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
Scale
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!