Apple cake is a light, soft, spongy cake recipe perfect for both vegans and vegetarians. Made with whole wheat flour, this eggless apple cake recipe is baked to sweet, soft perfection in one pan and under an hour.
Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
This tasty, moist apple cake is the perfect quick and easy baking recipe. Made with whole wheat flour, raw sugar, ground spices, and a sweet apple puree, eggless apple cake is a dessert everyone can enjoy and feel good about.
Definitely healthier than your usual cakes, this eggless Cake Recipe is actually very light and a bit low in fat with mild apple flavors. I did not include butter and cooked with very little oil.
You can even make the recipe a bit more nutritious by experimenting with less oil and using multi grain flours or nut flours.
Perfect as a midday snack, this eggless apple cake recipe is originally adapted from my Applesauce Cake, which is another simple recipe where you just need to mix the ingredients with a spatula or spoon.
The only prep part of either of these recipes is making the apple puree, but after that, the baking is a breeze!
How to Make Apple Cake
Add Dry Ingredients
1. First, combine your flour, salt and seasonings in a sieve. Make sure you don’t miss any of these key ingredients:
- Whole wheat flour (1.5 cups or 180 grams)
- Salt, just a pinch
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg or nutmeg powder
- Optional additions: ½ teaspoon ground allspice and/or ¼ teaspoon ginger powder (ground ginger)
2. Next, add both ½ teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon baking powder to the dry ingredient mixture. Additionally, it’s important to make sure that your leavening ingredients are fresh and active.
3. Then sift the dry ingredients twice and set aside.
Prepare to Bake
4. Now grease a round 7.5 or 8-inch pan with a neutral flavored oil. Alternatively, you can also line the pan with parchment. At this point, you should preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
Make Apple Puree
5. Next place 2 cups of chopped apples (rinsed, cored and peeled) and ¾ cup raw sugar in a blender cup or container.
6. Blend the apple and sugar mixture to a smooth and fine puree. There should be no chunks of apples!
You will see that the color of puree will darken, but there is nothing to worry.
Transfer Apple Puree
7. When blended smooth, use a spatula to pour the apple puree into a mixing bowl.
8. Now add ¼ cup oil and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the apple puree. I used sunflower oil, however, you can use any neutral flavored oil if needed.
NOTE: For a vegetarian option, use ¼ cup softened butter instead.
Add Liquids
9. Now pour ½ cup of water (at room temperature) or any nut milk (almond, cashew or lite coconut milk).
10. Add a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice or white vinegar.
Whisk Puree Mixture
11. Then with a wired whisk, stir this mixture briskly for 2 to 3 minutes. You want to make sure that all of the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients
12. Now add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
13. Gently mix or fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. When mixing the batter together, you want to avoid over working the batter.
Use light pressure and be patient because if you over-mix, your cake may not turn out as soft and fluffy. The batter has a medium flowing consistency.
NOTE: Break the large lumps of flour by tapping on them with the wired whisk. Tiny lumps are fine.
Pour Batter into Pan
14. Next, pour the batter in the prepared pan. Tap the pan lightly on your counter table to let the air bubbles pass — there is no need to spread the batter on top with a spatula, as the batter will spread out on its own.
Bake your Apple Cake
15. Finally, it is time to bake at 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for about fifty minutes to one hour. Yes, this cake DOES take a long time to bake — you may even need to add 10-15 minutes onto the cook time depending on your oven.
NOTE: Remember that oven temperatures vary, so check if the cake is done or not with a toothpick when the top looks golden.
16. Allow the apple cake to bake, then check its doneness with a wooden skewer. You will know your cake is done when the skewer comes out clean with no sticky batter on it.
17. When your eggless apple cake is done, place the baking pan on a wired tray and allow to cool at room temperature.
18. After cooling, gently use a butter knife to remove the vegan apple cake from the pan.
19. Finally, it is time to serve and enjoy your apple cake! Serve at room temperature with tea or coffee.
Storage and Leftovers
Tightly wrap the cake in a cling film or keep the cake in an airtight container and refrigerate. Your leftover apple cake can be refrigerated for a week and frozen for a month.
Expert Tips
Ingredient Swaps
- Make it healthy. To make this cake even a little more healthy, you can use wholemeal flour and less oil.
- Sub your sugar. I used raw sugar in this vegan apple cake recipe, but you can also substitute white sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar. Alternatively, you can use jaggery or maple syrup in place of sugar, as well.
- Apple puree. If you have ready to use homemade apple puree, add ¾ cup of it. You could also replace apple puree with ¾ cup of apple sauce. Depending on whether your apple sauce is sweetened or not, you can alter the proportions of sugar as desired.
- Flour. If you are not a fan of whole wheat flour, then sub it with all-purpose flour or pastry flour. Add about ¼ to ⅓ cup of water if using these flours.
Baking Notes
- Keep an eye on the cake. If the top is becoming too brown and the cake is not baked, then cover with a parchment paper and continue to bake.
