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Have you ever tried a cake that instantly transports you to fall – the tastes reminding you of crisp cool air, leaves crunching under your feet, and juicy apples? This dessert does that! It features juicy grated apples and a cinnamon coconut sugar swirl. So good! Paleo, gluten-free and perfect for any fall occasion. (It's also a Stage 2 AIP Reintro for almonds and eggs)
Fall is hands down my favorite season. The air gets crisp, the leaves change to brilliant beautiful colors, I get to wear BOOTS again (hooray!!), there are tons of fun craft ideas to make and I have a perfect excuse to bake up a storm.
And while some of my favorite past times are no longer a regular viable option for me (like eating gluten-y Apple Cider Donuts from the farm stand), there is still plenty of fall fun to go around.
This Cinnamon Apple Cake is something I've been baking for years. First I made it via a Williams-Sonoma book that I have and I used to make it with regular wheat flour and tons of sugar.
But for the last 10 years or so I've made my “Paleoized” version (which means I use grain-free flours and a LOT less sugar) of this and it still totally says fall to me.
Please don't scared off by the large number of steps in this recipe. I like to be pretty thorough in my descriptions as to not leave any room for questions. The prep of this should take you around 20 minutes, maybe 30 if you are moving slowly or bopping around to some tunes while setting this up.
I have an Instant Pot version of this apple cake as well if you're into cooking everything in that magical device 🙂
Cinnamon Apple Cake Recipe
If you make this apple cake, I'd love to hear how it turned out! Either comment below or share a pic on Instagram and tag me @thrivingautoimmune!
Cinnamon Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 2-3 Apples
- 1 tbs Cinnamon
- 1/4 cup Coconut Sugar
- 3 tbs Coconut Flour
- 2.5 cups Almond Flour
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1.5 tsp Baking Soda
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Honey
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2/3 cup Coconut Oil (melted)
- 1/3 cup Coconut Cream (the solid part from a refrigerated can of coconut milk)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Generously grease (with coconut oil) and flour (with almond flour) a fixed-bottom tube pan or a bundt pan.
- Make the cinnamon sugar by mixing the cinnamon and coconut sugar together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Using the large holes on a box grater, shred the apples onto a piece of parchment paper. (I'm lazy so I don't peel the apples first but you certainly could)
- Place the shredded apples into a measuring cup and continue until you have 2 cups.
- Transfer the shredded apples to a small bowl and toss with 3 tbs of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Let sit for 15 minutes to let the apples absorb the flavor and to release some of their juices.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt. Make sure no clumps remain.
- In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, or using a stand mixer, mix the eggs and honey together for about 2-3 minutes until the mixture is a pale yellow.
- Add the vanilla extract and then with the mixer running, slowly pour in the coconut oil.
- Add the dry ingredients in 2 equal additions, mixing each until incorporated.
- Add the coconut cream and mix until the white streaks disappear.
- Set a fine-mesh sieve over a bowl and put the apples in it. Gently squeeze the apples a bit to release more of the moisture. You don't want to wring them dry like a sponge, but enough that anything easily given up comes out.
- Fold the apple mixture into the batter.
- Evenly pour about 2/3 of the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle half of the remaining cinnamon sugar over the surface of the batter.
- Pour the rest of the batter into the pan, spreading it out to make an even layer. It may not completely cover the sugar layer. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar on the surface.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes, then run a butter knife around any area that touches the pan to gently dislodge the cake from the sides. Then invert a plate over the cake pan and turn both the pan and the plate over together. Lift the pan off of the cake and let cool completely before serving.
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I just made this last night and it was a hit with my dinner guests. everyone had 2 pieces! I did make several changes though. I kept the quantities the same but I used Gf flour (from costco)as i didn’t have almond flour. i used creamed honey which seemed to make the batter thick so i didn’t drain the apples. I also used lactose free sour cream instead of the coconut cream. I used a 9X9 square pan and baked for 35min. next time i will try with almond flour when i get some. hubby said” keep that recipe!!”