Happy Sunday, beautiful kittens! How are you? Autumn is definitely here and it couldn’t be sweeter! Again another super busy week as we’re getting the last things ready for a big event next Saturday at the library. But I wanted a homemade, sweet something that I could eat for breakfast or as an after-dinner treat. Since I’ve been so lucky as to be gifted literally bags full of organic apples from a customer of my partner, and the weather has really been so autumn-y, I couldn’t resist to the temptation of an apple cake. This is the go-to cake for my mom, everybody loves the apple cake that she makes almost every Sunday, but I’ve never been too much of a fan even before going vegan (after that, I couldn’t have it because she uses eggs). And now, I had this craving, for a comforting homemade apple cake: maybe I am turning into my mom or maybe it’s the Autumn – who knows. What I do know, is that I am here to share the recipe that I followed (not all of it, I didn’t have the yogurt, but it came out just lovely) to make a very easy yet delicious Vegan Apple Cake by AVirtualVegan.

Ingredients  

• 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour, (plain flour in the UK)
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda, (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, not table salt
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons (144 grams or 150 mls) vegan yogurt, vanilla or plain, preferably unsweetened
• ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (180 grams)sugar, cane, white granulated or light brown
• 1 cup (240 ml) unsweetened plant milk
• 5 tablespoons (75 ml) liquid oil , any neutral tasting oil like sunflower, vegetable, canola or melted refined coconut oil. For oil-free see the recipe notes.
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vanilla extract
• 5 medium apples, about 700g (1.5 lb) of apples weighed before peeling/coring

For the topping

• ¼ cup (50 grams) coarse sugar, like turbinado or demerara
• ¼ cup (25 grams) flaked almonds, OPTIONAL (omit for nut-free)

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 360 °F (182 °C) and make sure you have a shelf placed in the middle of the oven.
2. Grease a 9-inch springform cake pan that’s at least 3 inches deep or a 9 x 13 dish/pan. If using a cake pan cut a circle of parchment paper and put it in the bottom.
3. To a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Whisk them up to combine.
4. In another bowl, add the yogurt, sugar, milk, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Whisk them all up until well combined.
5. Peel, core and chop the apples into chunks of about ¼ inch.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir them together. Don’t over mix or beat it vigorously. Just stir gently until you can no longer see any dry flour.
7. Pour in the apple chunks and fold them gently and evenly through. Again don’t over mix.
8. Spoon into the prepared pan and level the top with a spatula. Sprinkle over the flaked almonds and the coarse sugar and place immediately in the oven on the middle shelf.
9. If in a cake pan bake for around 1 hour and 15 minutes. It might need up to 1 hour 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick or skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean then the cake is ready. If you see any signs of wet batter return to the oven for another five minutes. If baked in a 9 x 13 pan/dish check it at about 55 to 60 minutes. It might take a little longer though. The time will vary depending on whether you’ve used a metal pan or ceramic. Insert a toothpick or skewer into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean then the cake is ready. If you see any signs of wet batter return to the oven for another five minutes.
10. Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave for at least 15 to 20 minutes in the pan to settle. Before attempting to remove from the pan carefully run a knife or long spatula around the edges to free up any sugar or caramelized apple pieces that might have stuck to the side. Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack. If you baked it in a 9 x 13 pan/dish, allow it to cool in the pan/dish and serve straight from the pan/dish.

I hope you’ll enjoy this for your breakfast, snack, after-dinner treat or any way you want!

Love,

TVCL xx