Easy Vegan Applesauce Cake - Loaded with sweet apple flavour and fragrant spices, and drizzled with the most delicious brown sugar icing!
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The cozy, fall vibes are well and truly vibing with this Vegan Applesauce Cake! It's packed with warming and fragrant spiced apple flavour (just take a minute to drink in those virtual smells!) and the simple brown sugar icing is truly irresistible - Quite literally the icing on the cake!
After making a HUGE batch of homemade applesauce from the apples on my trees, testing this recipe was the perfect solution to use it all up. It took a while to perfect because of all of that moisture in the applesauce, but I'm glad to say we got there in the end.
It's packed with fall flavour, quick to make, pretty foolproof, highly snackable, and so moist it stays fresh for days and days. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!
Mel x
P.S. If you're looking for a cake recipe that uses fresh apples check out my vegan apple cake!
Ingredients
Here is what you need at a glance, along with some important ingredient notes & substitution ideas:
- Applesauce - This should be unsweetened applesauce and can be homemade applesauce or store-bought.
- Flour - All-purpose flour. If you are in the UK, use plain flour. A good gluten-free all-purpose flour containing xanthan gum should work well, too.
- Dark brown sugar - This brings lovely caramel undertones to the cake. It is also acidic, so it reacts with the baking soda to create more lift and lightness. I don't recommend using an alternative here because other sugars are not as acidic, and your cake will not rise as much or have the intended texture. It also won't taste as good because you'll lose the caramel flavour.
- Dairy-free milk - Any unsweetened and unflavored dairy-free milk, such as oat milk, almond milk or soy milk, is fine.
- Oil - Any neutral liquid oil, such as vegetable oil, sunflower oil, canola oil, or light olive oil.
- Leaveners - Baking powder and baking soda. The combination of both is important in this recipe.
- Spices - A hefty amount of ginger and cinnamon, a little nutmeg to complement the apple and brown sugar flavours, and a touch of salt to accentuate all the flavours and create a more stable, tender crumb.
And for the brown sugar icing:
- Powdered sugar - Also known as confectioners' sugar or icing sugar. No other type of sugar will work here.
- Dark brown sugar - To give the icing its lovely colour and caramel-like flavour.
- Vegan butter - To add richness.
- Cinnamon - To complement the brown sugar.
- Dairy-free milk - Use the milk you used to make the cake batter.
Let's Make Vegan Applesauce Cake!
Can't wait to make it? The full printable recipe is below, but first, let me walk you through the steps to set you up for success in your kitchen. I recommend watching my recipe video if you're more of a visual learner:
1 - Mix the applesauce, oil, sugar, and spices together.
2 - Add the flour and leaveners and fold together to combine. Don't overmix!
3 - Spoon into a loaf pan.
4 - Bake until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
5 - Once cool, make the icing. Melt the vegan butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and milk together.
6 - Add the powdered sugar and stir to combine.
7 - Drizzle the icing very generously all over your beautiful cake! I like to set my wire rack over a rectangular tray to catch the drips and make cleanup easy.
Recipe
Vegan Applesauce Cake
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 ¾ cup (420 mls or grams) applesauce , unsweetened
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) oil , such as canola, vegetable, sunflower, or light olive
- 1 packed cup (175 grams) dark brown sugar (don't use any other type as the acidity is important)
- ¼ cup (60 ml) dairy-free milk , unsweetened & unflavoured
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2½ cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour (plain in the UK)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda (bicarb in the UK)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar for sprinkling over the top (not necessary if icing)
For the icing
- 1 tablespoon (14 grams) vegan butter , (omit for a less rich glaze and use an extra 2 teaspoons milk instead)
- ¼ cup (40 grams) dark brown sugar , gently packed
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) dairy-free milk , unsweetened & unflavoured
- ½ cup (62 grams) powdered/icing sugar
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175 °C) and line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- To a large mixing bowl add the applesauce, oil, dark brown sugar, dairy-free milk, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Fold together until just combined. Don't overmix. Make sure to scrape right into the bottom of the bowl as the flour likes to hide out down there.
- Spoon into the lined pan. I like to sprinkle granulated sugar over the top for extra texture, but if you're icing the cake, this isn't essential. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the cake is well-risen, golden, starting to come away from the sides of the pan, and a skewer or toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Dark/black pans cook quicker, so if using one, start checking a little earlier.
- Remove from the oven. Leave in the pan for 5 minutes, then lift out and onto a wire rack. Carefully remove the parchment paper and allow to cool completely before making the icing.
For the icing (this cannot be made in advance)
- Melt the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and milk together in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk or stir until the sugar has dissolved, then turn off the heat.
- Add the powdered sugar to the pan and whisk or stir until completely smooth.
- Drizzle the icing generously over the cake, letting it run down the sides. It will take about 10 minutes for the icing to set.
NOTES
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Natalie says
My whole family loved this cake. It's perfectly moist and flavorful and not too sweet at all.
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you so much for your review, Natalie. I'm really pleased you all enjoyed it!