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!
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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!🥕
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Kayla DiMaggio
Yum! This applesauce cake has all the great flavors of Fall! I loved it so much!
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Kayla, you're so right. It's my favorite Fall dessert next to pumpkin bread!🍎🎃 Thanks a bunch!🥕
Andrea White
The perfect sweet treat! I love it! 🙂
Connie Edwards McGaughy
It really is! Thank you!
Sam
This is absolutely delicious!! I love using applesauce in baking and the idea of adding cranberries is irresistible. Love!
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Hi Sam, thanks so much! I'd love to hear if you give it a go!💚
Carol
This looks so moist and wonderfully delicious!
I am going to sub chopped pitted dates for the cranberries. I have always loved a good applesauce cake! It is incredibly comforting.
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Carol, dates would be scrumptious in this cake, great idea! Do let me know how it turns out. Happy baking!🥣
Helga
This cake is yummy! I used 2 cups of applesauce just because I had it and wanted to use it up. Didn’t leave out the butter. The cake was very moist and delish 😋
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Hi Helga! Isn't it a great cake? I bet that extra applesauce made it extra moist. So glad you love the recipe & thanks a bunch for sharing!🍎🌱
Karen
Can you use a gluten free flour?
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Hi Karen! I haven't baked this cake with gluten-free flour, but I would imagine you can. Do you have a favorite GF flour for cakes? I have used Bob's Red Mill and King Arthur 1:1 gluten-free flours in baking.
Lindsay
I made this cake a few nights ago and I'm super happy with it! I substituted flax for the egg replacer, baking powder for the soda, and extra applesauce for the butter and the cake rose beautifully and is still super moist and tasty! Definitely adding this into my cake rotation! Thank you!
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Lindsay - I've been curious about replacing the butter with more applesauce & I'm so glad you tried it & loved the results. Thanks a bunch for sharing your experience! 💚🥕
Connie Edwards McGaughy
There's very good reason why applesauce cake is so popular. It's absolutely delicious and this vegan version is over-the-top scrumptious!
Jayne
Could this be made without the oil or is there a replacement for it?
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Hi Jayne - good question. I haven't prepared this particular recipe without using butter, but if I did, I would replace it with 1/2 cup (more) applesauce.🍎 Love to hear if you give it a try! 🥕
Lindsay
I just made this cake a couple nights ago and substituted applesauce for the butter and it came out really good!
Janet
Hi, I would like to make this cake but what can I substitute for the egg replacer? I don’t like using it. Thanks. Janet
Connie Edwards McGaughy
Hi Janet! I'm happy you want to make this cake 🍏 it's so delish! Here are a couple options for egg replacers that I have used in other cake recipes with great success. I haven't tried them in this one, but I can imagine either will do the trick: Option 1. Ground Flax Meal - Combine one tablespoon flax meal (ground flax seed) with 3 tablespoons water per egg - which would be a total of 2 tbsps flax meal & 6 tbsp water since this recipe requires the equivalent of 2 eggs. Option 2. Soda Water - Use 1/4 cup carbonated water per egg (1/2 cup total for this recipe).
I'd love to hear what you choose to use & how your cake turns out! Happy baking!🥕