Easy Applesauce Cake (Vegan)
This Easy Applesauce Cake comes together with zero effort. It's gently spiced, moist, delicious and vegan too. Being a traybake makes it a great snacking cake, lunchbox treat but also a dessert. This one is a keeper.
Servings 12 servings
Calories 388kcal
Ingredients
Cake
- 150 g wholegrain spelt flour or plain wholemeal flour
- 150 g plain (all-purpose) flour or light spelt flour
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- good pinch of fine salt
- 100 g caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 85 g brown sugar
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- 400 g unsweetened applesauce (apple purée) Homemade purée that has been lightly sweetened can be used here as well.
- 100 g Plain Greek Yogurt or Plain Plant Greek Style Yogurt
- 100 ml milk of choice (unsweetend) If using plant milk, I recommend soya
- 100 ml neutral oil/ light olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing
- 240 g icing sugar (powdered sugar)
- 100 g butter or block plant butter If using vegan butter go for block rather than tub.
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon or more; to taste
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon splash of milk or cream of choice either dairy or soya/oat (unsweetened)
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 160°C(fan)/320°F/Gas Mark 3 and prepare baking pan by lining it with some baking paper.
- In a large bowl mix together both flours, baking powder, baking soda, all the spices, salt and both sugars. You want nice and uniform dry mixture.150 g wholegrain spelt flour, 150 g plain (all-purpose) flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, good pinch of fine salt, 100 g caster sugar, 85 g brown sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground allspice
- In a separate jug or bowl mix together applesauce (puree), yogurt, milk, oil and vanilla until nice and smooth.100 g Plain Greek Yogurt or Plain Plant Greek Style Yogurt, 100 ml milk of choice (unsweetend), 100 ml neutral oil/ light olive oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 400 g unsweetened applesauce (apple purée)
- Next, pour your wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix together until well incorporated and without any visible dry bits of flour.
- Pour cake batter into prepared, lined cake tin and bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.
- Once ready, take the cake out of the oven and leave it in a tin for a few minutes before taking it out onto cooling rack to cool completely.
I like to use a small whisk to mix everything together but you could also sieve most of the ingredients in (don't forget to add all the bran that won't sieve through from your spelt flour) and then mix them in with the sugars.
To keep your cake light and fluffy, try not to overmix the batter.
My temperamental oven takes 35-40 minutes but your oven might differ.
Icing
- As your cake is cooling prepare the icing.
- Melt your butter either in the microwave or in a pan on the stove.100 g butter or block plant butter
- Sieve the icing sugar and cinnamon into a bowl. You want it to be nice and lump free.240 g icing sugar (powdered sugar), ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pour in vanilla and melted butter and give it all a good mix either with a wooden spoon or a small whisk. Pour in a tablespoon of milk or cream of choice and stir some more. You want a smooth and uniform mixture. Put it in the fridge until your cake is cooled down and ready to decorate.100 g butter or block plant butter, ½ tsp vanilla, 1 tbsp splash of milk or cream of choice
- Once your cake has cooled down, spread over the icing, serve and enjoy!
At this point the icing will be quite runny but it will set in the fridge. The longer it stays in the fridge the stiffer it will get so make sure to check on it every 10-15 minutes or so as your cake is cooling and give it a little stir to make it more into spreadable consistency.
If you forget about it and it gets really hard to spread, take it out of the fridge and it will soften as it warms up making it spreadable again.
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving (based on 12 servings) and should be treated as a rough guideline only. I have used soya products instead of dairy in my calculations.
- For more information regarding ingredients and possible substitutions please see 🛒 Ingredients.
- The cake will keep in the airtight container on the counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 4. Freezer friendly. For more details see 🥡 Storing.
Use digital kitchen scale for weighing out the ingredients. It's more accurate than cups and so there is less room for error and you are more likely to get consistent results.
Oven temperature is not always spot on and so I use this super simple oven thermometer to get more accurate reading.
Make sure your ingredients and especially apple sauce (puree) are at room temperature as this will affect the fluffiness of the cake and also ensures more even baking.
For best results use plain, unsweetened apple puree.
Have the oven preheated and ready for the cake to go in once mixed. You want to take advantage of the chemical reaction happening to get a nice rise.
As ever, be gentle when mixing the batter. Don't overmix.
I'm pretty conservative with the amount of icing and so you might want to double the portion if you're after thicker layer to top your cake with.
Invest in a good rectangular springform cake tin. I find 28x18cm (11x7in) perfect for my traybake bakes. The one I'm using is quite an ancient one now by German company Zenker and it's a true workhorse (not sponsored just my opinion). Link to the closest one I'm using in the Equipment above
Nutrition
Calories: 388kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 156mg | Potassium: 170mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 81mg | Iron: 2mg