I recently made my favourite Apple & Cinnamon Cake for Sunday dinner pudding [updated photos 2018, original post 2016], I had my parents coming over and I’d invited my Grandad too, he’s awesome, at 93 years of age he’s still full of beans and always cheerful. I wanted to impress him with my baking, not that I have to, he’s proud as punch already but my Nanny who sadly passed a few years ago now was a great baker so I have some impressive shoes to fill!
I actually made two puddings this day, the first being Plum & Peach Crumble and then the Apple & Cinnamon Cake. I opted to make both for selfish reasons really, I love crumble but the thought of not being able to enjoy mine with cream or custard made me pout. So I though a nice slice of cake would do me as well, and besides you can’t beat the combination of Apple & Cinnamon, talk about a match made in heaven!
This was also going to be my first cake using an egg substitute, it was a risk doing this for the first time when I was expecting guests but that’s the way I rock and roll, living life on the edge!
My recipe was actually inspired by an old book my mum gave me, in fact, it may even have belong to my Nanny. It’s now just a blue print to give me an idea of quantities, the main ingredients have changed beyond recognition. Poor Nanny would have wondered what on earth all these substitutions were in aid of!
As you’ve already guessed by the images, the bake was a success and everyone tried both puddings…apart from my dad, he doesn’t do plums in baking apparently!
Can I make this apple cake vegan?
Yes you absolutely can, as I mentioned above, this recipe was born out of a first attempt to make an eggless cake so that I could enjoy it too. I use flaxseed eggs these days and find the general rule is that you can get away with two eggs worth of flaxseed egg (anymore and the cake won’t bind). So follow my simple instructions below to make your own flaxseed eggs.
How to make a flax egg
to make 1 flax egg you need the following ingredients:
– 1tbsp ground flax seed
– 3tbsp water
– 1tsp psyllium husk (optional but does add elasticity to baking)
Simply add all ingredients to a glass and stir before measuring out the other recipe ingredients, by the time you come to use your ‘egg’ mixture it will have thickened to a frog-spawn consistency (thicker if you added psyllium husk)
Then just add to your baking as you would an egg. For 2 eggs double the ingredients but note that recipes that require more than two eggs may fail due to lack of support in the structure.
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Other cinnamon inspired recipes
If you’re here because you love to bake with cinnamon then I have a treat for you because all the following recipes have the warm cinnamon spice running through them; Easy Gluten Free Apple Turnovers with a hint of cinnamon, Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns – just like you remember, and finally my Individual Pear and Apricot Cobbler – The ultimate mini pudding.
Apple Turnovers (GF, DF, Ve) Cinnamon Buns (GF, DF) Pear and Apricot Cobblers (GF, DF, Ve)
Gluten Free Apple and Cinnamon Cake
Apple & Cinnamon Cake
Ingredients
- 180 g butter or butter alternative (I use Flora plant butter)
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 3 egg(s) flax seed egg alternative
- 200 ml dairy free milk I used almond milk on this occasion
- 250 g gluten free self raising flour I use Fairy Flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 apple(s) peeled and cored
The topping
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp demerara sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C Fan/ Gas 4
- Prepare a 20cm round cake tin
- Cream the sugar and butter until light and add the egg (or flaxseed eggs)
- Add the flour and cinnamon and beat to combine
- Pour the milk into the batter a little at a time until you get a soft dropping batter, you may find you don’t need all 200ml.
- Add 2/3 of the mixture to the cake tin.
- Cover the cake mixture with an even layer of apple slices, make sure they reach the edges.
- Pour over the last 1/3 of the cake mixture, don’t worry if some apple still shows.
- Mix the demerera sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the top of the cake.
- Add to the oven and bake for 1 hour.
