This gluten free apple cake is positively filled with fork-tender apple chunks, the cake delicate and tender from being baked alongside them. It has a wealthy, custard-like texture inside, and a buttery browned crust.
A real apple-lover’s cake — extra fruit than batter!
Why this recipe works
Not like most apple desserts on the market—mild on apples and heavy on topping—this gluten free apple cake shines with nothing on high in any respect, or only a easy dollop of whipped cream. Each slice is filled with massive, aromatic items of apple that bake till they’re gentle, juicy, and completely tender inside.
It took loads of testing to get right here. I began with only a modest quantity of diced fruit, even grated some for moisture. However the extra apple I added, the higher it obtained—till there was simply sufficient batter to carry collectively a cake that with the feel of chunky, jammy applesauce if it additionally had a young, golden crumb.
Key substances defined
This is what you may have to make this apple cake, and what function every performs within the ultimate outcome:
- Apples – This recipe requires “baking apples,” that are apples which have good, balanced taste (not too candy), and have agency sufficient flesh to carry their form throughout baking. My favorites to make use of listed here are a mixture of Granny Smith, for the sweet-tart taste and super-firm flesh, and Cortland or Gala (for extra sweetness and rather less firmness). You may have to peel and core them, since solely the flesh can have time to melt within the oven.
- Spices – A mixture of principally floor cinnamon and a contact of freshly-grated dried nutmeg provides tons of appley taste and aroma.
- Lemon juice – Helps preserve the apples from turning brown after they’re uncovered to the air, and provides some brightening taste. You should utilize a mild-tasting vinegar as a replacement.
- Gluten free flour – The comparatively small quantity of flour on this cake does the heavy-lifting to offer the entire cake’s construction and assist it bake evenly with out falling because it cools. Attempt Higher Batter’s basic mix, Nicole’s Greatest with added xanthan gum as directed within the recipe or Bob’s Crimson Mill 1-to-1 (blue bag) with an additional 1/8 teaspoon additional xanthan gum (the mix has too little).
- Baking powder – Supplies rise within the oven, giving the cake quantity and a extra delicate crumb.
- Salt – Balances sweetness and brightens the opposite flavors.
- Butter – Provides moisture which makes the cake tender and creates steam throughout baking, buttery taste, some rise when creamed with the sugar.
- Sugar – Provides sweetness, locks in moisture for a young crumb, and helps the cake brown within the oven.
- Eggs – Assist bind the cake batter collectively, create construction that holds because the cake cools.
- Vanilla – Provides depth of taste and enhances sweetness.
Tips on how to make gluten free apple cake (with step-by-step images)
Listed below are some images to information you in your house kitchen, and explanations of why the recipe directions name for the steps they do. See the recipe card for exact quantities:
1. Put together the apples
Put together the apples by peeling them with a pointy vegetable peeler, to reveal as a lot of the flesh as potential, or the apples will not soften throughout baking. Take away the middle core with an apple corer or sharp knife to do away with the poisonous seeds and the hardest a part of the apple.
For the proper measurement cube, minimize the apple flesh in half, then into quarters; slice every quarter into 3 or 4 items alongside the size, then into chunks by cross-section. Toss the apples to coat them totally within the cinnamon and nutmeg for flavoring, and lemon juice to forestall browning.
2. Whisk the dry substances
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk collectively the gluten free flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder and salt to make sure even combining.
3. Make the cake batter
Beat the butter and sugar collectively for about 4 minutes or till the sugar is generally dissolved (it can turn out to be much less grainy) and the butter turns into extra pale in shade. Which means the combination has trapped air, which helps lighten the cake.
Add eggs and vanilla, and beat till easy, then the whisked dry substances and beat till totally mixed. There isn’t any gluten to overwork, so be sure that the flours are totally hydrated within the moist substances.
4. Assemble the cake
Mix the ready diced apple combination with about 2/3 of the whole uncooked cake batter, mixing to coat all the apple chunks with fluffy cake batter. The apple chunks will at all times stay seen, however the batter between the items will maintain the apples in suspension.
Line the underside of a greased and lined spherical cake pan with the remainder of the batter to create an apple-free crust that the remainder of the apple-studded cake batter will bake on high of. Pile the apple cake batter on high and unfold evenly.
In case you’re utilizing a basic 8-inch spherical cake pan that is 2-inches tall, the pan will likely be nearly full. It will not overflow, although, since this is not a really high-rising cake.
5. Bake and funky
Bake lined in foil for about 20 minutes, then uncovered till a toothpick inserted within the heart comes out clear (normally one other 50 minutes for an 8-inch pan). Overlaying the pan in foil first provides the cake an opportunity to start out creating construction earlier than there’s a lot of any browning so it by no means burns.
Knowledgeable suggestions
Get 3 mixing bowls prepared
You may want 3 separate bowls for the completely different substances on this apple cake, however it’s value it. You may want one for the apples, to which you may add many of the ready cake batter, one for whisking collectively the few dry substances (gf flour mix, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and/or nutmeg), and one for creaming collectively the moist substances (butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla).
Count on a chunky batter
You may mix about 2/3 of the butter and egg combination with the chopped apples, and the batter will likely be nearly impossibly chunky. Simply be sure that to coat all of the apples as evenly as potential within the uncooked batter.
Line the pan with plain batter
Coating the underside of the baking pan with 1/3 of the plain uncooked cake batter, then topping with the chunky apple-studded batter, creates a strong base for the cake so you may get it out of the pan.
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
The one dairy on this recipe is the butter, and you must have the ability to substitute it efficiently with vegan butter. My favourite manufacturers are Soften and Miyoko’s Kitchen. Earth’s Steadiness Buttery Sticks may work right here, however they’re actually salty and have extra moisture, so scale back the salt and count on that the batter may leak from the pan. Line it with a rimmed baking sheet throughout baking.
