Spiced apple cake with caramel sauce is the most delicious vegan dessert for fall! This simple cake is very tender and flavorful. An easy caramel sauce is the perfect finishing touch.
Don’t you just love apple desserts? Whether it’s apple donuts, apple muffins, or apple pie, you can count us in over here!
The other day I was thinking about an apple cake that my mom used to make when we were growing up. It was made in a really tall bundt pan, and it had a lot of sliced apples throughout the cake, so it was super moist. Eggs and butter made it a very rich cake, too.
This vegan apple cake is really moist, due to the apple sauce and the apples in the batter, and nicely spiced with the apple pie seasonings. This recipe doesn’t contain eggs, but the cake is still tender and delicious.
I love the caramel sauce on top, and I feel like it makes the cake more special, but you could make it without the sauce as well.
Ingredients
Cake:
- flour
- sugar
- oil or vegan buttery spread
- baking soda
- salt
- cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger
- vinegar
- applesauce
- water
- sliced apple
Caramel Sauce:
- vegan buttery spread
- brown sugar
- apple cider
- arrowroot powder
- salt
Substitutions
- You could make this with sliced pears if desired.
- You can use vegan buttery spread in place of the oil.
- Cornstarch is also a good thickener for the caramel sauce.
- All-purpose flour, wheat flour, or spelt flour will work well in this recipe.
Tips for Success
- Grease and flour the cake pan so that you can remove the cake easily if desired.
- You can make the caramel sauce ahead of time if you like.
- Don’t over mix the batter – that can result in a tough cake.
- Make sure your baking soda is fresh so that the cake rises nicely.
Check out the video below for more allergy friendly baking tips:
Storage
Store leftover cake at room temperature for up to 3 days. If you want to keep the cake longer, store it in the refrigerator.
Store the caramel sauce in the refrigerator – it should stay fresh for up to 5 days.
More Vegan Cakes
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Recipe
Vegan Spiced Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ¾ cup spelt flour or all purpose flour
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅓ cup organic canola oil or melted vegan buttery spread
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 large apple peeled and diced – I used a Gala apple
For the caramel sauce:
- ½ cup vegan buttery spread
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup apple cider
- pinch sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch
Instructions
Make the Cake:
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a nine inch round cake pan.
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In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, and spices together. Set aside.
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In a separate bowl, mix oil, applesauce, water, and vinegar.
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Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix until combined.
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Add the apples and stir. Pour the batter into the cake pan.
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Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Make the Caramel Sauce:
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Pace the arrowroot powder and the cider in a container with a lid and shake to combine.
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Place the vegan buttery spread, brown sugar, apple cider mixture, and salt in a saucepan.
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Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and continue to stir, letting the sauce thicken up.
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Let the sauce cool slightly, then spoon over slices of apple cake to serve.
Recipe Notes
Arrowroot powder is a thickener, like cornstarch. Cornstarch would work just as well here if you have that on hand.
If you are not dairy free, then you can definitely use butter in the caramel sauce instead of the vegan buttery spread.
Store leftover cake at room temperature for 3 days. If you want to keep it longer, store in the refrigerator.
Caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
*Caramel sauce adapted from Kathy’s recipe.
Katie
Delicious recipe!
Roxana
Hello! I am waiting for the cake (it is in the oven right now), BUT I have a quick question: can I replace the apple cider with apple juice? Would that work as well for the caramel? Thanks in advance and keep up with the yummy postings.
Kelly
Sorry I am just now getting to this! I am not sure. Did it work with apple juice? Let me know how it turned out!
Deryn @ Running on Real Food
Yummy! This looks delish. I haven’t dabbled much in gluten-free baking but I think it’s time to make the switch, why not..it’s so easy to replace regular flour! Thanks for sharing! I’ll give this a try soon :)
Kelly
I actually used spelt flour here, which is lower in gluten, but not gluten free. I hope you like this cake if you try it! :)
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely
The flavors in this sound delicious! I love apple and caramel together : )
Kelly
Thanks, Natalie!
Caitlin Dunn
Yum. I love anything apple/caramel. My mom used to make an applesauce cake in a bundt pan and it was my favorite, but the recipe calls for a box mix + additions, so I think this recipe would be a good replacement!
Kelly
I hope you like it! :)
Nancy
This cake sounds yummy. Since I can’t eat gluten can I substitute a GF flour mix for the spelt? Do I need gum as well?
Kelly
I have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but if you try it that way, let me know how it works out! It just might not rise as well.