Perfectly spiced vegan cinnamon and apple cake with maple icing. With autumn in full swing and an abundance of apples this is the perfect fruity bake.
And is there anything better than the smell of a freshly baked cake on a cold autumn day? I wish my house smelled of apple and cinnamon all year long!
We all know cinnamon and apple are a match made in heaven and it was an easy combo for this cake!
Plus I realised I didn’t have a single apple recipe on the blog! Which might be because I’m not a huge apple lover unless they’re in baked goods like cake!
For this recipe you want to make sure you’re using cooking apples. They hold their shape better when baked and won’t go mushy (the last thing you want in a cake!). I used bramley apples for this recipe, the most popular cooking apple.
How to make a vegan cinnamon apple cake:
Firstly, mix your dry ingredients together – self raising flour, baking powder, sugar and spices. Along with cinnamon we are also using a bit of ground ginger and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl mix together the vanilla essence, oil (I used rapeseed, you want a neutral flavoured oil) and unsweetened almond milk (or other plant milk, just make sure it’s not sweetened).
The oil and almond milk are going to replace any dairy or egg. You don’t need butter or eggs to make a fluffy moist sponge. No one will know this is a vegan cake!
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together being careful not to overmix.
Peel one of the apples, quarter and remove the core. Cut the flesh into 1cm chunks.
Add to the cake mix and gently mix until coated and evenly distributed.
Grease and line a 9×5″ loaf tin and pour the mixture in. Gently tap the tin on the surface to release any air bubbles.
Place the thinly cut apple slices on top in rows or any arrangement you like. Place in the oven for 25-35 minutes and prepare your icing.
The maple icing is super simple – just mix icing sugar, maple syrup and a dash of water together until thick but runny.
Once the cake is cooked leave it to cool before spooning the icing on top. I drizzled it in a zig zag motion on top so you still get to see some of the apple and it drips nicely down the side. So yummy!
The one thing I love about loaf cakes is how easy they are to make and decorate! Just one cake tin and no layering required! Transfer straight from the loaf tin and then drizzle the icing on top and it’s good to go!
So if you’re after a quick and easy cake to make this fall, this cinnamon and apple loaf is the one! Best served with a large cup of coffee or tea with friends and family!
For more vegan cakes you may enjoy these:
Upside-down pear and almond cake
As always if you make this vegan cinnamon apple cake be sure to leave me a comment, rate this recipe and tag me on Instagram. I love seeing all your photos of my recipe recreations!
Don’t forget to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram – I’d love to see you all there!
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Cinnamon Apple Cake with Maple Icing
Lightly spiced cinnamon and apple loaf cake with a simple maple icing. It's the perfect vegan fruity cake for autumn!
Ingredients
- 225g self raising flour
- 1 tsp (5g) baking powder
- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 140g caster sugar
- 100ml rapeseed oil (or other neutral flavoured oil)
- 175ml unsweetned almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 2 large cooking apples
Maple Icing
- 65g / 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 45g / 1/4 cup maple syrup
- Splash of water
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line a 9x5" cake tin.
- Sift the flour into a bowl and add the baking powder, sugar and spices. Mix to combine.
- In a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together - oil, milk and vanilla.
- Peel one of the apples and cut into 1cm sized chunks. With the other apple, quarter and cut into thin slices.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until combined, don't over mix. Add the chopped apple and mix until evenly distributed.
- Pour into the lined loaf tin and then gently tap on the work surface to release any air bubbles.
- Arrange the sliced apple on top, I did two rows but you can arrange however you like.
- Place in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Keep an eye on it as this may vary depending on ovens. Place a skewer in the middle, if it comes out clean it's ready.
- Transfer to a cooling rack and prepare your icing. Mix the icing sugar and maple syrup together until smooth, add a splash of water to thin it.
- Drizzle on top once the cake is cooled and serve!
Notes
I used bramley cooking apples. Will keep for 2-3 days in an air tight container.
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Sarah
Monday 10th of October 2022
Made this today, and although very delicious... when I cut into it, it crumbledđ any tips on how to slice and keep it's shape? I made sure it was cool before slicing. Thanks! X
Tamsin
Wednesday 12th of October 2022
Hi Sarah, thanks for your comment. I am assuming you mean it is crumbly and wet rather than crumbly and dry? I haven't had this problem so can't say for sure what is going wrong. It may be that the batter was over mixed, so make sure to only mix until wet and dry ingredients are just combined. Did you do the skewer test, did it come out clean? It could be that it needed a little longer. Also don't leave it in the tin for too long before turning onto a cooling rack. Lastly, make sure to use scales for all the measurements. Hope that is helpful, hopefully one or some of them are the problem! Tamsin xo
Jose
Monday 15th of November 2021
Absolutely delicious. Made it for a party with vegan guests with apples from my tree and they raved about it. It would equally make a delicious desert with ice cream or custard.
Tamsin
Monday 15th of November 2021
Hi Jose, thank you for your comment. I am so glad it went down so well! Totally agree, ice cream or custard would be amazing with it! :) Tamsin xo
Michelle
Sunday 4th of October 2020
Absolutely LOVE this cake! I've made it twice in 2 days as my family inhaled the first one. So easy to make and SO tasty. Thank you :)
Tamsin
Monday 5th of October 2020
Hi Michelle, thanks for your comment - so glad you and your family enjoyed it so much :) Tamsin xo
Emily
Tuesday 22nd of September 2020
These were AMAZING! I made them into muffins instead of a loaf and they worked out perfect! Same recipe, just divided into a muffin tin and baked for 15mins at 180 C. Great recipe!
Tamsin
Tuesday 22nd of September 2020
Hi Emily, thank you so much! So glad you loved them and great to know they worked as muffins, thanks for sharing :) Tamsin xo
Jenna
Sunday 6th of September 2020
Hi, I have small cooking apples from a tree at home. Do you know roughly how many grams that would be instead of 2 large cooking apples?
Also, would soya milk work instead of almond milk?
Thank you! Canât wait try this
Jenna
Monday 7th of September 2020
@Tamsin,
Thank you so much! It turned out great! Just tucking into a piece now ?
I ended up using 4 of the apples as they were very small. I used the soya milk and also vegetable oil as didnât have any rapeseed. I substituted 40g of the caster sugar for coconut sugar too.
I found it took a fair bit longer to cook all the way through, but that is mainly because my oven isnât great.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe! Canât wait to make again â¤ď¸
Tamsin
Monday 7th of September 2020
Hi Jenna, I would say use 3 smaller apples, not sure exactly what this would be in grams. You can always add a bit more to the mixture if needed. Yes soya milk should work fine :) Would love to know how it turns out! Tamsin xo