your apple cake:
- Sprinkle powdered sugar — A little bit of powdered sugar sprinkled over the top is a nice touch.
- Dairy-free whipped cream — I love the texture of whipped cream on a cake (such as my vegan pineapple cake), and it pairs nicely with this one!
- Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- Caramel Brown Sugar Frosting — This is what you see pictured in these photos. It’s pretty simple to make. The step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- FLAVORFUL — The spices and apples add so much flavor to every bite!
- CROWD FAVORITE — There’s something about fresh apples baked into a cake and topped with caramel frosting that touches everyone’s favorite food button.
- SATISFYING — The spices, combined with the caramel flavors and apple bits, make this cake so rich, delicious, and absolutely satisfying!
Frequently-Asked Questions
Can this cake be gluten-free?
You can make a vegan gluten-free apple cake by substituting all-purpose flour with high-quality gluten-free flour intended for baking.
What kind of apples are used for apple cake?
To offset the sweetness of the cake, I prefer using firm, tart apples, like Granny Smith Apples.
Storage Tips
Cover the cake and refrigerate. It will keep for up to 5 to 7 days in the fridge. You can freeze the cake or slices in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months.
Vegan Apple Recipes
If you love this vegan apple cake as much as me, you’ll want more apple desserts. Such as my vegan apple pie. Try these yummy vegan apple recipes, too:
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Vegan Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 cup cold water
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups peeled chopped apples (about 2 large apples, cut into 1/2-inch chunks, or smaller)
- Topping Ideas: Powdered sugar, Vegan Butterscotch, or Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/175°C. Spray a 9×13 cake pan with vegetable spray.
- Combine in a large mixing bowl the flour, sugar, salt, spices, and baking soda. Stir to combine.
- In a smaller bowl, combine the vegetable oil, water, applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Pour the water mixture into the flour mixture.
- First, stir with a spatula.
- Then stir with a whisk to remove large clumps of flour.
- Fold in the chopped apples. Learn more about preparing apples for apple cake (and pies).
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for about 30 minutes before serving. Right before serving, sprinkle the top with powdered sugar or top with brown sugar frosting (see recipe below).
- Topping Ideas: Powdered sugar, Vegan Butterscotch, Vegan Caramel, or Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
Brown Sugar Frosting
- 1/4 cup vegan butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup plant-based milk or creamer
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This cake is delicious! I used olive oil, and no frosting or sugar on top. Easy and quite tasty. Thanks for this recipe.
Hi Laurie! I’m so glad you liked this apple cake. I love a good frosting, but I have to agree with you – this cake is so good the frosting is pretty optional!
Thanks for this delicious cake recipe!
So glad you like this cake, Pat!