MOIST ‘Brown Butter’ Vegan Apple Fritter Cake
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This apple fritter cake is truly apple fritter meets soft and moist crumb cake! The cake is so tender and rich with vegan brown butter and ripples of gooey cinnamon apples and cinnamon swirl throughout! No eggs nor dairy needed, and made all with just a bowl and a whisk!
Apple fritter meets crumb cake:
If I had to describe my ideal fall dessert, it would be this MOIST apple fritter cake. It’s literally the best of apple fritters and moist, soft crumb cake combined into one delicious, soft, rich and warming cake.
Of course, I do love my other apple desserts (looking at these wonderfully fluffy apple cider donuts and moist apple crumb cake!).
But I was simply wowed with every bite of this apple fritter cake. It really does taste like an apple fritter in cake form, and topped with a maple vanilla glaze?!
Oh, it’s better than any bakery.
I honestly can’t speak enough good words about this cake. Here’s what you need to know:
- It’s ridiculously easy: NO frying required- you don’t even need to cook the apples (nor peel them!). And the rest of the recipe uses just a bowl and a whisk!
- The cake is beautifully soft and rich: The vegan brown butter adds an intense nuttiness that pairs so well with the vanilla cake and warming cinnamon. And the texture just melts in the mouth with tender cake and gooey apples throughout every bite.
- No eggs, no dairy: YEP! You read that right! We can set those aside, because this cake is 100% vegan, and you’d never know it. And don’t worry- the ingredients are super simple!
- You don’t need to cook the apples: And yet the apples are perfectly cooked and gooey once you slice in. That’s because we’re letting the apples sit in the brown sugar mixture while we make our cake batter, allowing the juices to be pulled from the apples and ready to soften.
- You can bake this apple fritter cake in a pan or skillet! It’s super versatile- either bake in a square pan and slice, or you can serve skillet style. Just don’t forget your scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream!
Browning vegan butter:
Not all vegan butters brown, and I do really recommend using brown butter for this apple fritter cake. The flavor profile is intensely rich and nutty- very autumn-like and warming, which is what we need right now!
So the vegan butters on the market best for browning that I’ve found are Miyoko’s and Violife (nut-free). Earth Balance does NOT brown, so I recommend not using this one at all.
What apples are best for this recipe?
I find that the sweeter the better. I know that many like to use Granny Smith apples for cooking and baking because they are firm and maintain tartness.
But I actually really like to use the sweeter varieties for their softness and gooey texture in baking- especially with this vegan apple fritter cake! The varieties I find are best for this recipe are:
- Gala apples
- Cosmic apples
- Empire apples
- Ambrosia apples
- Honeycrisp apples
- Fuji apples
The best part about this recipe? No need to peel the apples- we’ll leave the skin on, and they still get super soft and gooey in the cake!
Assembling an apple fritter cake: easier than making apple fritters!
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
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MOIST ‘Brown Butter’ Vegan Apple Fritter Cake
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 47
- Total Time: 1 hour 2 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: Cakes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This apple fritter cake is truly apple fritter meets soft and moist crumb cake! The cake is so tender and rich with vegan brown butter and ripples of gooey cinnamon apples and cinnamon swirl throughout! No eggs nor dairy needed, and made all with just a bowl and a whisk!
Ingredients
Brown sugar apples:
- 2 cups chopped apples (about 3 large apples)
- 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon or pumpkin spice blend
Cinnamon sugar crumble:
- 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar*
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour or gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp salted vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Brown butter vanilla bean cake:
- 3/4 cup (150 g) salted vegan butter
- 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (170 g) dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour or gluten-free 1:1 baking flour
- 2/3 cup (180 g) vegan buttermilk, room temperature
Maple glaze:
- 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp vegan heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F, and line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can bake this cake in a large skillet (at least 9″ wide). Prepare the vegan buttermilk and set aside.
- Prep the apples: Make sure the apples are diced to be 1/2″ cubes. In a bowl, toss the apple, light brown sugar, and ground cinnamon until evenly coated. Set aside.
- Mix the cinnamon crumble: In a separate bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar, ground cinnamon, flour, and sea salt. Add in the vegan butter and vanilla extract, and mix until you achieve a slightly wet crumble. Set aside.
- Brown the vegan butter: In a small saucepan, heat the vegan butter on medium heat, melting it down completely. Keep stirring, and reduce the heat to medium low so as not to accidentally burn the butter. Keep stirring until light brown flecks appear in the butter and it has a nutty aroma. Then remove from heat. You’ll yield about 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter.
- Make the batter: In a large bowl, add in the browned vegan butter, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, and dairy free yogurt. Whisk together until combined, then add in the vanilla extract, sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk again. Then pour in the flour, followed by the vegan buttermilk. Whisk just until the flour is combined with the wet ingredients.
- Assemble the apple fritter cake: Spoon about half of the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle half of the apple mixture onto the cake batter, spreading the chunks evenly throughout the batter, followed by half of the cinnamon crumble on top of the apples. Spoon the remaining cake batter over the apples, spreading the batter to the edges of the pan and covering the apples below the batter. Finish by spooning the remaining apples and cinnamon crumble evenly over the top of the batter.
- Bake: Place the apple fritter cake into the oven to bake for 42-47 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven to let cool in its pan for about 10 minutes then you can transfer to a cooling rack.
- Make the maple glaze: Whisk together all ingredients for the maple glaze until you get a thick but drippy glaze.
- Serve and enjoy! You can serve this apple fritter warm or cool. Drizzle the glaze evenly over top, slice and serve with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!
Notes
Gluten free: I like to use King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour. Make sure your blend contains xanthan gum!
See blog post for all tips and tricks!
Any substitute suggestions for the buttermilk and heavy cream? Our grocery store doesn’t carry vegan options.
