I had some gorgeous apples leftover from making my Chocolate Apple Cake and all of these lovely apples leaves from my friend’s garden that were really calling for another recipe.
I have an ever-expanding list with recipe ideas that are waiting for me to come alive and here’s a Raw Apple Cake making it to your screen today, yay! The recipe is a variation of my Raw Carrot Cake, it’s a rich cake with walnuts, coconut and apples with a lovely subtle flavour that develops over time.
I have to say I wasn’t sure about the cake at first, the flavour is very gentle, but it has really grown on me and I found the cake tasting even better the next day. Recipes are so individual as are we, and there’s nothing that is for everyone, which only creates more variety and excitement in the world. And this apple cake is like that.
I’ve used apples in each of the layers in different ways. The crust is a mix of walnuts, desiccated coconut, medjool dates, grated apples and cinnamon. The top creamy layer is a blend of coconut butter and pureed apples topped with walnut date crumble. I’ve been pondering of a raw apple crumble instead of a cake and so I’ve used an element from a crumble in here. Enjoy & thank you for being you!
Raw Apple Cake (grain-free & vegan)
Ingredients
Crust layer:
- 2 apples, grated
- 1tsp lemon juice
- 100g ground walnuts (1 cup)
- 100g desiccated coconut (1 cup)
- 6 medjool dates, pitted
- 1tsp cinnamon
- pinch sea salt
Creamed layer:
- 200g coconut butter (1 cup)
- 1tbsp maple syrup
- 1tsp vanilla
- 1/2tsp cinnamon
- 2 apples
- 1tsp lemon juice
Walnut crumble:
- 50g walnuts (1/2 cup)
- 2 medjool dates, pitted
- 1/2tsp cinnamon
- pinch sea salt
Instructions
- You will need 8" round cake tin with removable base.
- To make the crust place ground walnuts, desiccated coconut, pitted medjool dates, cinnamon and sea salt into a food processor and pulse until the mixture comes together. Scoop the mix into a bowl. Roughly grate the apples keeping the skin on, squeeze lemon juice over and stir into the mix. Spoon the mix into the tin, spread evenly onto the base and press down. Place into a fridge.
- In a double boiler gently melt coconut butter, leave to cool down. Stir in maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon. Quarter and core the apples, place into blender or food processor with lemon juice and blend until smooth. Stir into the coconut butter mix and spoon onto the crust layer.
- Place into a freezer for about 1 hour to set, just enough so it's easy to remove from the tin. You can also leave it to set in fridge for at least 2 hours.
- To make the walnut crumble, simply add all of the ingredients into food processor or blender and blitz few times until you've achieved crumbly consistency.
- Once the cake is set, remove from the tin, place onto a cake stand and top with walnut crumble.
- Store in a fridge.
- Enjoy!
Beautiful & delicious too!! I will have a go at making my own – I loved yours. Thank you for being you too – you are an essential companion on my healing journey, dear H… :-) Txxx
Thank you Dearest Teresa, I love you! xxx
Love this Hana, it looks and sounds delicious! Autumn in a cake ;-)
Thank you so much Michelle! I love getting all seasonal! xx
this cake is so so beautiful! i just love how it is raw too – definitely something i have to try, i’ve never made a raw cake before! Xx
Thank you so much Thalia! You must try making one, raw cakes are actually very easy to make, let me know if you have any questions:) xx
So creative! I bet this tastes amazing! Those apples look absolutely beautiful too xx
Thank you so much Sasha! Oh, these apples are stunning, many thanks to my amazing local farmers market:) xx
Hi there, I just have to say that your creations are just so beautiful. I’m sure they are as delightful to the taste buds as they are to the eye. Seriously, I smile each time it comes across my Facebook feed. Do you have a cookbook?
Meighan, thank you so much for your kind words, you’ve just made my soul smile! I don’t have a cookbook, but I will write one! Much Love, H
First time making a raw cake vegan and unprocessed cake. I was nervous it was going to taste too “healthy” but Oh My Gosh! Its really delicious and just sweet enough without being sickly (and means i can add a little blueberry and apple jam on top if im feeling extra sweet tooth!)
I’m going to make this again and take it to work as a birthday cake. I think the vegans are going to LOVE this and the omnivores are going to be pleasently surprised! <3 10/10 dessert!
Wish I could share my photo I'm so proud of it! Lol.
Hi Chloe, I’m so happy you loved the recipe! Thank you so much for coming back and leaving me such lovely comment! Well done, I’m proud of you too! xx
Hi Gabriela, it doesn’t need freezer, but you will have to keep it chilled, it will hold well in fridge. You can leave it out for a bit if you prefer to eat it at room temperature.
Moc zdravim z Londyna, tak jsi prvni kdo my tu nechal cesky vzkaz! Moc dekuji! xx
Great recipe! So simple and yet super delicious! Thank you, Hana :)
Really enjoyed making this.
Hi Sophie, you’re so welcome! I’m so happy you loved this cake! I really enjoyed making it too :)
Sounds yummy,I cant find cocunut butter here in Croatia,can I make it from high fat coconut milk,thank you
Hi Silvija, you can make it from desiccated/shredded coconut. Just process it in food processor until creamy butter consistency. Just like you would make nut butter. Once cooled it sets really hard and helps to set the cake. Alternatively, you would have to use cashews and coconut oil to set it.
I make a lot of raw cakes, and I have to say this one turned out disappointing :/ I like the idea of it though, so I might play around with ingredients and quantités in the future and see how it turns out..
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this one. Many of my raw cakes are not your typical raw cheesecakes. I use little sweeteners and always try to do something different. We don’t all have the same taste, so I completely understand! You can always add cashews to the top layer if that helps :)
Hi Hana,
Sorry for the question but when you say coconut butter do you mean like Manna butter or coconut oil in hardened state.
Thank you
Hi Xamantha, yes, I mean the coconut manna sometimes also referred to as creamed coconut. Not coconut oil, the butter, which is just blended dried coconut into creamy butter and it makes it tastier and helps it to set when chilled.
Hi, I’m just having a go at making this for the first time. What sort of apples would you recommend? Or is it all the same?
You mentioned it tasted good the next day, could I make it and keep it to eat in 2 days time? Would it be best to freeze it then? How long would you say it keeps in the fridge? Can the walnut crumble be made in advance and kept in the fridge to sprinkle on before serving? Or is it fine to just sprinkle on and set the whole cake aside until serving?
Thanks in advance for answering all my questions :) looks good! Would have loved some photos of the process along the way, but I see it was from quite some time ago.