This Chocolate Apple Cake is another recipe in a series of vegan, gluten-free, nut-free and coconut-free recipes that I’ve been working on in my collaboration with Amore di Mona vegan and allergy friendly chocolate. It’s an autumnal inspired cake that is beautifully moist and full of earthy flavours. The sweetness of apples mingle nicely with dark chocolate, quinoa, brown rice and cinnamon creating a beautiful autumnal baked treat.
This time I’ve played with a mix of quinoa and brown rice flours to create a gluten-free mix, which pairs lovely with chocolate and apples. For the wet mix I’ve used home made apple sauce, flax eggs and olive oil which make the cake really moist. The apple and chocolate pieces in the cake make the structure slightly more fragile and so I’ve used a bread tin lined with a baking paper to bake this cake to keep it more sturdy. I don’t like to add gums into my gluten-free mix and like to keep my cake batter as natural as possible. It’s also best to slice the apples into small thin pieces and I also recommend cooling the cake in the tin and using sharp knife for slicing. This recipe would also make great muffins. The Amore di Mona melted dark chocolate coating brings it all together and makes the cake more special and fit for celebration. Enjoy:) x
Special thank you to Amore di Mona for sponsoring this post.
Chocolate Apple Cake (vegan, gluten-free, nut-free)
Ingredients
- 2 apples, sliced into small pieces
- 100g bulk chocolate (2 cubes) or dark vegan chocolate (3.5oz)
- 60g quinoa flour (1/2 cup)
- 140g brown rice flour (1 cup)
- 30g arrowroot (1/4 cup)
- 75g rapadura sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1tsp baking powder
- 1tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1tsp cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
- 180ml apple sauce (3/4 cup)
- 2tbsp ground flaxseed + 6tbsp water
- 80ml olive oil (1/3 cup)
- 2tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1tsp vanilla
Coating:
- 100g bulk chocolate (2 cubes) or dark vegan chocolate (3.5oz)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)
- Line 10" x 4 1/2" loaf tin with baking paper.
- Mix 2tbsp of ground flaxseed with water and set aside to thicken.
- Peel, core and thinly slice the apples into small pieces and set aside.
- Chop the chocolate and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together quinoa flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
- In a small bowl whisk together flax eggs, olive oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla. Whisk in 120ml (1/2 cup) of apple sauce.
- Add the wet mix to the dry mix and mix until well combined. If the mix is too thick add the leftover apple sauce. You want to achieve a muffin like consistency. Depending on the consistency of the flour you've used you might need less or more.
- Gently fold in apples and chocolate pieces.
- Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.
- Bake for about 40-45min or until a cocktail stick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven once ready and leave to cool down in the tin.
- Gently melt the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave and leave to cool down. Pour over to coat the cake, top with chocolate shavings.
- Enjoy!
Notes
To make the apple sauce, peel, core and chop 3 apples. Place into a small pot, cover with water and boil for about 15 minutes until soft. Leave to cool down, strain and blend until smooth. Store in fridge until ready to use.
Absolutely beautiful! Those apples look scrumptious – are they the biodynamic ones from the farmer’s market? & the glossy sheen on that chocolate coating (in my dreams!!) looks divine!! xxx
Thank you so much Teresa! Yes, those apples are the biodynamic ones from the market, they are just amazing! And this chocolate really does make the nicest coating. xxx
Great recipe! Whant can I use instead of quinoa flour?
Thank you!
Sara
Hi Sara, thank you. You can use other gluten-free flour – buckwheat, millet or amaranth. If you can use nuts, you could use ground almonds.
Hi Hana, it looks so delicious thank you so much. I had been looking for a dessert with no nuts for a long time. One question please can I avoid using olive oil ?
Hi Mimi, thank you. You could replace it with coconut oil or you could possibly try adding more applesauce instead, but I’m not sure how that would come out. You might have to try.
Hey
What can I use instead of arrowroot , I don’t know if I will find this in South Africa
Hi Ela, you could use tapioca or some other form of starch.
Love this combination! Apple and chocolate, whoooop! Can’t wait to try this! And pinning it, of course! Yum!
Anna, thank you! Hope you like it and any feedback is always very welcome:)
Ooo this cake sounds perfect for autumn! Love the look of that chocolate ganache :)
Thank you so much Nadia! Yes, this chocolate ganache is so lovely :)
Oh my goodness!! This is gorgeous Hana! And that chocolate ganache just looks divine!! Yum yum yum!!! ;-) xxx
Thank you so much Michelle! Wish I could share a slice and a cup of tea with you:) xxx
Such a beautiful cake! It looks so moist and delicious – I love apples in cake! And you can never go wrong with chocolate :) xx
Thank you so much Sasha for your lovely comment! Yes, the apples make it lovely and moist and the chocolate, what can I say?! xx
Even though I sliced my apples thinly I found that it was a little more crumbly when cutting than I would have liked – any advice welcome. I thought at 1tsp of cinnamon it was lost – I would add more next time.
Hi Lisa, thank you for your comment. Unfortunately it’s a nature of this recipe, being vegan, gluten-free and nut-free always makes it more tricky to bind without gums. Also the chocolate pieces and apples make it more fragile. You could try adding psyllium powder if you like to keep it natural. If you don’t mind nuts, replacing part with ground almonds could work too. Hope this helps. All the best.
This has turned into my go to apple cake recipe. I love it. It’s quick and easy but delicious. We have an apple tree in our garden so there is an endless supply of apples. This recipe makes it easy to have cake at hand for spontaneous guests or events. My favourite!
I’m so happy to hear that Manjela! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving me such lovely comment!