My another successful baking experience with Taste of Home's recipe! I had bookmarked this apple cake recipe quite a while ago and got the chance to try it recently and it was a super duper hit. The original recipe by itself is egg free and vegan but I made some healthy changes.
I decided to use whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose flour, reduced the quantity of oil and substituted some of it with unsweetened applesauce and the result was a very moist, delicious and guilt free vegan cocoa apple cake.
This recipe is quite similar to the whacky vegan chocolate cake except for the fact that we are using lemon juice instead of vinegar. This is my first experience with lemon juice as an egg substitute and I was not sure what to expect but was super excited after tasting the cake because it was so soft and light.
I was quite unsure about the quantity of lemon juice because I have read that 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of baking soda can be used to replaced 1 egg and that vinegar can be substituted with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and this recipe uses only 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. I was going back and forth about using 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon but finally decided to follow the original recipe itself and was completely satisfied with the apple cake.
Recently I baked a peanut butter quick bread with whole wheat flour and it tasted yucky and I had to throw it away just like that. I don't know if its the brand of whole wheat flour or the recipe. So I'm not sure how this recipe would turn out with plain whole wheat flour as against whole wheat pastry flour.
So if you don't have whole wheat pastry flour go with all purpose flour itself as mentioned in the original recipe. Regular whole wheat flour doesn't work well in all recipes. But I have to mention that my bottle gourd chocolate cake came out very well with whole wheat flour. That was a different brand of flour, so I guess its the brand that makes the difference.
If you tried this Vegan Cocoa Apple Cake recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
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Recipe
Vegan Cocoa Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- ¼ cup Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Water
- ¼ cup Unsweetened Applesauce (dry measuring cup)
- 1 tablespoon Oil (I used canola)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Apples Peeled, Cored & Diced into small pieces
- ¾ cup Granulated Sugar (See My Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C for 15 Mins. Lightly grease and line the cake tin with parchment paper. Spray the paper with non stick cooking spray as well.
- In a medium size bowl sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Break the lumps in baking soda if any and mix it well with the flour.
- In another bowl mix together the water, applesauce, oil, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
- Pour the wet ingredients over the dry mixture and stir until just moistened.
- Fold in the apples and sugar into the batter and pour it in the prepared pan.
- Bake it for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. I checked mine after 30 minutes and it was done perfectly.
VK says
Is there any substitute for apple sauce? Can I make this cake without apple sauce?
Madhuram says
You can try pureed silken tofu or flax eggs instead of applesauce.
Ashwini says
Is whole wheat pastry flour the same as maida or is it atta?
Madhuram says
Whole wheat pastry flour is not maida, Ashwini. It's whole grain flour milled from a soft variety of wheat so that it's not stripped off the nutrients and minerals like maida. You can use the atta like Deep brand, Ashirwad etc instead which is also whole grain flour.
sangeeta says
I did not have the applesauce so increased the amount of oil to a half cup. It turned out great and light as you promised.
Madhuram says
You're very welcome Sangeeta.
Kanti says
Can I use milk or any juice in place of water?
Madhuram says
Yes you can use Kanti.
Morana Smolcic says
Hi Madhuram! Would you mid telling me the mass of 1 cup you use? Thank you!
Madhuram says
Please check this baking measurement chart.
nupur jain says
Hi! Here in India i dont think we get unsweetened applesauce too easily. Could tell me how to make my own applesauce or any substsitute? Thanks in advance 😀
Madhuram says
http://www.egglesscooking.com/homemade-applesauce-recipe/
Shobha says
Hey Madhuram !!
I baked this cake for my dad's birthday and i think it turned out quite nice...all thanks to you..btw i used a pressure cooker fr baking as i prefer it more over an oven!! And could you give me storage suggestions pls ?
Madhuram says
Thanks Shobha. I have never baked in a pressure cooker, so curious to know how the texture was. Do you mean storage suggestions for storing the cake? Cut it into slices and store it in an air-tight container. Cakes do tend to harden slightly when stored in the refrigerator. In that case keep it out a couple of minutes before serving.
helpp says
I tried making this, but it turned out rather chewy and rubbery and didn't rise very well.(It still tasted great though). Can you please give me some tips on what I may have done wrong?
Madhuram says
Did you by any chance over beat/mix the batter? That's the only thing I can think of.
Monika says
what is applesauce in vegan cocoa apple cake recipe. can we make it at home?
Madhuram says
http://www.egglesscooking.com/homemade-applesauce-recipe/
carol says
In this recipe can lime be used instead of lemon? Also I don't have pastry flour...what can I substitute it with? Please reply...your pic is tempting ...I wanna try it...
Madhuram says
I have not used lime so far. Maybe it will work. You can use equal portion of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour as a substitute for pastry flour.
Rita says
Thank you so much for your recipe! Perfect cake!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Rita.
Sonia says
Made this yesterday. Texturewise like chocolate vattayappam than cake,looked like a brownie,but tasted great .
Thanks
Sonia
Madhuram says
You're welcome Sonia.
Linda says
I thought this came out very well. Taking a tip from another recipe, I shredded the apples instead of dicing them. I also used raw carob powder instead of cocoa. I doubled the recipe for a 9x13 baking dish, and used the lesser sweetener amount. BUT, I forgot to double the 2/3 cup of sugar!! Therefore, it was not sweet at all, so I made a vegan coconut-walnut frosting to top it with, and the sweetness of the frosting balanced out the un-sweetness of the cake. I will definitely try this again, but next time make sure I add all the sugar!
Tania says
Love these eggless recipes, great for a snow day when you realise there are no eggs and the kids want to bake!
Just willing this to cook as its been in an hour n still runny in the middle 🙁
Preeti says
Flooded suddenly with apples....thanks to you...I got rid of 2 of them....in style!!
Yumm cake!
Madhuram says
You're welcome Preeti.
Niagara says
Hello!
I have studying your site and I am thinking the recipes is all wonderfull. Today I made the vegan cocoa aplle cake. Iam translating and post in my blog for all people that don't know english. I love all.
My respect and my reverence
Hare Krishna!
Niagara
Madhuram says
Thanks Niagara.
maddy says
Nice Cake. I did make a sub by taking 3 medium Fuji apples,peeled and cored them and zipped them up in my Vitamix. This was in place of both the chopped apple and the apple sauce. I made a quick maple cinnamon soy cream cheese icing for it and dusted the top with a little cocoa.