Variation on an Apple Cake

I wanted to make an apple cake that was a bit fancier than my usual go-to cake which is a basic tea cake that I serve either with a light glaze or just dusted with a little confectioners’ sugar. This time, though, I wanted to dress it up with frosting. Along the way, whether by necessity or inspiration, I made some tweaks to the recipe and I really like the way it turned out.

I began with the basic recipe for Apple Lover’s Cake in 1000 Vegan Recipes. When I’ve made this cake before, I noticed that if I use a small apple, I need to add a little extra liquid to make up the volume of moist ingredients. This time I decided to shred the apple in the food processor to catch every drop of juice. Since I was already using the food processor to shred the apple, I decided to mix the cake batter in the food processor as well. I didn’t have any dried apple in the house (an ingredient in the original recipe), so I added extra applesauce and a bit of apple juice instead. I used light brown sugar because that’s what I had in the house and included some cinnamon for extra flavor.

For a frosting, I combined tofu cream cheese, melted vegan butterscotch chips, and some confectioners’ sugar. After frosting the cake, I decorated the sides with some toasted sliced almonds. The recipe is below. I think this cake would also be good with a peanut butter frosting or a plain vegan cream cheese frosting.

Here's the cake after frosting and decorating with toasted sliced almonds:

Here's the recipe:

Triple Apple Cake with Butterscotch Cream Cheese Frosting
Cake:
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
Frosting:
8 ounces vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup vegan butterscotch chips, melted
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup toasted sliced almonds (optional)
Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and set aside.
Shred the apple in a food processor, then scoop out the apple and set it aside. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and pulse until all the ingredients are moistened. Add the apple to the batter and pulse to combine. Do not overprocess.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Frosting:
In a food processor, combine the cream cheese, melted butterscotch chips, and confectioners’ sugar and process until smooth. Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake. Garnish with almonds, if using.