Hi Christine! So the buttermilk is something you actually make yourself! It’s just dairy free milk (like soy milk or almond milk- oat milk also works, I have a recipe for homemade oat milk!) and vinegar or lemon juice 🙂 Super easy!!
Can I use an 8×8 dish instead of 9×9? Would you adjust baking time or temp? Planning on making this tomorrow! 🙂
Sorry, couldn’t delete my original comment lol
No worries, I got it for you!! And no problem, you can use an 8×8! The baking time will be about 7 minutes longer, so just make sure to keep an eye on it around the 50 minute mark to determine how much longer your cake needs in the oven 🙂 Enjoy!!
This is so awesome 🙂 Seriously THANK YOU!! Oh it’s GORGEOUS!! And the 8×8 pan might have also been why it took so long! I use a 9×9 🙂 Enjoy!! Thank you so much for the kind words!!
Yep, Britt, it says right there in your instructions to use a 9×9” pan! Sorry. My bad. Still fabulous in an 8×8” pan but it’ll take longer to bake ☺️
Oh don’t even worry!!It’s easy to miss!! And honestly, I’ve done that before, where I grab my 8×8 instead of my 9×9! But so so happy you loved it so much 🙂 ENJOY!!
Made this yesterday and almost didn’t want to share! Smelled amazing while baking. Everyone raved about it. Definitely a keeper!
This is amazing!! WOW! Thank you so much for the kind review!! Enjoy!!
The glase came out super thick and sticky. What am i missing? Are the ratios right? 2 cups of powdered sugar and 2 tbsp heavy cream/ syrup?
Hmm which vegan heavy cream did you use? You can always add more to the desired consistency!! Some vegan heavy creams are thicker than others, so that would contribute to a thicker glaze!
Delicious!!! Omg this cake was so flavorful and yummy, I will definitely be making it again. It’s perfect for fall and so cozy. I will say, it took our cake (in a 9×9 le creuset pan) 1.5+ hours to bake, instead of ~45. Any ideas why that might have been the case??? It wasn’t a deal breaker but if you have tips let me know 🥰
Oh I’m so happy you loved it!! But regarding the pan, was this pan glass?? Glass can be a really bad conductor of heat!! Will cook the outside really fast and the inside slower!! That may have contributed to it! I recommend a metal pan if possible!
I just finished making this in a metal pan and had the same experience. I cooked it an additional 30 minutes and then finally took it out because I didn’t want the outside to get too tough. The middle is raw. For the last half hour there was literally a pool of liquid in the middle of the top.
I tried to follow the recipe exactly. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the yogurt and melted butter were not quite room temp. The butter was not hot to the touch and the yogurt was not refrigerator cold, but maybe they weren’t quite at the right temps.
This is SO good, like all your recipes that I’ve tried so far. My crumble was SUPER wet though, not quite like what you have in your pictures. I did add more flour but that didn’t do the trick. Any suggestions to fix that? Thank you 🤩
Aw I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for trying all of these recipes 🙂 And oh no!! What flour did you use? And did you use a scale to weigh them?
This cake was perfect for my romanticizing autumn era!! Although it was a little too sweet for my liking it still was sooo delicious and I’ll know for next time! I baked the cake in a 9×9 metal pan and it did need to bake for about 1hr, maybe even more. Still the cake itself is impressive and different but also very forgiving (the sugar melted on my apples, I burnt my butter a little, had to change the baking time and tweak the glaze proportions cause it was too thick) and it still came out delicious!!
This cake was amazing! I made gluten free version to share with friends. It was a huge hit! They were amazed it was vegan and gluten free. They said you would never know the difference. It did take longer to bake but the outcome was pure deliciousness!
Thank you for what you do! I can always count on your recipes to be amazing!
This was easy and delicious!! I had to add more flour to the crumble as it was more like a cinnamon roll filling at first. Used an 8×8 pan and baked for just over an hour. Instead of maple for the glaze I used the leftover cinnamon apple liquid and it was AMAZING. Thank you!!
This is so awesome 🙂 AH just so happy you loved it!! ENJOY, and thanks for the review!!
What is the best way to store this? And how many days is it good for?
I love all your recipes! I always get compliments from your recipes and I’m excited to make this for thanksgiving in a couple days.
Oh my gosh!! This is wonderful!! I would recommend storing at room temperature for 2-3 days covered, but if you want it to last a it longer, it’ll be good in the fridge for up to 5 days 🙂 ENJOY!
Can’t find myiokos or violife butter anywhere! Any other recommendations? And is it just plain dairy free yogurt
Ugh I know :/ I would recommend Violife and Plant Crock instead! They’re not optimal, but they will still produce really good results!
Made this for Christmas morning. Unbelievable. I could not stop eating it. No one could. Delicious! I ended up doubling up on the crumble on top because I love a good crumble. Used vegan butter and added a bit of almond butter for that nutty brown butter flavour.
This is amazing 🙂 Wow!! Thank you so much for this review!! Enjoy, and merry Christmas!!
Such a tasty recipe!! Made it for our NYE party and it was gone in minutes. Would follow the recipe exactly as-is and not deviate 🙂
Thanks for sharing that, Brittany!! So glad that it was a hit!
Hello Brit
I love your recipes and have made quite a few of them with great success.
I will be looking to making this apple fritter cake in a few days.
In the UK we generally have GF Self Raising or GF Plain(all purpose flour) My GF plain flour does not have xantham gum but this can be purchased separately. How much xantham gum should I add?
thank you in advance
Hi Pri! Aw thank you so much, this is wonderful!!
So for adding in xanthan gum to GF plain flour, it will vary a bit based on the brand, but generally speaking it’s going to be about 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp! Which brand are you using? I can see if I can help a bit more!