This cozy and moist vegan apple cinnamon cake is one of my favorite Christmas cakes of all-time. The flavors are perfect for wintertime and it brings warmth and festivity to our home.
These soft loaf cakes take less than 30 minutes to make and I already know that you're going to love them. You really need to try a slice of these beauties at some point this December!
The thick maple glaze topping gives the apple cake a nice twist. It also compliments those tasty cinnamon flavors.
If you're looking for more apple, cinnamon and maple syrup snacks, be sure to also see my vegan snickerdoodle cake, vegan apple cinnamon muffins, vegan cinnamon sugar banana muffins and vegan maple pecan cake recipes. They're all super delicious.
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Why You Will Love This Cake
- Unique Texture - These apple cakes are the moistest cakes that I have ever made. Even more so than my vegan cranberry orange cake recipe which is well known for that. I've made so many loaf cakes in the past and there aren't any which can beat them for that attribute. If this is the kind of texture that you love, you're going to be in foodie paradise.
- Amazing Flavors - As well as the gorgeous Christmas spices that are folded into the cake batter, there is the sweetness of the apples and the glaze too. When you take a single mouthful, all these flavors combine creating the most moreish sensations. Another festive cake that you'll enjoy is my vegan cranberry ginger cake.
- Delicious Topping - The glaze on these cakes isn't any old glaze. It's a festive maple syrup glaze which compliments this recipe perfectly and takes it to a whole new level. It has a very similar consistency to the glaze that you'll find on my vegan carrot walnut loaf cake.
- Allergy Friendly & Plant Based - This vegan apple cinnamon cake recipe is wholly vegan and dairy free.
Ingredient Notes
Apple cider vinegar - You need to stir the apple cider vinegar into the soy milk. Let it curdle and it will produce a vegan 'buttermilk'. This will react will the leavening agents to give the cakes a super soft texture like you will see in my vegan almond raspberry cake which also used this underrated mixture.
Light brown sugar - Light brown sugar and Demerara sugar are always my go-to sugars when making this recipe. I use them interchangeably. The great thing about brown sugars in that they contain lots of molasses, which ultimately brings moisture and lots of flavor.
Ground spices - The three that I used in this cake are ground cinnamon, ground ginger and ground nutmeg. When combined, they taste amazing together. The spices also give the loaf cakes more of a 'Christmassy' vibe like you'll find in my vegan cinnamon loaf cake.
Canola oil - This type of oil is exactly the same thing as rapeseed oil. Where you live in the world will determine what you call it.
Large cooking apple - I love to use Granny Smith apples when I make apple cakes, apple crumbles and apple strudels. I also used these classics in my vegan apple walnut crumble cake and vegan apple oatmeal cake. They both went down a treat!
See recipe card for full information on individual ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If Granny Smiths aren't your favorites, you can use other kinds of baking apples for this recipe. Some other popular types include, Braeburn, Pink Lady and Jonathan apples which are all fantastic in their own ways. Of course, there are many more than the four that I mentioned but those are the ones that I've personally had the most success with over the years.
- Love apple cakes but not maple syrup? No problem. You can easily make the glaze topping without maple syrup. Instead, you simply need to add either water in it's place 1:1 or a neutral-tasting plant milk such as, soy milk, oat milk or almond milk (also 1:1). Without the maple flavors, the taste of the glaze will be more like the plain one in my vegan blueberry cream cheese muffins. Sometimes simple is more.
How To Make Vegan Apple Cinnamon Cake
For the full method, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1: Remove the core from a baking apple.
2: Remove the skin from the apple and chop into small squares.
3: Grease two baking tins with vegan butter. Set aside.
4: Combine the dry ingredients inside a large bowl including the spices.
5: Combine the dry ingredients inside a large bowl including the spices.
6: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl.
7: Fold the cake batter into a smooth mixture.
8: Mix in the chopped apples.
9: Pour the cake batter into your tins. Bake until golden brown.
10: Let the cakes cool in the tins.
11: Make the maple glaze until the consistency is fairly thick.
Expert Tips
Use Granny Smith apples - These are one of my favorite kinds of baking apples along with Braeburn apples. They have a beautifully sweet flavor and a good, firm texture which means that they don't become too mushy after being baked. These apples also caramelize nicely.
How to serve this apple cake - I love to serve this cake with one of the following three things: dairy-free vanilla ice cream, dairy-free single cream or vegan custard. All three options are great so it's incredibly difficult to choose between them. Of course, these apples cakes also taste great on their own.
Make the cake less moist - If you'd prefer the cake to be just a little bit drier, make sure that you place it into the fridge for at least an hour after it has cooled down at room temperature.
Recipe FAQs
I love to use Granny Smith apples for my baking as they have a great flavor and texture. They also soften so nicely.
Store this cake at room temperature or in the fridge for up to four days, covered with an airtight container.
More Vegan Cake Recipes
If you tried this Vegan Apple Cinnamon Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Soft Vegan Apple Cinnamon Cake with Maple Glaze
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 large cooking apple I used Granny Smith
- 200 ml soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 190 g all-purpose flour sifted
- 150 g light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 0.5 teaspoon ground ginger
- 0.5 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 50 ml canola oil rapeseed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Maple Glaze:
- 160 g powdered sugar sifted
- 6 Tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat your oven to 177 Celsius (350F).
- Secondly, grease two 20cm x 10cm loaf cake tins with vegan butter. Set aside.
Make the apple cinnamon cake:
- Firstly, remove the core and skin from the apple. Chop your baking apple into 1cm squares. Set aside.
- Make your vegan buttermilk. Do this by mixing the apple cider vinegar into the soy milk. Let your vegan buttermilk curdle for 8 minutes. While you are waiting, measure out your other apple cinnamon cake ingredients.
- To a mixing bowl, add the all-purpose flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Combine well.
- Pour in the curdled buttermilk to your dry ingredients along with the canola oil, vanilla extract and maple syrup. Fold the dry into the wet but avoid over mixing. Finally fold in the chopped apples.
- Equally, pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tins. Bake them in the center of the oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
- Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 15 minutes then transfer them over to a cooling rack.
Make the maple glaze:
- Add your powdered sugar to a small bowl then add maple syrup one teaspoon at a time. The consistency of the glaze should be quite thick.
- Spoon your maple glaze over the apple cinnamon cakes.
Video
Notes
- These are one of my favorite kinds of baking apples along with Braeburn apples. They have a beautifully sweet flavor and a good, firm texture which means that they don't become too mushy after being baked. These apples also caramelize nicely.
- I love to serve this cake with one of the following three things: dairy-free vanilla ice cream, dairy-free single cream or vegan custard. All three options are great so it's incredibly difficult to choose between them. Of course, these apples cakes also taste great on their own.
- If you'd prefer the cake to be just a little bit drier, make sure that you place it into the fridge for at least an hour after it has cooled down at room temperature.
Cara says
It looks fabulous! I will definitely try your recipe. However, please note canola oil (rapeseed oil) is NOT a healthy oil. Please research fir yourself. I have also learned that seed oils are all bad for the heart. I now use avocado oil of refined coconut oil (refined is you don’t want a strong coconut taste in your baked goods, otherwise virgin coconut oil is fine.)
Anonymous says
Yum!