- Watch the sweetness. Because you aren’t using sour or tangy apples, there’s a lot of natural sweetness in this cake. You can always balance out that sweetness level by reducing your added sugar to ½ cup.
- Check the batter. Before baking, the apple cake batter should have a medium flowing-consistency — not thick, but not liquid. The batter should feel light and have volume.
- Time for baking. Each oven works differently. This vegan apple cake takes more time to bake than your usual cakes. So consider a time period of 45 minutes to 1 hour or more if needed while baking. When you see the top has become golden, check with a wooden skewer. If you see sticky batter on the skewer, then continue to bake further.
FAQs
I use atta or the whole wheat flour made with durum hard wheat. This is the same flour that we use to make rotis or parathas. I use organic whole wheat chakki ground atta which is basically stone ground flour. The recipe works well with any kind of whole meal flour. So you could use the whole wheat flour that is available in the US, Europe or the one you get in your country.
I have added raw sugar in the eggless apple cake, but it can be made with coconut sugar, palm sugar or palm jaggery or maple syrup. The cake would also taste good with brown sugar or powdered sugar.
It’s important to use sweet apples for this recipe, NOT sour or tangy apples. As a general rule of thumb, the redder the apple, the sweeter it is. Personally, I’m a fan of fuji, gala, and honeycrips apples.
A sieve is like a tiny strainer that helps to prevent clumps from getting into your dry ingredient mixture. When you sieve, you also sift, and sifting actually helps bring air into the flour, which makes your batter easier to mix and your vegan apple cake super fluffy.
More Cake Recipes to Try!
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Apple Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour – 180 grams
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder (ground cinnamon)
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ginger powder (ground ginger)
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg
For Apple Puree
- 2 cups chopped apples – 300 grams or 2 medium -sized
- ¾ cup raw sugar – 150 grams
Other Ingredients
- ½ cup water or any nut milk – at room temperature
- ¼ cup oil – use oil which has a neutral taste and flavor
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice or white vinegar
Instructions
Sifting dry ingredients
- First, combine the flour, salt, ground spices, baking soda and baking powder in a sieve.
- Sift the dry ingredients twice and set aside.
- Brush or grease a round 7.5 to 8-inch pan with a neutral flavored oil. You can also line the pan with parchment. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for 20 minutes.
Making apple puree
- Take the chopped apples (rinsed, cored and peeled) and raw sugar in a blender jar or container.
- Blend to a smooth purée without any chunks.
- Use a spatula to pour the apple puree into a mixing bowl.
Making liquid mixture
- Add oil, water, vanilla extract and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
- With a wired whisk, stir this mixture briskly for 2 to 3 minutes so that the oil is incorporated evenly in it.
- Add the sifted dry ingredients to this wet ingredients liquid mixture.
Mixing dry ingredients
- Gently mix the dry ingredients in the wet ingredients with light pressure from your hands. Don't over work the batter. It should feel light and have volume.
- The batter has a medium flowing consistency.
- Break large lumps of flour if any by tapping on them with wired whisk. Tiny lumps are fine in the batter.
- Pour the batter in the prepared pan.
Baking apple cake
- Bake at 190 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) in a preheated oven for about 50 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remember that oven temperatures vary, so check if the cake is done or not with a toothpick when the top looks golden.
- Check the doneness with a wooden skewer. The skewer should come out clean with no sticky batter on it.
- Place the baking pan on a wired tray and cool the apple cake at room temperature.
- After cooling, gently use a butter knife to remove the cake from the pan.
- Slice and enjoy the apple cake. Serve the cake slices at room temperature with tea or coffee.
Storage and Leftovers
- Tightly wrap the cake in a cling film or keep the cake in an airtight container and refrigerate. Your leftover apple cake can be refrigerated for a week and frozen for a month.
Notes
- Baking: If the top crust becomes too brown and the cake is under baked, then cover with a parchment paper and continue to bake.
- Time for baking: Each oven works differently. This cake takes more time to bake than your usual cakes. So consider a time period of 45 minutes to 1 hour or more if needed while baking. When you see the top has become golden, check with a wooden skewer. If you see sticky batter on the skewer, then continue to bake further.
- Healthy variations: To make this cake even a little more healthy, you can experiment with multigrain flours, nut flours and less oil.
- Sugar substitute: I have used raw sugar, but you can substitute white sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar. Alternatively, use jaggery or maple syrup in place of sugar, as well.
- Other flours: If you are not a fan of whole wheat flour, then replace it with all-purpose flour or pastry flour. Add about ¼ to ⅓ cup of water if using these flours.
- Whole wheat flour: I have used atta or the whole wheat flour made with durum hard wheat which we use to make roti or paratha. The recipe works well with any kind of whole wheat flour. So you could use the whole wheat flour that is available in the US, Europe or the one you get in your country.
