Fragrant and moist, this spiced apple oatmeal cake is crafted with chunks of apple and raisins, crunchy pecans and chewy oats, and a homemade vanilla maple frosting.
This quarantine has got me on the hunt for sweets. Sweet but not too sweet, you know? The doesn’t-hurt-my-teeth kind of sweet. Sweet but still on the healthier side and if possible, something I don’t have to feel too guilty about? Thus, the creation of this aromatic spiced apple oatmeal cake.
While some categorize apples as a fall flavor, for me they work all year round! Apples are a fruit that my kids also just love to take down and so it makes cooking and baking with them that much more fun! I know that my baking is going to be eaten when I am crafting with apples.
The Ingredients
Flour. Oat flour makes up the base of this cake. It’s made simply by grinding rolled oats in a food processor. I find I much prefer using homemade oat flour as opposed to store bought one. The homemade, fresh ground is fluffier and less dense (also, cheaper!). However, if all you have it store-bought, that’s perfectly okay!
I added a bit of almond flour to the mix to help keep the moistness in the cake and I added rolled oats (not ground) which makes the cake a bit chewier.
Apples. For the apples, I used one tart granny smith and one sweet honecrispy apple to keep it well balanced but you can use whatever you have on hand.
The spices. I can’t tell if the cakes tastes better or smells better: the apple, cinnamon, nutmeg and dash of allspice create such a comforting and mouth-watering aroma. It will leave your home smelling like a Yankee Candle.
The frosting. The frosting is optional and if you want the healthiest version of this cake, consider skipping it altogether. Since the cake recipe itself doesn’t contain a huge amount of sugar and isn’t overwhelmingly sweet, I ended up crafting a homemade vanilla maple frosting. I’ll leave that choice up to you! 😉
In this recipe, I’m using a bundt pan which really gives it a festive and fun look, especially for holidays. If you decide to use a regular circle or rectangle sheet pan, your cooking time may differ.
Spiced Apple Oatmeal Cake
Equipment
- Bundt pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups oat flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- pinch of allspice
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
- 2 flax eggs
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted vegan butter
- 1.5 tsp vanilla
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 1/3 cup plant milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 cups apples peeled, diced into small cubes
- 1/3 cup water
Frosting
- 1/2 cup cold butter
- 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
- Start by grinding up your rolled oats in a food processor to make the oat flour. If you have store bought oat flour, you may skip this step.
- Prepare your flax eggs. Combine 2 tablespoons ground flax meal with 5 tablespoons water and set aside to thicken.
- Then peel and dice the apples into small cubes. Add to a bowl with a tablespoon of lemon juice. Set aside in a small saucepan.
- Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your cake pan. I used a 9 inch bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, add: oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, all spice, rolled oats, raisins and pecans. Mix well.
- In a separate bowl, combine your wet ingredients: flax eggs, maple syrup, melted butter, vanilla, applesauce and milk.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients until well incorporated.
- Take your saucepan of apples and add 1/3 cup of water and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce heat to medium. Sautee your apples about 5 minutes until softened.
- If there is liquid at the bottom of the pan of the saucepan by the time your apples have softened, that's ok. Scoop out your apple cubes with a slotted spoon into your cake batter and fold in with a spatula.
- Add your batter to the greased cake pan and then bake for 20-25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Do not remove the cake from the pan yet – allow it to settle and firm up. After 5 minutes, you can flip the bundt pan over and allow the cake to cool on the cooling rack. Do not apply frosting until your cake is completely cooled to room temperature or your frosting will melt and slide off.
Frosting
- In a medium bowl, whip the cold butter using a handheld mixer.
- Add your powdered sugar and whip it into the butter.
- Once your sugar and butter are fully incorporated, add your vanilla extract and maple syrup and whip in with the hand mixer.
- To frost your cake, you can use a butter knife or spatula, a frosting bag and tip set, or you can cut the corner of a ziploc bag and frost that way.
Did you make this? Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #thewholescoopblog