Notes
Nutrition
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Recipe alert! We made this today but got to the end of the recipe and had a stiff dough and the milk left over! OK – I should have spotted that myself but 10 year old was “helping”…… We just lobbed it all in at the end – when should it have gone in ? No matter – the result was a big hit and is half devoured already. I think my batter was a but thin so will pay more attention to milk next time :-)
Haha, once again thank you Gill for being my recipe proof reader, I clearly have my mind on other things when I’m typing these up, so glad you liked it and how awesome that your 10yr old is helping out in the kitchen too.
I am so glad I found your blog. my husband is gluten free and there are so many great recipes and ideas on here!!!
Oh bless you Ellen, that’s lovely to hear…not that your husband is gluten free you understand!!! I mean that you like my recipes!!! :-D
Wow, this cake looks so more-ish! I love the big chunks of apple and the sugar sprinkles on top, looks cracking! xo
This looks so tempting Rebecca….. Pass the custard and a very large bowl!! x
I completely agree, apple & cinnamon is definitely a match mad in heaven. They were certainly made for one another. What a great bake too Rebecca, your alternative egg replacer certainly looks to have done the business :-) Thankyou again for joining in with #BakimgCrumbs, it’s great to have you there :-)
Angela x
Thank you Angela…good job I like apples so much right now…we’ve got them coming out of our ears hahah #BakingCrumbs
I simply adore apple and cinnamon together, I’m sure your grandad loved this impressive cake. Commenting as BritMums Baking Round-up Editor. :)
Aw thank you Julie, he did…you should have seen his face when I told him was was…or rather what wan’t in it haha :-D
Yum, yummy, yum! Everyone loves cinnamon here. I wish I’d seen this recipe when we had a glut of apples! #freefromfridays
Bless you Emma…we ALWAYS have way too many apples here!!
Apples and cinnamon are a match made in heaven. I love the idea of using almond milk in there too! xxx Thanks for joining in with #FreeFromFridays.
I always go back to this recipe, it’s a family favourite
I love a good apple & cinnamon cake! Looks fab too – lovely & fluffy! I’m with you – crumble needs custard! Thank goodness for birds custard powder and dairyfree milk! LOL! I’ve never tried the shop bought egg replacers – I think Im too lazy, its like making a flax egg – you have to wait too long for it to be ready so I just bung some ground chia seeds into the flour!
That’s hilarious Midge, I’m all for easy-peasy recipes, even better those that only use one bowl…less washing up! Not tried popping dried chia on a cake, do you add extra water to aid the absorption? Thanks for stopping by x
Apple and cinnamon is such a great flavour combo. I’ve been experimenting with egg free bakes lately – with mixed results! #CookBlogShare
Hi Mandy thanks for dropping by. For this recipe I used Organ Egg Replacer but I’ll hold my hands up and admit I’m not doing so well on cupcakes and muffins with this alternative. Only seems to work in cakes for me…I tried La Con de Mels Chia Seed Egg yesterday on a microwave vegan treacle pudding, it worked a treat so give that a go if the replacer isn’t working for you…let me know how you get on x http://lecoindemel.com/make-chia-flax-eggs/
What a great sounding cake – I love apple and cinnamon in cakes and I can really imagine how well the almond milk would work in there too – really impressed how good your cake looks with no dairy, gluten or eggs!! Thanks for linking it up to #CookBlogShare :-) Eb x
It is pretty good of I do say so myself, however,y 91 yr old Grandad can vouch for it too…it was his first totally free from cake and he was very impressed bless him x
Apple and cinnamon is such a classic flavour combination and one that I love. This cake looks so good, I just wish cake was Slimming World friendly lol x #CookBlogShare
Oh bless you, prob not the best of foods for now then! I’m sure you cold make this more slimming world friendly though, let me know if you do x
Oh boy! Those puddings look fabulous and that cake looks incredible. I can’t believe it has no egg in it!!
I couldn’t quite believe it myself! Sadly, muffins minus egg is proving to be less successful, I’ve made some delicious smelling courgette and spice muffins recently, both batches were inedible goo inside. Not giving up though ;-)