Vegan Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake 🍏 We’ve updated a beloved family recipe by creating the perfect marriage of apples, spice and everything nice using all vegan ingredients in this scrumptiously moist & delicious cake.
Few aromas are more enticing than the welcoming scent of baked apples, cinnamon and nutmeg wafting from the kitchen. I love vegan apple crisp and apple pie, but there’s nothing quite like enjoying a cup of coffee or tea (sweetened with homemade vegan apple honey) and a slice of this wonderfully sweet, lightly spicy and deliciously moist applesauce cake.
This recipe is one that has been in my family for generations, handed down from my great aunt – to my mother – to me – and now, to my daughter Madison. I have been creating and curating a collection of vegan fall and Thanksgiving inspired recipes and asked Madi if she would work her culinary magic on Aunt Velma’s old fashioned applesauce cake by replacing the dairy and eggs with plant-based ingredients. We couldn’t believe how great it smelled while baking and how gorgeous it looked when she took it out of the oven. Then we tasted it. OMG. It was so fantastic we decided to make another one – this time with fresh cranberries. Holy wow!
This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn from purchases at no additional cost to you.
How to make Apple Sauce Cake
I decided to use a Bundt pan to bake this cake, but you can also use a basic round or square cake pan.
Equipment
- Electric mixer (hand or stand)
- 2 large mixing bowls
- A 9″ bundt/tube pan or square baking pan
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cup
- A silicone spatula
Ingredients
- Flour
- Applesauce – homemade or store-bought
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon – ground
- Nutmeg – ground
- Cloves – ground
- Butter – vegan
- Sugar – granulated
- Vegan egg replacer – we used Bob’s Red Mill or you can use flax seed (1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons water = 1 egg)
- Vanilla
Applesauce is, of course, the key ingredient in the marvelous cake. You can use sweetened or unsweetened, smooth or chunky, depending on your preference. Personally, I love to make homemade applesauce, so that is what we used. If you haven’t created your own before, it’s super simple and so delicious!
🥕See the printable recipe below for complete details.
Gather your ingredients. I love using homemade applesauce & fresh cranberries.
Ready to put the batter-filled pan in the oven!
I decided to finish this cranberry applesauce cake with a light dusting of powdered sugar, which gives it a festive holiday look. While this cake is perfectly delish just as is, if you prefer your cake with a little something extra, why not drizzle the top with a simple lemon glaze icing (see notes in the recipe below) or slather on some of our luscious vegan lemon cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!
Variations
This recipe is so easy to prepare. One of the things I love about it is the variety of ingredients you can add to the basic batter. You can create a lot of different cakes with just one simple recipe.
For this post, we included fresh cranberries. They were a fabulous addition. The tart berries provided a colorful and tasty contrast to the lightly spicy and sweet cake. Imagine what else you can add? Here’s a few ideas:
- Fresh blueberries
- Chopped walnuts or pecans
- Chopped fresh apples
- Golden raisins
- Chopped dates
A (very) brief history of Applesauce Cake
Since this recipe certainly has a history in our family, I was curious to see how it originated. According to Wikipedia it dates all the way back to colonial times in the United States. In fact, this delicious dessert is so popular there is an official day dedicated to it – National Applesauce Cake Day which occurs annually on June 6th. Now that’s something sweet to celebrate!
🥕If you love this recipe, here are a few more sweet ideas!
- Vegan Honey with Apple Juice & Clover
- Easy Vegan Applesauce
- Vegan Orange Cranberry Bread
- Easy Vegan Homemade Pumpkin Bread
- Vegan Oatmeal Muffins
- Vegan Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
very vegan 🍏 very good
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, please rate it using stars in the comment section below the recipe. It helps other readers find it online & decide if they want to give it a try too!. Thanks a bunch!🥕
Vegan Old Fashioned Applesauce Cake
Equipment
- Electric mixer (hand or stand)
- 2 large mixing bowls
- A 9" bundt/tube pan or square baking pan
- A silicone spatula
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour all-purpose
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg ground
- ½ teaspoon cloves ground
- ½ cup vegan butter softened – not melted (I like Miyoko's butter)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 vegan egg replacer* equivalent of 2 eggs – see suggestions in 🥕Notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup applesauce chilled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Set aside.
- In another large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, vegan egg replacer and vanilla. Mix until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Add applesauce to wet ingredients. Mix until combined then gradually add in dry ingredients. Continue mixing on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes.
- Fold in cranberries, nuts or any other add-ins to the batter. 🥕See notes below.
- Prepare baking pan by coating with butter or oil and then dusting with flour.
- Pour batter into pan. Place in oven on middle shelf.
- Bake at 350° for 55 minutes.
- Place cake in pan on a cooling rack for at least 15 – 20 minutes prior to removing from pan. Allow to cool completely before adding icing or powdered sugar. 🥕See notes below.
- Leftover cake is best stored (covered) in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- ⅔ cup whole fresh cranberries or blueberries (lightly dusted in flour)
- ⅔ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- ⅔ cup chopped apples
- ⅔ cup golden raisins
- A light dusting of powdered sugar over the top of the cake. It’s a perfect finish as a holiday dessert. Simply pour a tablespoon or two of powdered sugar into a small strainer or sifter and lightly shake it over the cake until it’s as you like it!
- Drizzle the top of the cake with a lemon glaze icing. Combine ½ cup powdered sugar with ¼ cup lemon juice (add juice 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency). Drizzle with a teaspoon over top of cake. You could also make a similar icing with apple juice and a pinch of cinnamon.
- Frost the cake with vegan lemon cream cheese frosting. See the recipe here.
Nutrition
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, please rate it in the comments below. Sharing your experience helps others decide if they should give it a try too. Thanks a bunch!🥕
 |
I tried this for my husband’s birthday and it turned out great! I used coconut oil for the vegan butter, and Bob’s for the egg replacer. I didn’t do the cranberries this time and I made a lemon glaze by using juice if half a lemon and enough powdered sugar to get the consistency that I wanted. Excellent vegan baking recipe! This I e goes on my go to recipe cards. I am thinking about all the variations that I could do with this like pumpkin, banana, etc…
Hi Joanne!
Your cake sounds delicious! Lemon glaze is a great way to finish it. Love to hear if you try more variations. Thanks so much for sharing & happy birthday to your lucky husband!
I made a gluten-free version of this using your homemade applesauce recipe and loved how moist and fluffy it was! (That’s a big deal with gluten-free cakes that can get really dense.) I used 6 mini Bundt pans (perfect amount for this recipe) and filled the center hole with some of the chunky applesauce and my vegan GF husband was in heaven for several days. Thanks to you both for adapting and sharing this recipe!
Hi Kristine! That’s such good news! I’d love to know what type of gluten-free flour you used. What a great idea using mini Bundt pans, I bet they were super cute! Your hubby is a lucky guy 😊 Thanks a bunch for sharing!💚🥕
This cake sounds delicious! I love that you added cranberries to it. A nice pop of flavour 🙂
Thanks a bunch Cindy! I love the combo of apples and cranberries together. 🍏
What a perfect fall recipe! Thanks so much!
Aw, thank you Crystal, my pleasure. Do let me know if you give it a try.!