Egg free
There are two eggs on this cake, and you must have the ability to substitute every of them with one “chia egg.” To make 2 chia eggs, place 2 tablespoons floor white chia seeds and a couple of tablespoons lukewarm water in a small bowl, combine to mix, and permit to gel.
Variation ideas
- Serve your apple cake heat, with a beneficiant scoop of vanilla ice cream;
- Drizzle the cake very evenly with a extremely easy confectioners’ sugar glaze;
- Change half the apples with agency pears, ready the identical means, for a gf apple pear cake;
- Add a dollop of contemporary whipped cream and a lightweight sprinkle of floor cinnamon on high.
- 1 ½ kilos baking apples, peeled, cored and diced (a mixture of Cortland, Gala, and/or Granny Smith apples works very well) (about 3 massive apples)
- 1 ½ teaspoons floor cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly floor nutmeg, (elective)
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 ⅛ cups (158 g) all objective gluten free flour mix, (See Recipe Notes)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, (omit in case your mix already incorporates it)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 10 tablespoons (140 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, crushed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Stop your display screen from going darkish
-
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease properly an 8-inch or 9-inch spherical cake pan, and set it apart.
-
In a big bowl, place the diced apples, and toss with the bottom cinnamon, nutmeg (if utilizing), and the lemon juice. Set the bowl apart.
-
In a separate medium-sized bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt, and whisk to mix properly. Set the bowl apart.
-
In one other separate, massive bowl with a hand mixer or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, place the butter and sugar, and beat on medium-high velocity till mild and fluffy (about 4 minutes). The combination will lighten in shade and the sugar should not be as grainy.
-
Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium velocity till easy.
-
Add the dry substances, and beat till simply mixed. The batter will likely be thick, however easy and fluffy (not stiff).
-
Scrape about two-thirds of the cake batter into the massive bowl with the apple combination. Combine to coat all the apples within the batter. The combination will likely be very chunky.
-
Switch the remaining one-third of the cake batter to the ready cake pan. With a moistened, small offset spatula, unfold into a fair layer within the backside of the ready pan.
-
Scrape the chunky apple-packed cake batter into the pan on high of the bottom layer of batter, and unfold once more into a fair layer with an offset spatula. In case you’ve used an 8-inch pan, the pan will likely be fairly full.
-
Cowl the pan tightly with aluminum foil, and place within the heart of the preheated oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
-
Take away the pan from the oven and take away the foil cowl from the pan. Return the pan to the oven to bake till a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with no quite a lot of moist crumbs hooked up (about one other 40 minutes, or about 50 minutes for an 8-inch pan).
-
Take away the pan from the oven and permit the cake to chill within the pan for 15 to twenty minutes. The cake will start to shrink away from the edges of the pan a bit.
-
Run a skinny spatula alongside the sting of the pan to make sure that the edges aren’t sticking earlier than fastidiously transferring the cake to a wire rack, top-side up.
-
Enable the cake to chill for about one other quarter-hour. Utilizing a really sharp knife, slice and serve the cake, ideally whereas it’s nonetheless heat.
My favourite gluten free flour blends are Higher Batter’s authentic mix, Nicole’s Greatest Multipurpose Gluten Free Flour mix (with added xanthan gum), and Bob’s Crimson Mill 1-to-1 within the blue bag, with an extra 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum so the cake is not crumbly. VitaCost’s multi-blend gluten free flour mix, with added xanthan gum, must also work properly.
For data on tips on how to DIY your individual mix, please see the gluten free flour blends web page.
Serving: 1slice | Energy: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 3g | Fats: 15g | Saturated Fats: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g | Monounsaturated Fats: 4g | Trans Fats: 1g | Ldl cholesterol: 79mg | Sodium: 233mg | Potassium: 116mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 544IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 0.4mg
Vitamin data is mechanically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.
Storage directions
Quick time period:
This gluten free apple cake is tremendous moist and can carry on the counter, lined tightly in plastic wrap, for no less than 1 day at room temperature. Place it in a sealed container within the fridge and it’ll final for no less than 3 days.
Long term:
For longer storage, freeze this cake complete, or in slices in a container with a tight-fitting lid. In case you’re freezing the cake complete, you possibly can wrap it tightly in plastic wrap on all sides, and place it on 1 / 4 sheet pan within the freezer till it is frozen. Then, take away it from the pan.
Defrosting:
Defrost a frozen cake or slices at room temperature uncovered, since condensation will collect on the container or plastic wrap because it defrosts, which may make it soggy.
Make forward:
You may put together the apples forward of time, then, unfold them on a baking sheet and place the baking sheet within the freezer. As soon as they’re frozen, switch them to a zip-top bag and return them to the freezer. Then use them within the cake with out defrosting them.
FAQs
Granny Smith are the apples which might be sometimes really useful for baking, since they’re fairly tart, maintain up very properly in baking, and are straightforward to search out.
For taste, strive utilizing a mixture of Granny Smith, Empire, Macintosh, Gala and Cortland.
Sure, it’s a must to peel and core apples after they’re being baked right into a cake. The apple skins have a variety of fiber, and will not break down within the oven just like the flesh does.
Sure, you possibly can improve the quantity of cinnamon, however improve it slowly every time you make it since an excessive amount of could make the cake style bitter. I would not transcend 2 teaspoons.
No, this cake is simply too gentle and has too many apples to carry its form popping out of a bundt pan.
A greased 8-inch spherical solid aluminum baking pan works greatest to create a barely thicker cake that makes the slices appear extra beneficiant.
Sure! There isn’t any milk or yogurt on this cake, because the apples add a lot moisture. In case you substitute the butter with vegan butter in stick kind, like Soften model, it can even be dairy free.