- Apple puree: If using homemade apple puree, you can add ¾ cup of it or replace with ¾ cup of apple sauce. Depending on whether your apple sauce is sweetened or not, you can alter the proportions of sugar as desired.
- Sweetness: Because you aren’t using sour or tangy apples, there’s a lot of natural sweetness in this cake. You can always balance out that sweetness level by reducing your added sugar to ½ cup.
- Batter consistency: Before baking, the apple cake batter should have a medium flowing-consistency — not thick, but not liquid. The batter should feel light and have volume.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This apple cake recipe from the blog archives (July 2013) has been republished and updated on 2 February 2021 with a better recipe and newer photos.
Hi,
I am trying the recipe today. I had a doubt if I can substitute water with curd? If so how much curd I can use in place of 1 cup water. Thanks in advance.
instead of skipping water entirely, i would suggest you to add half a tablespoon of curd along with 1 cup water. skip the lemon juice completely. mix all the wet ingredients separately in a bowl and then add to the dry ingredients.
I made this cake, grated the apples instead and also added some grated ginger. Honestly this is the best cake I’ve ever made. The texture and consistency is incredible. Thank you for a brilliant recipe!
pleased to know this meg thankyou for your kind and positive words 🙂 and you are welcome.
Hi,
I tried with using only whole wheat flour. The taste was really good but the cake was very dense and not fluffy. I did not beat the batter much and added lemon juice too. Since its only whole wheat , do I need to add anything else to make it lighter or fluffy?
Thanks!
generally when cakes are made only with whole wheat flour, more water or liquids need to be added as compared to the ones made with maida or half-half of maida & atta. whole wheat flour absorbs more water. so here you needed to add some more water. if the batter becomes thick, than the cake can become dense. so you can add 1/2 cup more of water. also use fresh baking soda and baking powder. if either is not fresh, then too the cake can become dense. hope these tips help.
Hii.. Tried ur recipe.. Tastes good but turned out lit chewy and dense.. Had to put 1.5 cups of water to reach the consistency.. Any way I can fix it . I have guests coming in tommorow .. Thanks
the amount of water to be added depends on the quality of flour. i think 1.5 cups water is fine. also the chewiness or denseness could be due to too much of mixing. just mix lightly. avoid mixing too much or beating the batter. the batter should have volume and feel light. also use fresh baking powder and baking soda. hope this helps.
Hi..
Have tried many recipes of yours.. They turn put awesome.. I wanted to ask can I use multigrain flour in this recipe??
sonz thankyou multigrain flour would give a different texture and flavor to the cake. you could try adding wheat flour instead. hope was able to help you.
Thanx 🙂
I tried banana cake….it has come out very well……yummy…..thanks for d recepie
glad to know sathyasomy and welcome.
Madam i don’t have oven at my home. Can i bake any sort of cookies and cake in cooker ?
yes you can bake cookies in a cooker. follow the method as mentioned in this post – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/pav-recipe-in-pressure-cooker/
Tried it with 2 cups all purpose flour instead of wheat flour and came out well
thankyou ruthz 🙂
Hi,
Its not that I loved cooking so referred to your site but actually you site made me to love cooking. You can make an ordinary person, a super chef.
Your recipes are so amazing & wonderful and furthermore picture wise guidance is of great help.
My only query is that whether I can go for the same method by using Pear instead of Apples? Please show me the way.
Thanks galore.
thanks a lot shailendra. yes you can use pears. just peel the pears and chop them in small bite sized pieces or cubes. then you can follow the same recipe method.
Ur recipes are awesome. The banana bread came out too good. I am trying the apple cake today.
Thank you so much.
welcome resham. nice to know this.
What size tin do you use thank you
its 7.5 x 4 x 2 inches.
I was certain that I had posted a comment yesterday, but I don’t think it worked. This cake was loved by everyone who tasted it, including my 5 year old who normally does not like cake, Hurray, because it was for her birthday 🙂 I used the juice of one orange and the 1 cup of water, and left out the lemon juice, which I did not have in the house. The acid from the orange seems to have worked well in replacing the lemon. Delicious and lovely texture. It was moist but not gummy or sticky. Thank you so much.
I also used 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, and one cup kamut flour, and brown sugar. 🙂
i just approved your previous comment. thanks and good to know. orange juice will work due to its acidity.
I am now baking this cake for a second time in 2 days 🙂 Thank you again. Its such a simple recipe I might even be able to make it by heart after one more cake. One question, if I want to use batter for muffins how long should I bake them? I was thinking 20-25 minutes?
thank you. for muffins 20 to 25 minutes will be fine.
1 more query…
Can i use soda water instead of plain water…
you can try. then no need to add baking soda, baking powder.
Hi,
I tried Banana Cake and it turned really very yummy. Now I am planning to make apple cake. Please advise if i can use Honey for sweetner instead of sugar..
thanks smita. avoid using honey in baked goods. honey when heated becomes toxic. so better to use is cane sugar, raw sugar or jaggery.